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Icann's president and chief executive Rod Beckstrom announced he is to step down from his position when his tenure expires on July 1 2012. Beckstrom's three-year term will be best remembered for the approval of the landmark gTLD programme and the introduction of internationalised domain names (IDNs) in non-Latin alphabets. In a statement Beckstrom said his legacy could be summarised in four words: "strong execution, great teambuilding."

A decision by a UDRP panellist that again rejects the so-called Octogen line on bad faith has raised doubts about the sustainability of the doctrine

The online music service Spotify agreed deals with the major music companies, as well as independent labels, and carried out an invite-only beta launch in the US in July. The fully legal product will offer users on-demand access to more than 15 million tracks with a choice of three services: free with advertising; ad-free access for $4.99 a month; and premium access for $9.99 a month. All three services include access to the full Spotify library and various social/sharing features. Spotify was launched in Sweden in 2008 has 10 million users in seven European countries. Most have the free-access service with advertising, while there are 1.6 million paying subscribers. The company has wanted to expand into the US for some time but has had to negotiate licensing rates with music companies. It appears to have now struck a satisfactory deal, though details of the licensing arrangements have not been disclosed. Spotify will be competing with online jukebox Pandora as well as other music services (both legal and pirated). At the end of July, US company PacketVideo sued Spotify for infringement of a patent covering the distribution of music in a digital form.

Luxury shoe brand Louboutin is fighting rival Yves Saint Laurent over the rights to its famous red soles in both the US and Europe. In New York, a judge last month denied Louboutin's motion for a preliminary injunction barring YSL from marketing shoes with red soles, citing trade mark infringement. Judge Victor Marrero said granting a designer exclusive use of a colour would result in a "broad spectrum of absurdities" and "fashion wars".

In Human Genome Sciences v Eli Lilly, the UK's Supreme Court debated whether the UK has correctly followed European patent law on industrial application. The case involves a split between the England & Wales Court of Appeal and the EPO Technical Board of Appeal (TBA). The UK courts have revoked HGS's patent for the Neutrokine-a protein – even though the appellant's amended set of claims had been accepted by the TBA. This is the first patent case to be heard by the UK Supreme Court. It has been asked to rule whether the Court of Appeal correctly applied the principles of law established by the EPO relating to Article 57 of the EPC and whether the amended claims are sufficient to maintain the patent under UK law. On day two of the three-day hearing, HGS's patent was said to contain a "lot of guff" according to Lord Justice Neuberger, but whether that should invalidate the patent was the key question. The decision is expected before the end of this year.

Last month there were several overlapping developments in UK copyright. Internet service provider BT was forced to block infringing website Newzbin in a court judgment – the first time this has happened in the UK – but at the same time regulator Ofcom said it would not be implementing a part of the Digital Economy Act that would have made such blocking uniform.

The biotech industry can breathe a sigh of relief, for now. The Federal Circuit's ruling in Association for Molecular Pathology v the USPTO and Myriad Genetics found that isolated DNA sequences can be patented. Until, that is, the US Supreme Court takes on the case, which seems likely if the case is appealed.

One hundred years after the first piece of litigation over Budweiser beer, four recent decisions show the battle is far from over – despite a major decision from the Court of Justice of the EU (CJ). In the first, Argentina made a final ruling that Czech brewery Budweiser Budvar cannot register its trade mark after an opposition from US brewer Anheuser-Busch. In the second and third, Budvar won cases in Bulgaria and Italy. Which was perhaps surprising, given the bigger decision earlier in the year from the CJ ruling that Budvar's geographical indication for Bud did not give it protection against competing trade marks.

Online sellers may have to change their attitude to counterfeits after a Court of Justice ruling in Europe. But eBay had some consolation, says James Nurton

Icann has issued a request for proposal (RFP) to find a company that will provide background checks on all applicants in the new gTLD programme.