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In its decision of November 2 2010, the Court of The Hague overturned a decision of first instance and ruled that the publication of a generic medicine in the so-called G-Standaard, constituted offering it with the intent of (subsequent) trading and thereby violated the exclusive right of the patent holder. The G-Standaard is a medicine database that is published by the Royal Dutch Association for the Advancement of Pharmacy.

Seong-Ki Kim and Kee-Hyo Kim of Lee International IP & Law Group consider possible updates to judicial procedure

The Israel Commissioner of Patents has ruled (Circular MN 85) that it is no longer possible to incorporate material into an Israel patent application by reference. In future, the term "incorporated by reference" will be deleted if it appears in a patent specification.

In a recent decision the Austrian Supreme Court had to decide whether allegedly infringing double-walled glasses produce the same overall impression on the informed user as several registered Community designs (RCD) for double-walled glasses.

Omega SA v Costco. Granted certiorari by the Supreme Court

Music Broadcast Pvt v Phonographic Performance. Indian Copyright Board and others

Jappy GmbH v Satoshi Shimoshita. WIPO Mediation and Arbitration Center

I hear peers talking about ‘pruning’ their IP assets during the downturn. What does it mean and what is the best way to go about it?

It is a common practice among entrepreneurs in the fashion business to offer their customers goods marked with a famous brand on a principle called "total look". The principle consists in offering to customers not only clothing, but also the full set of accessories, such as handbags, watches and glasses. It may happen that a trade mark has been registered only for clothes and its protection does not cover other accessories. In spite of this, some customers see the existence of strict connections between the clothing and accompanying fashionable goods, and may think that those goods have been made by the same entrepreneur. The reason is that the goods complement each other and contribute to the creation of an overall image to a certain circle of customers. In such case, the protection may be extended to those accessories that are not covered by trade mark registration (see case T-443/05, El Corte Inglés/OHIM Bolaños Sabri, PiraÑAM diseño original Juan Bolaños). As frequently happens, the accompanying accessories are the elements that create and decide someone's personal image, giving that person an original character and originality.

On January 1 2011 Swiss civil procedural law will finally be unified when the Federal Code of Civil Procedure replaces the 26 cantonal civil procedures. With the new act, as before, each canton has to designate a single first instance court for IP cases, which is competent for hearing cases relating to infringement, validity, ownership, transfers and licences of IP. For patent cases only, this cantonal competence will end for validity and infringement cases (and for actions directed to the grant of a licence) on January 1 2012, when the Swiss Federal Patent Court of first instance will start its work. The president and the other judges of this new court have been elected by Parliament and work for establishing the court's infrastructure is under way.