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One of the earliest products that may see a benefit from the paediatric SPC extension in Germany is Merck's Cozaar (losartan potassium). The German SPC is due to expire on September 2 2009, and Merck applied in due time for a paediatric extension with the German Patent Office on February 27 2009, filing an extensive compilation of supporting documents. In accordance with a Notice of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office dated January 28 2009, concerning the implementation and interpretation of the Paediatric Regulation Number 1901/2006, the request for paediatric extension included the results of all studies performed in compliance with the paediatric investigation plan agreed to by the EMEA and also a copy of an EU Commission decision that it has been verified that the application for the corresponding marketing authorisation includes these results.

The most common filing requirements issued by IMPI during the prosecution of a Mexican trade mark application are those concerning "Classification of Goods and Services".

An Amendment Bill to part of the Copyright Act was presented to Congress on March 10 2009. The aim of the amendment is to speed up and advance the circulation of digital content. The amendment is a response to various problems that relate to the exploitation of copyright works on the Internet.

At the time of ratifying the European Patent Convention, Greece filed a reservation based on article 167.2 EPC, prohibiting the patent protection of pharmaceutical products. This reservation remained in force until October 8 1992 and covered all patents for which an application was filed before that date. However, the TRIPs Agreement, which took effect in Greece as of February 9 1995, contains provisions for enhanced protection of pharmaceutical products.

The well-known carmaker Mazda has registered trade marks for the word Mazda and its logo, which are both famous trade marks, in Austria. A firm in the province of Lower Austria offers chip-tuning services for different types of cars. In chip-tuning, chips are built into the electronic command parts of the car to achieve a higher power output of the motor. However, chip tuning also leads to much higher wear, making original warranties and guarantees no longer valid. To advertise its services, the firm runs a website on which it lists the cars for which it offers the service. In doing so, it uses the word marks and the logos of the car manufacturers, among them the marks of Mazda. Mazda sued for trade mark infringement.

On March 3 2009 China Customs issued Decree no 183 to amend the existing Implementing Measures on the Regulations of Custom Protection of Intellectual Property promulgated by Customs on May 25 2004. These will come into force from July 1 2009.

Over the last few years, the courts have made it clear that obviousness-type double patenting applies in Canada and that divisional applications are vulnerable to such an attack. While there is no statutory protection in the case of enforced divisional applications, the Supreme Court of Canada has stated that patents granted on divisional applications "directed by the Patent Office" should not be open to attack by reason only of the original patent. For this reason, we generally recommend first including claims that an applicant may wish to file in a proposed voluntary divisional application in the parent application and awaiting a requisition from the examiner based on lack of unity of invention.

Comparative advertising is a type of advertising in which one's own product or service is compared with a competing product or service. If such ads specifically mention or refer to the trade mark or name of the competing product or service, they are deemed explicit or direct comparative advertising. If neither the trade mark nor the name of the competing product or service are mentioned, but may be easily ascertained by consumers, this is known as implicit or indirect comparative advertising.

Recently, the provisions for non-use of a trade mark in Australia have been examined by the Full Federal Court in E & J Gallowinery v Lion Nathan Australia Pty Limited [2009] FCAFC 27. Lion Nathan had introduced a beer Barefoot Radler into the Australian market and Gallo had a prior registration for Barefoot for wine. After the parties got into a dispute, Lion Nathan applied for removal of the Gallo trade mark for non-use.

Folklore and other forms of traditional knowledge – that is artwork, stories and legends, traditional medicinal preparations, traditional symbols and the like originating from indigenous sources – have become items of commercial significance in the modern world. Traditional communities are seeking protection for their works similar to that enjoyed by IP owners, endowing works with the ability to earn revenue.