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Activist Lawrence Lessig says the outdated copyright system criminalises a generation and needs fundamental changes. But Eileen McDermott finds that practitioners have serious doubts about his proposals. PLUS: Lessig responds to his critics

The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) has issued new guidance on the patentability of computer programs. This follows the Court of Appeal's rejection of the UKIPO's appeal in the recent Symbian case and confirmation that there will be no further appeal to the House of Lords. The key statement in the new guidance is that the Symbian case confirms "that the Aerotel/Macrossan test is intended to be in substance the same test as that relied on in the prior UK case law". Previously, the UKIPO had taken what was arguably a more restrictive approach to the application of the Aerotel test in that identification of a "technical contribution" was treated as only a check to confirm that a computer-implemented invention was patentable once it had passed the other stages of the assessment set out in the Aerotel case (see UKIPO Practice Notice dated November 2 2006).

As a party to the TRIPs Agreement, Singapore accepted the latest amendments to the TRIPS Agreement on September 28 2007 and recently revised the Patents Act to reflect these amendments. With effect from December 1 2008, specific provisions such as sections 2, 56, 60, 62 and 66 of the Patents Act, allow the Singapore Government or any third party authorised by the Government to import any health products or to do anything in relation to the imported health products in times of a national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency.

The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand is implementing some changes to patent practice in New Zealand that are worthy of mention.

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) has published new procedures for opposition practice. These newest revisions replace the procedures effective October 1, 2007. The primary changes wrought by both the 2007 and 2009 procedures involve the grant of extensions of time for various components of the process.

Argentina

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The Netherlands and Belgium have well-established systems for IP enforcement. And, explain Armand Killan and Jean-Christophe Troussel of Bird & Bird, they have been enhanced by the implementation of the IP Enforcement Directive

Copyright owners in the UAE may, before commencing action against service providers residing in the US, have ways to settle potential disputes with those service providers.

Owners of trade marks face a difficult choice when they learn that their products have been counterfeited and are being sold in Malaysia.