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To tighten trade mark enforcement, Malaysia passed the Trade Descriptions Act (TDA) in 2011. The purpose of this Act is to prohibit false trade descriptions and false or misleading statements, conduct and practices in goods and services, thereby protecting the interests of consumers.

On August 21 2012, in the case of India TV v Yashraj Films, the Delhi High Court applied the doctrine of de minimis non curat lex to determine that there was no copyright infringement. The issue was whether the usage of a few words from a song of a Bollywood movie amounted to copyright infringement and an argument raised before the court was that the amount of use, if at all, was de minimis. The court, after providing a detailed analysis of the various possibilities of using the de minimis doctrine, concluded that the doctrine can be used as an independent defence in copyright infringement cases. The following five factors are relevant in applying this doctrine: (i) the size and type of the harm, (ii) the cost of adjudication, (iii) the purpose of the violated legal obligation, (iv) the effect on the legal rights of third parties, and (v) the intent of the wrongdoer.

Many countries impose restrictions on the filing of patent applications abroad. In certain cases, such restrictions only relate to inventions of a military interest, while in others, restrictions apply to any invention.

In a recent decision, the German Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) added to its output on claim construction and infringement issues, taking the opportunity to clarify when a so-called impaired embodiment may fall within the scope of the patent.

The French Patent and Trademark Office (INPI) is moving on October 22 2012. The purpose is, among others, to gather together several departments that were disseminated in Paris and its surroundings.

The Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) of the EPO recently issued a decision on the question: "Is a patent proprietor's request for correction of the grant decision under rule 140 EPC which was filed after the initiation of opposition proceedings admissible?"

Employees have an obligation under Austrian law to communicate their service inventions to their employer "without delay". They have on the other hand the right to file themselves patent applications for their inventions. But there are no consequences in the law if they do not communicate their inventions to their employer, besides general damage claims that normally don't exist when they file patent applications.

Our courts have recently resisted an attempt to extend the operation of injunctions globally to entities which are part of a global group and may be operating by common design in many jurisdictions.

If the sole legal reaction to patent infringement was ordering the infringing party to cease the inappropriate use of the invention, without reasonable economic compensation to the damaged party, this would not only send a message of eventual impunity to potential infringing parties, but also stimulate this type of conduct because such parties would benefit from the illegally obtained revenue. Both laws and judges, when applying these laws, should therefore endeavour to facilitate proper damages compensation in cases of patent infringement.

Hogan Lovells has increased its IP presence in Silicon Valley and San Francisco with five lateral hires. Jennifer Lantz, Steve Levitan, Clark Stone (left to right) and Edward Kwok join from Haynes and Boone and will be based in Hogan Lovells' Silicon Valley office.