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The IP High Court has reversed a Tokyo District Court decision in a groundbreaking decision for Japanese broadcasters. The case pitted KK Digital Kaden against the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) and ten other broadcasting companies, plaintiffs-respondents.

In recent years the Italian Patent and Trade Mark Office has seen an increase in efficiency mainly due to a reorganisation of the work process and the introduction of online filing systems.

Countries trying to tackle the menace of counterfeit drugs are taking various steps to check the entry of unauthorised drugs. However one problem arising from this is that counterfeit drugs are defined differently in various jurisdictions. Many countries consider products that are not registered there as being counterfeit.

In a recent decision (T 1790/06-3.3.08), a Technical Board of Appeal (TBA) of the European Patent Office (EPO) has revoked a patent that was thought to be of fundamental importance in the highly competitive field of RNA interference (RNAi).

Amendments to the following IP laws were published in the Official Gazette number 30/2009 and entered into force on March 17 2009:

The first term of registration of a trade mark in China is 10 years counting from the date of expiry of the three-month opposition period. For a trade mark application subject to opposition, it usually takes a few years for a decision to be rendered by the China Trade Mark Office (CTMO) and a longer period if the decision is subject to review by the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB), and further appeal to the court. By the time TRAB or a court issues a decision allowing registration of the trade mark in issue, its first term of registration may have already expired.

Top copyright firms ranked in 19 jurisdictions. Plus: Eileen McDermott explores some areas in which the internet has highlighted a need for change in copyright law

Businesses should not abandon IP securitisation because of the credit crisis. Instead, argues Stanley Lai, this financing method could make a comeback in Asia

Shape trade marks have been a part of the South African trade mark landscape since the adoption of the South African Trade Marks Act 1994. The fundamental tenet of the South African trade mark regime is that a trade mark must be capable of distinguishing the goods of one person from those of another. In so far a shape is capable of fulfilling this function it will be registrable as a trade mark. The Act does curtail the registrability of shapes that consist exclusively of the shape of goods where that shape is necessary to obtain a specific technical result, or results from the nature of the goods themselves.

From pharmaceuticals to telecoms, software and even copyright licensing, antitrust authorities are clamping down on abuses of IP rights. James Nurton, Eileen McDermott and Peter Ollier examine why IP is under scrutiny and discuss some pending cases and investigations