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United States trade mark law generally provides that a registered mark is considered abandoned if its use has been discontinued for a specified period with intent not to resume such use. Specifically, non-use of a mark for a period of three consecutive years constitutes prima facie evidence of abandonment of the mark.

Under current practice, after an allegedly infringing article or method is found to be non-infringing literally, a determination will generally be made to determine whether there is infringement under the doctrine of equivalents.

The Federal Court of Australia recently found a company director personally liable for patent infringement. In Inverness Medical Switzerland GmbH v MDS Diagnostics Pty Limited [2010] FCA 108, Inverness was the owner of a number of patents in the field of pregnancy testing and sued both the company MDS and its director, Dr Appanna, a family doctor in Auckland. Inverness argued that the doctor was a joint tortfeasor in directing MDS in the infringement.

The decision by a New York court in Myriad earlier this year left applicants facing an uphill battle to patent gene sequences. Michael Gollin and Rae Fischer explain how IP owners in the biotech sector can maximise protection for their innovations

Anti-counterfeiting in East Africa is a topic in vogue, highlighted by the Kenya Anti-Counterfeit Act (Number 13 of 2008) and the interlocutory ruling of Justice Mwendoh, dated April 23 2010 in Kenya High Court Petition Number 409/2009 Ochieng', Atieno & Munyi v Attorney General. Reading Ochieng's case revived 1960s memories of a truckload of fake Aspro drugs destroyed by order of the then Supreme Court of Kenya, and the thoughts that:

A monthly column devoted to IP curiosities and controversies, named in honour of John of Utynam – who received the world’s first recorded patent in 1449 diary@managingip.com

WIPO wants to revitalise the PCT system. James Pooley, deputy director-general for patents at the IP organisation, outlines progress so far and explains how the improvements should benefit users

With the entry into force of the Law on the Swiss Federal Patent Court (which may be expected to start operating in the first half of 2011) provisions will be introduced in the Swiss Patent Act that allow for a detailed description of patent infringing acts (saisie descriptive) as well as the seizure of goods (saisie réelle). The newly worded Article 77 of the Patent Act deals with this as follows:

On May 13 2010, Attorney Ricardo R Blancaflor, newly appointed director general of the Intellectual Property Office (IPPhil), issued Office Order Number 84 entitled Policies and Guidelines on Counterfeit and Pirated Products. This Office Order mandates that all officials and employees of the IPPhil should respect IP rights and that they should not patronise counterfeit and pirated products. It also applies to visitors of the IPPhil, who shall be subject to inspection by the security guards. To implement the Office Order, the security guards at the entrances and exits of the IPPhil building are instructed to do the following:

The French Federation of Perfumery Industries started opposition proceedings against a Greek trade mark application for perfumery goods in international class 3 containing the applicant's first name along with the term "de Paris" on the basis that said sign is deceptive as to the origin of goods concerned. The applicant contested the opposition on the grounds that the term "de Paris" indicates her connection with Paris, France, not the origin of the goods covered by the Greek trade mark application at issue.