Search results for

On January 3 2012, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) introduced a new voluntary mediation option for resolution of all trade mark opposition proceedings before IPOS, as well as all invalidation and revocation proceedings, whereby parties may seek to resolve the issues under WIPO Rules (administered by the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Centre in Singapore).

Recently, Heineken Romania SA, the Romanian part of the Heineken international group, successfully invoked two senior national trade marks in its portfolio in a cancellation action filed with the Bucharest Tribunal against a combined national trademark registered for goods in class 32.

The Chamber of Patent Disputes recently examined an appeal filed by Jaguar Cars against trade mark 414218 (below).

On May 31, the Portuguese government published Ordinance 176/2012 with a new table of official fees for the Portuguese PTMO. There is now a substantial increase in annuities from the sixth year of patents, an increase in the fees for applications of trade marks, logotypes, awards, appellations of origin and geographic indications, and for fees relating to renewals of trade mark registrations and logotypes.

A trade mark for Columbia was recently registered, for goods in class 34 (tobacco products and their accessories) and services in class 35 (wholesale and retail sale of tobacco products).

The Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHL) has scheduled a number of public consultations to present and discuss its proposed regulations, including the fees, implementing the Madrid Protocol. They start in May 2012 and run up to the first week of July, in time to meet the deadline of the Protocol coming into force on July 25 2012. Most participants commented that the proposed fees are high, and requested that they be reduced. A great number of the questions pertained to international registrations where the Philippines is a designated contracting party, and the following points in the proposed regulations were clarified.

Pediatric extension is not yet implemented in Norway but will probably be later this year. The instrument is still under discussion within the European Economic Area (EEA) and can only be implemented after an agreement has been reached between the EU and the EEA and when the necessary laws and regulations have been implemented in Norway.

Le Cordon Bleu, the famous French culinary school, recently won its appeal to register its name in relation to meat, poultry and game and meat extracts in New Zealand. Its application was rejected by the Intellectual Property Office, and by a hearings officer, because it was said to be a laudatory term that lacked distinctive character. The hearings officer held that "cordon bleu" meant something of high quality, and the addition of the word "le" did not save the application.

An atrial septal defect is a serious heart problem that restricts blood flow between the left and right atria via the interatrial septum. AGA Medical Corporation owns a patent on a medical device that can be applied through a catheter in the patient's heart to close the septum. Occlutech GmbH delivers such devices. In an infringement procedure, the Court of First Instance judged that Occlutech's devices do not comply with the literal wording of AGA's patent, nor are they within the scope of protection when interpreting the claims in accordance with the Protocol for article 69 EPC. In a subsequent appeal, this decision was confirmed.

Mexican IP Law states that industrial companies, traders and service providers may use their marks in commerce, and that the exclusive right to use the marks is obtained through a registration granted by the Mexican Trademark Office.