Search results for

On September 17 2008, the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, which includes the Italian Patent and Trade Mark Office, issued a formal list of all Italian supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) that are still in force, indicating their expiry date. The list is in the form of a legislative decree signed by the relevant minister.

The Full Federal Court has rebuffed an attempt to appropriate the international reputation of the Monster Energy brand drink in Australia in Hansen Beverage Company v Bickfords (Australia) Pty Ltd [2008] FCAFC 181.

Statistics show that in Argentina, as in the rest of the world, there is a constant growth of piracy related to copyrighted works, making adequate copyright protection increasingly relevant.

Austria

In principle, a case record (including briefs and evidence submitted by either party) of a Japanese court is publicly available. However, upon request from a party alleging that the record contains a trade secret, a court may issue: an order to restrict third party inspection of a case record and/or an order to require the addressee, such as counsels and employees of the other party, to maintain confidentiality. Recently, the IP High Court and the Supreme Court decided on the issues relating to these orders.

In a recent ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) of South Africa, Emirates Industries was ordered to withdraw the packaging of its Mister Bean Baked Beans product. The ASA Directorate found that the packaging contravened Clauses 8 and 9 of the ASA Code, in that it exploited the advertising goodwill, and imitated the packaging of, Tiger Brands' Koo Baked Beans.

• WTO report deals blow to US The WTO's panel report in the US-China IP case has confirmed that the USTR lost on the key issue of whether China's thresholds for criminal IP enforcement are too high. The 147-page report, published on January 26, was hailed by Acting US Trade Representative Peter Allegier as "an important victory" but he admitted disappointment over the section on China's criminal enforcement. The findings of the report are the same as those of a preliminary report that was leaked last October.

Australia

The US Federal Trade Commission's campaign against reverse payments between innovator pharmaceutical companies and generics stepped up a gear last month

Trade mark practitioners have broadly welcomed last month's opinion by the European Court of Justice on comparative advertising and trade mark infringement