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Norway is part of the European Economic Area but not part of the EU, hence EU designs do not offer protection in the Norwegian territory. Up until now, the only possibility for protection of designs in Norway has been through national filings.

On March 23 2010, the president of the Philippines signed into law Republic Act No 10055 known as the Philippine Technology Transfer Act of 2009. Published on April 23 2010, this law takes effect after 15 days. It provides the framework and support system for the ownership, management, use and commercialisation of intellectual property generated from government funded researches. This law was the brainchild of Estrella Alabastro of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and was inspired by the Bayh-Dole Act of the USA. She stated in the DOST Digest: "For the longest time, we rely mostly on breakthroughs from the outside, while our local technologies generated through public funds remain untapped or archived in laboratories around the country. Hence, this is a significant break for us to roll this out to the market and be availed of by the public." Some of the salient points of this law are:

In the global endeavour to afford protection to geographical indications (GIs), Malaysia has been an active crusader. There are a large number of GIs particular to Malaysia such as Sarawak Pepper, Sabah Tea, Borneo Virgin Coconut Oil and Kelantan Budu (anchovy sauce), to name a few. In 2000, the Malaysian government enacted the Geographical Indications Act, under which registered GIs were given territorial protection for 10 years from the date of filing (renewable every 10 years as long as they are in use). Although registration is not compulsory, it is actively encouraged to protect the interests of producers and consumers. Non-registration does not put the GI in the public domain (available for use by all and sundry) though, of course, in a dispute the court would be inclined to adjudicate on the tort of passing-off in the extended form rather than in the classic form.

The revised Korean Trade Mark Act (KTA) will come into effect from July 27 2010. The main contents of the revision are:

A new law regulating the marketing of textile, leather and footwear goods – known as the Reguzzoni-Versace Law – was published in the Official Gazette on April 21 2010 and will enter into force on October 1 2010. This new provision creates a system of obligatory labelling for goods in the textile, leather and footwear sectors.

Recently the Delhi High court decided on an important question of law concerning the maintainability of a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India against an order of the Controller of Patents either allowing or rejecting a pre-grant opposition under Section 25(1) of the Patents Act 1970. The case is UCB FARCHIM SA v Cipla Ltd and Ors and Colorcon Inc v Ideal Cures Pvt Ltd and Ors and Yeda Research and Development Co Ltd v Natco Pharma Ltd and Ors and Eli Lilly and Co v Ajanta Pharma Ltd Ors WP (C) Nos 8393, 12006 and 13295 of 2009 and WP (C) No 332 of 2010 along with WP (C) Nos 8388 and 8392 of 2009. The Court combined the six writ petitions presented before it for determination to clarify the position of law as regards the remedy available to a person against the unfavourable orders of the Controller in pre-grant proceedings.

Patent applications that become provisionally abandoned, for example due to failure to pay a maintenance fee or respond to a requisition, can be reinstated in Canada. However, as a recent decision illustrates, all of the requirements for reinstatement must be carefully observed; otherwise, the patent applications can become irrevocably abandoned.

The recent case of Health World Ltd v Shin-Sun Australia Pty Ltd [2010] HCA 13 has expanded who can remove trade marks under the Australian system.

The different branches of IP law have common aims, such as encouraging innovation and creativity by allowing their owners to receive – at least partially – the benefits that their creations produce for society. However, these different branches have registered a considerably different historic evolution.

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