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The boundary between activities that fall within the experimental exemption and activities that are instead reserved to the patentee has always been fluid. A particularly topical question concerns the activities linked to obtaining marketing approval for the generic version of a medicinal product that is covered by a patent.

Within the next few months, the EPO's Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) is expected to rule that a fundamental violation of a party's right to be heard occurred in appeal proceedings concerning the opposition against EP 978251, Hoya Corp v Olympus Corp. A communication of the EBA dated May 18 2009 indicates that this will be the probable conclusion in petition for review case number R 7/09. Assuming that the EBA decides accordingly in its final ruling, R 7/09 will be the first ever case in which the EBA allows a petition for review and re-opens proceedings in a case after issuance of a last-instance decision in appeal.

The WIPO-administered Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks has been available in Greece since the 2000 by way of the Greek Law 2783/2000 and Decision K4-307/2001 of the Ministry of Development. An international registration (IR) designating Greece enjoys the same advantage of this procedural mechanism: Greece falls within a single administrative process along with several other member states and, consequently, the applicant may simply and cost-effectively obtain trade mark protection in the Geek jurisdiction as if he had applied for a domestic trade mark. Too good to be true?

Europe's highest court has backed L'Oréal in a row over smell-a-like products

WIPO member states make top appointments WIPO member states last month backed all of director-general Francis Gurry's proposals for the deputy and assistant director-general positions. The deputy directors-general will be: Geoffrey Onyeama (Nigeria) who will be responsible for development; James Pooley (US) in charge of patents; Binying Wang (China), the only woman appointee, who will look after trade marks, industrial designs and geographical indications; and Johannes Christian Wichard (Germany) who will have responsibility for the new portfolio of global issues, which includes external relations and communications.

Meir Pugatch explains which jurisdictions offer IP owners the best protection for their IT innovations

Utility model rights have a number of advantages over patents. Correspondents in seven jurisdictions explain the benefits

Barcode technology trialled in Sweden A new anticounterfeiting system to identify genuine medicines is to be piloted in Sweden later this year. The 2D data matrix barcode, revealed last month by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries Associations (EFPIA), contains a unique serial number and when scanned will alert pharmacists to the possibility of a counterfeit product.

Selecting the right venue is a vital step when litigating in China. Peter Ollier explains why plaintiffs may benefit from considering courts beyond Beijing and Shanghai

Questions in a dispute over the sale of counterfeit goods on eBay have been referred to Europe's highest court