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The application of TRIPs and its effect on the protection of product claims in pharmaceutical patents filed before October 1992 has always been a hot topic of IP litigation in Greece.

In recent years, particularly in IP, opposing parties have increasingly chosen alternative dispute resolution (ADR) over court procedures. Mediation is a confidential non-public procedure, so no details are available to competitors. It may be of most interest to those who want to keep conditions of, for example, IP licence agreements confidential. The mediator, as a neutral arbitrator, assists the involved parties in negotiations by way of his mediation skills in the fields of communication, negotiation mechanisms and psychology. The mediator, unlike a court judge, has no decision-making authority in the dispute: the involved parties remain in full control of the procedure. Mediation allows flexibility and freedom for the parties to arrive at a resolution in the form of an agreement. The parties are also free to take into account additional aspects to be included into an agreement, like other IP rights, so that a satisfying agreement is achievable for both parties. The success rate of mediation is almost 80%.

With the beginning of autumn comes the planning of IP budgets for the year to come. If you are looking for a solution to save some money, don't forget the French tax credit on patents.

Two recent decisions of one of the EPO's Boards of Appeal have clarified some procedural issues, one relating to the conduct of oral proceedings and another relating to refusals in pre-grant examination.

Over the years, there have been arguments over whether manufacture by OEMs should be deemed trade mark infringement, both in legal theory and in judicial practice. In the past, the mainstream view was that the OEM behaviour violates article 52(1) of the PRC Trademark Law, so constituting trade mark infringement. Cases in support of this view include Nike v CIDESPORT Sports, Ruibao v Yongsheng, and Deckers v Guangyu Leather, which was issued last year by the Shandong High Court.

China is planning to amend its Patent Law for the fourth time. Since the last amendment to the Patent Law in 2008, the country has been planning further amendments to the Law. According to a news release from SIPO, the object of the new amendments is primarily to strengthen the protection for or enforcement of patents and to overcome the drawbacks of the current enforcement system.

Geographical indications are important, to protect and preserve intellectual property related to tradition, local cultures and production methods. But even though they grant protection to a community and not to individual right holders, they can cause tension, between two regions in the same country for example.

At first sight one might think of music and not of liquor in connection with Mozart. However, the Austrian Supreme IP Tribunal recently ruled descriptiveness of Mozart for liquor as being notorious.

In mid-2001, Australia introduced an innovation patent system, loosely modelled on the German utility patent system. The problem with the innovation patent system that was overlooked, was that it had no obviousness test, but rather a lesser innovative step test. The innovation patent was "intended to fill the "gap" that existed with regard to minor and incremental innovations. It offers a quick, less expensive and simple form of protection".

The origination of information which allows the marketing approval of new pharmaceutical products by the regulatory authorities has become a more complex and demanding process due to dramatic technological advances.