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There have been nearly $70 billion worth of deals in the pharmaceutical industry in 2008, almost double the value of last year. Eklavya Gupte investigates the reasons why there is so much activity and finds out how IP is driving the deals

In order to restrain a party from going forward with an infringing act, in Taiwan, a patentee may seek preliminary injunction against said party according to Article 538 of the Code of Civil Procedure before or pending the disposition of a litigation.

When filing a US patent application claiming priority to a corresponding non-English language foreign patent application, it is important to be alert to possible translation errors. If a patent issues with a translation error in the claim, that claim may be held to be invalid for indefiniteness under 35 USC, Section 112. Alternatively, the error in the translation may result in a judge interpreting the claims more narrowly than the original claim, such that an accused product may be found to be non-infringing.

In Common Services Agency v Scottish Information Commissioner, the House of Lords has ruled on the extent to which anonymised information about individuals constitutes "personal data" for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998. The decision makes clear that, in keeping with the EU Directive from which the UK's data protection legislation is derived, disclosure of fully anonymised personal information does not amount to processing of personal data which must be carried out in accordance with the data protection principles.

In the US, a particular word or symbol which is not used as a source identifier for products being sold, but is instead used to inform purchasers that the goods or services of a third party possess certain characteristics or meet certain qualification standards established by another person, is known as a certification mark.

Thailand has recently adopted new legislation on product liability. The Unsafe Goods Liability Act, which will come into effect in February 2009, was designed to protect consumers who incur damage from defective products by imposing strict liability on those involved in the production and sale of the products.

The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) is shifting its policy focus from fast-for-all examinations to customer-tailored high quality examinations. Under the proposed system (scheduled to start on October 1 2008), KIPO will allow applicants to choose one of three examination tracks: accelerated, normal, or delayed examination.

The high speed of IT developments has made it hard for the government to legislate for the internet. But Dipak Rao and Ravi Singhania of Singhania & Partners argue that it is catching up

Because infringers sometimes cooperate, brands must do so, argue Ramesh Babu and Abhai Pandey of Lex Orbis, New Delhi

Applying for a patent in the United States is a dialogue, largely in writing, between the applicant and the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). The PTO must keep applications secret for at least 18 months after filing, following which most are published. Until the patent issues or the application is published, the dialogue is secret, conducted out of public view. Only the applicant, the applicant's lawyer(s) and an often overworked patent examiner know the application was filed or have a say in whether a patent will issue. Others knowledgeable about the invention's field have no opportunity to comment or present evidence and arguments on whether an invention deserves patent protection.