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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.

It is an established principle applied by the European and German patent authorities that, under certain circumstances, functional features may be used for the characterization of subject matter in patent claims (see eg EPO in T 68/85; German Federal Supreme Court in "Trioxan"). Functional features have always been essential for obtaining meaningful protection for biotechnological inventions. Recently, an increasing trend towards a more general use of this type of feature for obtaining broad patent protection can be observed, specifically where patent protection for pharmaceutical compounds and medical uses is sought. Applicants should, however, be aware of the requirements to be met for the successful use of functional features in patent claims.

The Baby-dry case is the first appeal to be heard by the Court of Justice in Luxembourg in proceedings concerning a Community Trade Mark. The Court of First Instance had decided not to register the term Baby-dry, used for babies nappies (or diapers). The court believed that the term is ineligible for registration as a Community Trade Mark. The examiner considered that the trade mark was descriptive of the goods for which registration was sought. She was of the opinion that Baby-dry was composed only of a simple combination of the non-distinctive words baby and dry. The mark therefore consisted exclusively of an indication which may serve in trade to designate the intended purpose of goods (Article 7 (1)(c) of the Trade Mark Regulation) such as those for which registration is sought, ie keeping a baby dry.

Tony Samuel, in the third of three articles on intellectual property value issues, considers some of the questions arising from the enormous growth in the worth of media and sponsorship rights in sport

Patent infringement litigation involves a large number of uncertainties. Alexander I Poltorak and Paul J Lerner reveal how to calculate the risk involved

The decision of the ECJ rejecting a ban on tobacco advertising and sponsoring was met with applause in the EU. But the European Commission now wants a pan-European prohibition of tobacco advertising in the print media, reports Henning Hartwig

Has the European Court of Justice given the green light to parallel imports into Europe? Tesco says yes; Levi’s says no. Many lawyers say it is a bit more complicated than that. Tabitha Parker reports

Jane Mutimear, Bird & Bird, London, Vice president of the Intellectual Property Constituency of ICANN

A new set of amendments to the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China will enter into force in July 2001. Elizabeth Chien-Hale examines the revisions to the compulsory licensing provisions