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As a measure to help tourism businesses in Croatia to successfully address the financial crisis, the Croatian government adopted an action plan by which it proposed a 50% reduction in the royalty fee paid to copyright owners for public performance of their copyrighted musical works. Apparently those members of the government responsible for the plan believe that the reduction of copyright royalties will benefit hotel/restaurant businesses, which in past years have complained about the need to pay royalties for public performances of copyrighted works.

Following consultation in November/December 2008 (see Managing IP, December 2008), on April 22 2009 the Supreme People's Court of China issued the Interpretation of Certain Questions on Application of Law Relating to the Protection of Well-Known Marks in the Adjudication of Civil Disputes which came into force on May 1 2009. Though most of the original proposals in the consultation draft are adopted, there are certain changes.

FIFA has secured its first ruling against ambush marketers, earning a court judgment against Pretoria's Eastwoods Tavern. The popular sports bar is located close to the Loftus stadium, one of the venues that will host games during next year's Soccer World Cup tournament.

In May 2009, Vietnam's National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) vowed to clarify various ambiguities surrounding patentability of use claims in Vietnam. At present, the NOIP interprets the relevant provisions of Vietnam's Law on Intellectual Property as prohibiting use claims. Each patent examination division in the NOIP treats this matter in different ways.

A monthly column devoted to IP curiosities and controversies, named in honour of John of Utynam - who received the world's first recorded patent in 1449

The launch of Google's Street View service in the UK last month caused many commentators to condemn the service as a breach of privacy and basic human rights. The residents of one Buckinghamshire village were so outraged at the idea of their houses being photographed for the service that when the Google car arrived to snap the village, they formed a human barrier forcing the car to turn around (ironically drawing more attention to themselves than if they had just let the car through).

One of the cornerstones of the copyright system is the idea/expression dichotomy, which sets forth that only the original expression of ideas is to be protected, rather than the ideas themselves. This principle poses important challenges for the creative industries, since the distinction between an idea and the expression of that idea is sometimes unclear.

The Court of Appeal has unanimously upheld an appeal by McCurry Restaurant (KL), allowing McCurry to use the prefix Mc in the name of its restaurant. In this case, McDonald's Corporation's claim against McCurry at the High Court was premised on the fact that McCurry is liable for passing-off for using the prefix Mc in its name.

In a recent judgment (Number 229/2009), in the context of provisional measures proceedings, the Athens Single Bench Court of First Instance granted an injunction against a hotelier who was using the composite sign "Athens Easy Hotel" in white lettering with an orange background in the course of his business. The EasyGroup company owned by Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the serial entrepreneur, which owns the easy brand including various CTM registrations, such as Easy Hotel and Easy Hostel, sought injunctive relief against the defendant.

Pursuant to section 45 of the Canadian Trade-marks Act, any person may request that the Registrar give notice to a registered owner that the owner must show use of its mark in association with the goods and services identified in the registration. Such cancellation notices may be sent at any time following three years of registration. The procedure, administered by the Trade-mark Opposition Board, generally through specialised hearing officers, is aimed at the efficient and expeditious removal of deadwood from the register. Deadwood is particularly a problem owing to the lengthy term of initial protection, namely fifteen years, as opposed to the more common ten years.