Search results for

On April 7 2010, the Court of Appeal of Kuala Lumpur, in delivering its judgment in Taiping Poly (M) Sdn Bhd v Wong Fook Toh & ORS CA (2010 6CLJ 51), drew a distinction between the net loss of profits and the loss of sales, as a result of an infringement and passing off of a trademark.

Japanese patent applications should be exceptionally careful in describing the claim of the patent, as courts favor an objective determination of disputes concerning the matters set out in the application. Underscoring this is a recent judgment of the Osaka District Court, which ruled against the holder of a brand-name pharmaceutical patent and in favour of a generic company due to the former's carelessness in determining the claim.

Databases have acquired – in the digital era – paramount importance for commercial activities, since they gather information that can be used, for example, to design marketing programmes (databases containing information about potential clients) or reducing risks when granting credits (databases containing the credit history of a person).

Since last year's Americas IP Focus went to press, the law has evolved rapidly. Perhaps most internationally relevant was the US Supreme Court's June decision in Bilski v Kappos, which changed the criteria for determining patent eligible subject matter in the US and reinforced the country's commitment to allowing patents on business methods and software. It will be years before the true impact of that decision is known – as the lower courts and the USPTO attempt to define what constitutes an abstract idea and how much weight the machine-or-transformation test should still hold.

The Indian Trade Marks Rules 2002 were recently amended to adopt the Ninth Edition of Nice Classification, in order to align the trade mark laws in India with the international system. Additional service classes, namely classes 43-45, have been added. The applicants are requested to bring their existing applications in compliance with the new classification. All new applications for classes 43-45 with effect from July 1 2010 will be accepted by the Trade Mark Office in accordance with the new specification of services.

My company wants to develop an application for a mobile device. What do we need to know about the IP issues involved?

At the time Greece acceded to the European Patent Convention, a reservation was filed under article 167.2a by which patents providing protection to pharmaceutical products as such should not have effect in Greece. While the reservation expired in 1992, the effects of the reservation on patents filed while this was in effect would exist during the entire life of these patents.

A recent decision (Olivine Industries Pty Ltd v D H Brothers Pty Ltd) by the Zambia Registrar of Trade Marks enunciated her Office's "consistent" but controversial principle that oppositions cannot be based on unregistered marks.

Your brand faces multi-pronged attacks on the internet. Dan Smith and Bonita Trimmer provide a guide to repelling assaults from rivals, counterfeiters and domain name infringers

Many IP owners have sound commercial reasons for wanting to secure patent rights as quickly as possible. Here is a guide to getting patents granted faster by examiners in eight patent offices