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As reported in the September 2009 issue, whether Japan should introduce a general concept of fair use was discussed at a sub-committee of the Agency of Cultural Affairs (Bunka-cho). In the autumn of 2009, the sub-committee had to cease official discussions because of a great divergence in opinions and it therefore constituted a working group to continue discussions. In January 2010, the working group submitted a report that recommended introducing the general concept of fair use. As a result, the sub-committee came to a general agreement to restart discussions to introduce the general concept of fair use for limited purposes. Parody use was clearly excluded from the discussion. On May 27 2010, the sub-committee published an interim report that recommended introducing the general concept of fair use. The report suggests the following uses of copyrighted works will be included in the general concept of fair use:

A celebrity sex scandal has raised numerous legal issues for artists in Indonesia. In early June, videos allegedly of a well-known singer and his celebrity girlfriends having sex were leaked on the internet. The media and the public have focused mainly on the moral issues. This also happened several years ago to two well-known singing stars in Hong Kong.

When Venus Fashions and Grapholite Moses Printers launched their Hebrew language magazine Belle in Israel, Elle, the international women's magazine sued for an injunction. Both magazines focus on women's fashion, beauty, health and entertainment.

The Patent Amendment Act 2005 brought about a significant inclusion to the then existent prosecution scheme by introducing the scheme of post-grant opposition. The legislation provides that a post-grant opposition as under Section 25(2) of the Patents Act 1970 may be filed within one year of the grant of the patent on the same grounds governing pre-grant oppositions as prescribed under Section 25(1). However, one of the vital differences between the two provisions rests in the locus standi of the person moving to oppose the grant of a patent: a pre-grant opposition being allowable from "any person", while only any "person interested" being entitled to file post-grant opposition.

On April 21 2010, the Supreme People's Court issued the Opinion on Several Issues Regarding Administrative Adjudication of Trade Mark Grant and Confirmation. The Opinion is based on the experience of the court in administrative actions brought against the TRAB in trade mark application, opposition or invalidation cases.

As reported in Managing IP, the EPO Enlarged Board has rejected the president's software patent referral in opinion G 3/08 of May 12 2010, because the case law recited in the referral is not diverging. In order to arrive at this conclusion, the Enlarged Board provides a comprehensive analysis of EPO case law in relation to the questions raised in the referral.

You've just discovered the joys of roller derby. So, what are the chances of registering a track name such as Cindy Lop-Her? Not so good if the examiner considers that such matter may falsely suggest a connection with any living individual.

Where an inventor wishes to file as many patent applications as different countries in which he tries to protect an invention, the inventor has to deal with a complex filing process involving diverse problems and difficulties.

by Eileen McDermott, New York

Managing IP publishes its eighth annual list of the 50 most influential people in IP