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The different handling of the same nullity grounds by national courts of EPC member states and by the EPO is generally considered one of the obstacles to a unified patent practice in Europe. The Olanzapin decision as handed down by the German Federal Supreme Court last year was therefore welcomed as a major move bringing German validity practice towards EPO practice, at least as far as novelty is concerned. In fact, it seems that German courts handling nullity cases now follow the EPO's photographic novelty test.

A couple of years ago Belgium launched the tax shelter system (a tax regime allowing a company to invest in the support of the audiovisual production in order to benefit from an exemption from its taxable profits up to 150% of the effectively paid sums). Following this, in July 2008, a new law concerning the copyrights and neighbouring rights tax system was adopted, as part of the legislator's aim to promote art, develop cultural creation and improve the status of the artists.

The EU has set out rules for determining whose law applies to contractual or non-contractual conflicts. Aurélia Marie outlines how they should be applied to cross-border IP disputes

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

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.

Rodrigo Calderón Ponce of Uhthoff Gomez Vega & Uhthoff examines an amendment to the health law that bodes well for biotech companies

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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