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Liliana Chaveznava, David Zamores and Felipe Gutierrez of Panamericana de Patentes y Marcas illustrate the tricky distinction between descriptive and suggestive trade marks

In June 2009, the National Assembly adopted amendments to Vietnam's Criminal Code regarding copyright and related rights offences. Once the amendments take effect on January 1 2010, pursuant to Article 170a, anyone who copies or distributes copyright protected works to the public on a commercial scale without the permission of the copyright owner will be subject to a fine of between D50 million ($2,800) and D500 million ($27,800) or non-custodial reform for up to two years. Convicted offenders may also be banned from holding certain posts, practising certain occupations or doing certain jobs for one to five years.

Supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) have been the subject of several rulings. In the Dutch briefing of the October 2009 issue of MIP, the recent European Court of Justice ruling is discussed. This ruling allows the granting of more than one SPC to different parties based on the same marketing authorisation. Additionally, in September 2009 the court in The Hague (Rechtbank 's-Gravenhage) issued two decisions in SPC cases.

Since its creation in 2005, Japan's IP High Court has been viewed and often criticised as being quite harsh with patent holders because the rate of invalidation of patents in patent infringement cases by the court has been quite high. It is unclear whether the court is responding to such criticism, but at least one of its four divisions has begun rendering multiple opinions that almost appear to emulate the tests for determining inventive step in the European Patent Office (EPO) examination guidelines, and which also resemble at least part of the CAFC's former (pre-KSR) teaching-suggestion-motivation (TSM) test on obviousness in the US.

A Supplementary Protection Certificate (SPC) can be granted in Norway for pharmaceuticals for humans and animals and plant protection products. This may extend the total period for actual patent protection up to 25 years, that is an additional five years of patent protection beyond the normal 20 years.

Magistrate Luz Maria Anaya Dominguez is president of the three-judge panel that heads Mexico's specialised IP court in Mexico City. She told Eileen McDermott how she got there and where the Court is going

The Federal Circuit recently injected some clarity into a key principle of patent damages known as the entire market value rule (EMVR). The EMVR allows a winning patentee to collect damages based on sales of unpatented technology if it is sold with patented technology, such as a patented muffler in an otherwise un-patented car. Applying EMVR, the market value of the entire car would be used as a starting point to calculate the appropriate value of the patented muffler. The EMVR can also be used to establish the value of a patented product, like a razor, if it leads to sales of additional, unpatented follow-on products, like razorblades.

While companies are making tough decisions about where to cut budgets in a sagging economy, José Luis Ramos Zurita of Uhthoff Gomez Vega & Uhthoff explains why enforcing IP rights is one area in which they should continue to invest

Victor Garrido of Dumont Bergman Bider & Co considers the complexities surrounding patent applications for computer programs and business methods in Mexico, and offers advice for successfully navigating IMPI's restrictions on such inventions

Luis Schmidt of Olivares & Cia provides an overview of the global struggle between copyright and traditional knowledge