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Companies from Reebok to Pfizer have succeeded in enforcing their rights in Latin America over the past year. Emily Downes reports on the lawyers who go undercover to tackle the pirates

IP owners should not ignore the administrative tools available besides selecting legal prosecution against infringers in protecting their IP rights in China, argue Dong Jiangxiong and Wu Yuhe

Restrictions on investment agreements and IP rights came under scrutiny in a recently decided case heard in the UK.

The act of using a registered trade mark for the designated goods of that registered trade mark usually constitutes an act of infringement when performed by a third party with no direct rights thereto. Such acts are naturally subject to injunction and damage compensation. However, the case is not so clear-cut in the situation where the third party is importing trade marked goods which are genuine articles manufactured by one having the right to use the trade mark and legitimately purchased in another country (so-called parallel importation). In 1970, the Osaka District Court made it clear that parallel importation of trade marked goods may, in some circumstances, not constitute infringement. Similar decisions have since been issued by other lower courts.

To fulfil its obligations under the Convention of Biological Diversity, conserve biological resources, enable their sustainable use, provide for equitable benefit sharing and check biopiracy, India has enacted the Biological Diversity Act 2002.

The China Trade Mark Office (TMO) has recently issued the new Regulations for Recognition and Protection of Well-Known Marks (the Regulations), effective June 1 2003, to replace the 1996 version. The Regulations further clarify the implementation of the Trade Mark Law regarding well-known mark recognition and protection.

Niall Tierney considers the impact of three recent rulings from the European Court of Justice on the registration of functional shapes and smells as trade marks

Wojciech Wlodarczyk of Patpol explains that Poland has a well-established history of strong trade mark protection. And further improvements are expected in the coming years

A recent dispute over a famous trade mark in Russia demonstrates the importance of filing early registrations. Riikka Palmos of Nevinpat explains the lessons from the DISCARDIT cases

For many years international IP owners struggled to retain the use of their rights in India. Even the courts weren't the most helpful. As India becomes more international, the situation is changing quickly, argue S Chakraborty and A Bose