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The Federal Court of Australia, in Sunnyfield Association v Cronk [2009] FCA 33, recently provided further evidence that the fair basis requirement in Australia is being interpreted more liberally. Fair basis is analogous to the European requirement of sufficiency of description. A more liberal approach in this area is likely to benefit patentees, and that was certainly the case here, where the court upheld decisions of the Commissioner of Patents to reject oppositions filed against the grant of each of two accepted patent applications.

The Federal Circuit last month reversed a lower court ruling that said the USPTO did not have authority to promulgate rules on claims and continuations

Is IP given its due importance in your company? If not, say Andrew Watson and Jordan Hatcher, maybe it's time to stop being a blue personality, and become red or yellow

Patent protection and enforcement can be a complex undertaking in Latin America. Corporate and private practice professionals, and a WIPO representative, discuss strategies

Under the Singapore Patents Act, an applicant can select from a number of options when requesting local substantive examination. These include requesting a combined search and examination report or requesting local examination based on a search report established for a corresponding application or international application.

The vital role of unfair competition law is widely recognised by most modern legal systems. Although there is no absolute definition of unfair competition, there is a general understanding of which types of conduct are considered incorrect or reprehensible.

On October 25 1995 a Polish entrepreneur Tomasz Bednarski conducting business under the company name Optyk Tomek in Warsaw applied for registration of a word trade mark Optometrysta ("optometrist") in class 42 for services such as "examination of eye refraction, selection of spectacles for individual needs, selection of contact lenses for individual needs, selection of telescopic spectacles for individual needs". On August 4 1998, the trade mark was registered by the Polish Patent Office under number R-104424.

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.

In the recent Court of Appeal decision of SV Beverages Holdings Sdn Bhd & Ors v Kickapoo (M) Sdn Bhd, justices Gopal Sri Ram, Heliliah and Ahmad Maarop reviewed a High Court decision allowing an interlocutory injunction.

Online drugs sales and the economic downturn are feeding a cybersquatting boom, according to recent reports. James Nurton and Eileen McDermott report