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The Dutch company Formula One Licensing BV filed an application for a trade mark – Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix. The examiner of the Patent Office refused registration in classes 09, 16, 18, 25, 28, 38, 41 arguing that the claimed designation was confusingly similar to a number of trade marks (no 217978 and others) which include word elements Grand Prix for homogeneous goods and services in classes 09, 16, 18, 25, 28, 38, 41 and with a combined trade mark no 361073 which includes word elements Grand Prix de Russie in classes 09, 16, 18, 25, 28, 38, 41 for homogeneous goods and services in classes 16, 25, 28, 41. The examiner also argued that since the claimed designation included the word Russian it could mislead the consumers with regard to the provider of the goods and services because the applicant was a foreign person.

In April this year, Syria issued a new law for the regulation of trade in human medicines. The principal focus of the new law is on the regulation of the trade in and use of substances for the making of medicines and pharmaceutical products through the licensing and control of warehouses. However, the law also contains some important new provisions dealing with counterfeit products.

On August 30 2004, the Polish Patent Office (PPO) registered a word-figurative trade mark Ravago (R-154724) in the name of Walter Breitengraser. A Polish company Resinex Sp z o o filed a request for the cancellation of the right of protection. It argued that Breitengraser, by applying for the registration, violated not only Resinex's personal and economic rights – arising from the rights to the name Ravago – but also good morals. In addition, Resinex claimed that the application for the trade mark in question was filed in bad faith because Breitengraser was a president of the company acting as an agent for Resinex.

In the recent case Mundipharma v Sandoz (Court of The Hague, April 7 2010) the Dutch court of first instance decided that Mundipharma's patent (number EP 0 722 730) was valid and that Sandoz did infringe the claims as granted.

Philip Morris Products has a brand of cigarettes called Eve and a number of trade marks registered in Israel for the brand, including word marks and flowery designs. Atsionerno Droujestvo Bugartabac Holding filed a mark (Israel trade mark TM 196741) for cigarettes called Eva, with a heart replacing the v – Ea. Philip Morris filed an opposition, but neither side submitted evidence.

The Amendment to the Japanese Unfair Competition Prevention Act will come into effect on July 1 2010. This Amendment aims to expand the scope of criminal punishment for trade secret infringement cases.

In the field of pharmaceuticals, a supplementary protection certificate (SPC) can be obtained for a maximum of five years after the duration of the patent. Originally, this SPC was granted to compensate for the investment pharmaceutical companies needed to make to obtain a marketing approval (MA) to put a new drug on the market.

Although lacking the formal clout of a court of law, the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (the ASA) provides one of the most commercially-effective weapons within FIFA's anti-ambush marketing arsenal, at a fraction of the cost and time spent in pursuing the traditional legal route.

Managing open source compliance can be complicated and costly. Mahshad Koohgoli and Sorin Cohn-Sfetcu analyse the strategies that companies can employ

EPC welcomes Kyrgyzstan as 75th member state