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At a meeting in November, EU member states will debate OHIM proposals on the establishment of a cooperation fund to be used to improve trade mark systems in Europe. James Nurton answers your questions about what the fund is and how it will work

Two years ago the USPTO, academics and some of the biggest companies in the US embraced the peer-to-patent project as a way of tackling mounting patent backlogs. In June the pilot scheme was suspended. So what happens next? Eileen McDermott investigates

Sidharth Chopra and J Sai Deepak of Saikrishna & Associates reflect on a busy year in India's courts, which will have ramifications for patent, trade mark and copyright owners

A recent action brought under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), in which Cohen Pontani Lieberman & Pavane LLP (CPLP) prevailed, demonstrates best practices for approaching ACPA actions. The case, Newport News Holdings Corp v Virtual City Vision, Inc, et al (ED Va 2009), involved NNHC, a women's clothing company that owns trade mark registrations for NEWPORT NEWS. The defendants registered the domain name NEWPORTNEWS.COM and initially used it as a virtual city website, but later transformed the website into one offering women's clothing.

For the past few months, the Thai government has been taking aggressive actions against counterfeiting and piracy. Partly as an attempt to reclassify Thailand from the USTR's Priority Watch List to the Watch List and partly in response to concerns expressed by trade mark owners and the film and music industries, government authorities have been formulating new policies and strategies on IP and implementing them in a cohesive fashion. This has included a wave of seizures during the first three months of this year, a new programme encouraging informants to lead authorities to major counterfeiters and public education campaigns.

Mexico is one of the few countries in the world that does not offer the possibility of opposing a trade mark application, since such proceedings are not contemplated in Mexican Industrial Property Law.

A dated, stale trade mark may affect an IP owner's bottom line. Making the mark fluid may be a good solution but also entails risks under Benelux and Community law. Flip Petillion and Cedric Vanleenhove explain how to minimise them

Managing IP profiles some of the most heavily lobbied IP issues worldwide and considers how IP owners and activists shaped the debate - and the outcome

As IP issues move up the political agenda IP owners and their lawyers have their biggest opportunity yet to influence the policy making process. Emma Barraclough and Eileen McDermott explain how to do it

Demand for patents over so-called green business methods is rising, just as standards of patent eligibility in the US have been significantly narrowed. Joseph Helmsen and Ritu Singh explain how to draft claims to meet the new test