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The new Chinese Patent Law strengthens a patent owner’s hand against infringement, providing new means of enforcement, including injunctions. But there are also penalties for bringing unjustified actions, warn Lindsay Esler and Paul Davies

Australia: Daryl Williams, the federal attorney general, announced on September 18 that Screenrights will be the sole collecting society to collect copyright royalties for retransmission of free-to-air television programmes by pay-TV services. Screenrights will be responsible for distributing royalties to the owners of copyright in the films, scripts, music, sound recordings and art works in the retransmitted programmes.

On July 24 2001, a new Criminal Code was enforced in Colombia, substituting the one that had been issued two decades ago. The New Code, a model for Latin America, includes a new group of juristic acts or deeds intended to enhance the legal protection of intellectual property and new technologies.

Festo is the most important patent case to come before the Supreme Court in recent years. Mary Helen Sears, of the MH Sears Law Firm in Washington DC, examines the issues at stake

Ingrid Hering, London

As rights owners increasingly face trade mark infringements on the web, they need to be pro-active in enforcement. Ken Taylor provides some tips for handling investigations

Established ideas about IP protection do not find room for traditional knowledge. Now some communities are agitating to protect their culture. Ingrid Hering reports

Following the signing of a trade agreement with the EU, Mexico has become one of the most open economies in the world. Luis C Schmidt explains how the country has updated its IP protection to meet the challenge

A new law is to be introduced in the UK for registered designs applied for after October 28 2001. The Registered Designs Regulations 2001 (RDR), currently before parliament, amend the Registered Designs Act 1949 (RDA) in order to give effect to EC Directive 98/71 on the legal protection of designs. The aim of this Directive is to harmonize certain aspects of national registered design law within the European community. The United Kingdom and all other European member states are required to bring their national laws into line with the Directive by October 28 2001.

The perception exists in Australia that it is too easy to successfully defend a design infringement action. But Wayne Condon says that will change if Parliament passes radical reforms to the almost 100-year-old designs legislation