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On February 29 2012, the Supreme Court of Zambia announced that a trade mark application in Zambia may not be opposed on the basis of an earlier, similar, but unregistered trade mark; even if that earlier trade mark is well-known.

Lynne Beresford, the former USPTO commissioner of trade marks, has joined the board of advisers of the International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI). Beresford has expertise in domestic and international trade mark law. She began working at the USPTO in 1979 as a trade mark examiner and retired as commissioner of trade marks in 2010.

The public comment period for new gTLD applications has been extended by 45 days to September 26. The extension from August 12 came after Icann said that the additional time was needed due to the large number of new gTLD applications. Anyone can make a comment on any of the 1930 new gTLD applications. Those made by September 26 will also be given to the new gTLD evaluators.

Earlier this month, Judge Richard Posner of the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturned a preliminary injunction issued by the district court against social video bookmarking site MyVidster. Pornographic video producer Flava Works had claimed that MyVidster was infringing its copyrighted content by providing links to illegal copies. "The infringers are the uploaders of copyrighted work," Posner concluded in MyVidster v Gunter. "There is no evidence that MyVidster is encouraging them, which would make it a contributory infringer." But he noted that if MyVidster had invited users to post copyrighted videos without authorisation, it would be liable for inducing infringement.

Australian officials last month defeated tobacco companies who wanted to block a new law that will see the introduction of plain packaging for their products from December. But after claiming victory in the country's High Court, government lawyers are now focusing their attention on legal action in Geneva. That's because Ukraine has upped its efforts to have the Australian law declared contrary to the country's obligations under the WTO's TRIPs Agreement. It originally filed a complaint in March in which it requested consultations with Australia, the first step in a legal dispute at the trade body. But on August 14 it asked the WTO to add its request to the agenda of the August 31 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body.

Biotech company Myriad, which owns US patents covering the isolation and detection of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, won a second victory at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit last month. In the long-running dispute, parties including the Association for Molecular Pathology said Myriad's claims covered material ineligible for patent protection. But in August, the Federal Circuit once again reversed the district court's finding that Myriad's composition claims to isolated DNA molecules cover patent-ineligible products of nature. The court also overturned the ruling that Myriad's method claim for screening potential cancer therapeutics via changes in the cell growth rates of transformed cells is a patent-ineligible scientific principle. But it affirmed the district court's decision that Myriad's method claims for "comparing" or "analysing" DNA sequences are "abstract, mental steps" that cannot be patented. The Federal Circuit first ruled on the case in July last year and an appeal to the Supreme Court was subsequently filed. The case was returned to the Federal Circuit following the Supreme Court's decision in Mayo v Prometheus in March this year. The plaintiffs have said they are not satisfied with the decision and could appeal to the High Court a second time. Chinese patents to be expedited. China’s new priority examination system for patents went live on August 1. Applicants can now request speedier examination for inventions in fields including green technologies, new-generation information technology and high-end manufacturing. Patents filed in China before other countries or deemed in the national interest can also be fast-tracked. Applicants must file electronically and submit an application for prioritised patent examination endorsed by a provincial SIPO branch.

China's proposed copyright bill has been modified in a second draft. It makes some big changes from the first version, stepping back from some of the more controversial provisions. Both have clear lessons for rights holders looking to protect their IP rights in the country.

During the Olympic Games in London last month, many of Britain's biggest brands seemed to be openly breaking the recently introduced ambush marketing rules. They were taking a bet on Locog's enforcement of very broad regulations. An analysis of 10 of those adverts shows how you can too.

The final rules on post-grant oppositions should make challenging patents in the US far more efficient, says Eileen McDermott

How did you follow the progress and outcome of the Apple v Samsung patent trial in California? For many people, the answer would be: on Twitter, where commentators (including reporters in the courtroom) wrote about the ebbs and flows of the case using hashtags such as #itrial.