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In judgment 1617/2010 the Athens Court of Appeals dealt with two important issues relating to the facts on which trade mark infringement may be assessed.

In the February 2010 briefing, we asked MIP readers what they thought were the chances of survival for the following three-dimensional Community trade mark 4648465:

More and more technical information is available on the internet and it is increasingly used to challenge patentability. The probative value to be given to published literature, especially patent literature, is rather well established. Many case law and examination rules are also available regarding which standard of proof is to be used relative to public disclosure. Nevertheless, some guidelines were expected regarding information on the internet.

For applications filed after January 1 2011, the EPO will require applicants in certain circumstances to provide it with the results of earlier searches carried out by other offices. The changes are set out in new Rules 141 and 70b of the EPC.

The State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) proposes to amend the Patent Licensing Contract Recordal Administrative Measures (2001). It submitted draft changes on November 19 2010 and invited comments from the public.

Too often owners of trade marks have not been able to properly prove use of their trade mark in the Benelux. They lose opposition procedures, and cancellation actions based on non-use against their trade marks are successful. This occurs because they rely on the fact that they have a registered trade mark, without realising that use is required to keep such rights alive.

There are countries, such as the United States, where it is common to file a declaratory action with the courts solely on the ground that the IP right of the defendant is invalid. This is not possible in Austria, according to a recent decision from the Austrian Supreme Court (OGH).

Along-awaited Australian Senate committee report into gene patenting has been released, providing totally inconclusive results. So the status quo on gene patents is maintained for now.

The Argentina Patent Office, INPI, enacted resolution P-339/10 on January 13, which allows patent applicants to speed up prosecution of certain patent applications by swapping the examination order. This the third time that the possibility of swapping the order, known as Fast-Track, has been available. Former opportunities were available in early 2004 and 2007. Both of them were successful for applicants that requested a swap of their applications, by obtaining earlier examination or resolution of their patent applications.

The Ethiopian Trademark Registration and Protection Proclamation (TRPP) was promulgated in 2006 and will replace the present system administered by the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office (EIPO). Once implemented, TRPP will bring Ethiopia's trade mark law in line with other jurisdictions.