Search results for

Antti Papula and Perja Papula of Nevinpat in Helsinki explain that Russian patent practice differs from that of Europe. This is particularly true for claims relating to chemical and medical compounds

Romania has a new law governing the protection of plant varieties. Lucian Enescu and Cristina Popa of Rominvent in Bucharest explain how to obtain protection

Dr Bernhard Fischer, of Bardehle Pagenberg Dost Altenburg Geissler Isenbruck in Munich, examines recent developments on the use of research tool patents in Germany

An Australian attorney has patented the wheel in an attempt to draw attention to problems with the country's recently introduced innovation patent. Since May this year, the innovation patent has been available for inventions with a lower inventive threshold than standard patents. It is defined as a development that makes a substantial contribution to the working of the invention compared with the prior art.

Hong Kong's high profile anti-piracy legislation is to be partly suspended less than a month after it came into effect. The Hong Kong administration is to enact the Copyright (Suspension of Amendments) Ordinance, which will put parts of its anti-piracy legislation on hold after protests from the public and industry. The administration's much-lauded Intellectual Property (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance to combat copyright infringement came into effect on April 1. The highly-publicized legislation aimed to make criminally liable anyone who possessed pirated copies of copyrighted works in the course of, or in connection with, any trade or business.

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline's proposed scheme to restrict exports of cheap medicines from Spain to other parts of Europe is illegal under EU competition rules, according to the European Commission. On May 8, Mario Monti, the EU competition commissioner, ended three years of deliberation by banning the dual-pricing scheme claiming it interfered with the Community's objective of integrating national markets and restricting price competition.

A global campaign to overturn a US patent on basmati rice has scored a major victory with the announcement that the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has thrown out 13 of 16 remaining claims from US-based RiceTec's controversial patent. John J Doll, the director of biotechnology examination at the USPTO, himself examined and rejected 13 claims from the patent. He judged that the rice lines, plants and grains that the company claimed in the application were prior art or substantially identical to basmati varieties grown in India and Pakistan, and hence could not be patented.

The Advocate General’s Opinion in the Davidoff and Levi’s case was welcomed by both brand owners and parallel importers. David Rose analyzes the Opinion and suggests that brand owners have slightly more to be pleased about

The Ukraine's reputation as the world's most persistent IP violator was confirmed in this year's US Trade Representative Special 301 Report. The Ukraine, identified as a Priority Foreign Country on March 12, almost certainly faces trade sanctions at the end of June unless it takes radical moves to address its severe IP problems.

The new generic top level domains are finally becoming available to domain name registrants. The first new domains available will be .biz and .info. .biz is trialling a unique service that enables trade mark owners to pay a fee to stake claims to domain names without registering them. The service, operated by NeuLevel, came into operation on May 19 and the notification period lasts until July 9. It enables potential registrants to be warned if their preferred domain name infringes any prior claimed rights, as well as warning those who have staked a claim if anyone else tries to register the same words. After July 9, .biz applications can be made and the .biz sites will be operational on October 1.