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As discussed in Managing IP's March edition, it was becoming increasingly unclear whether method of diagnosis claims were allowable in New Zealand. However, Biosite Incorporated, a recently released decision of the Commissioner of Patents [P31/2007], may assist in clarifying practice in New Zealand.

The President has certified the Technology Transfer Act of 2008 as urgent. She did this after heeding the advice of the Departments of Science and Technology, Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources, Health, Trade and Industry, Interior and Local Governments, Commission on Higher Education, and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPhil). The full title of House Bill no 3270 is An Act for Providing the Framework and Support System for the Ownership, Management, Use and Commercialization of Intellectual Property Generated from Research and Development Funded by Government.

Due to the construction boom in the United Arab Emirates, most architects recognize that architectural works are afforded some copyright protection and raise certain questions regarding ownership of the copyright, the benefits of registering the work, protection of their work, etc

The Data Protection Act has been headline news in the past year or so. Various committees and independent reviews are investigating recent breaches of data security and in particular HM Revenue & Customs' loss of data reportedly comprising the banking details of 25 million recipients of child benefit. This was not an isolated incident, with many losses of data and breaches of the data protection requirements uncovered in the private and public sectors since that time. Unsurprisingly there have been numerous calls for a tightening up of the law and for more powers for the UK's enforcement body, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

Since 1995, the Singapore patent system has moved away from a re-registration system to the present examination system. However, applicants could still rely on allowed foreign applications for grant through a two-stage process. An applicant would first furnish details (country of filing, filing dates and application numbers) of all corresponding applications within 16 months of the priority date. Subsequently, the applicant would furnish prescribed information in the form of granted patents or documents setting out the final results of the search and examination of any one of the corresponding applications before 28 months of the priority date.

On June 6 2008, the president of the Philippines signed into law Republic Act no 9052 entitled Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicine Act of 2008. The director-general of the Intellectual Property Office and other appropriate government agencies are mandated to issue the implementing rules and regulations of the Act within 120 days. Republic Act no 9052 contains a number of important points.

The New Zealand government recently passed an Amendment Act to the Copyright Act 1994 which is said to update New Zealand's copyright law to ensure that New Zealand "keeps up to speed with recent advances in digital technology".

Mexican intellectual property law does not provide protection to trade marks that are not inherently distinctive but have attained secondary meaning through use. This means that companies cannot obtain exclusive rights in Mexico over descriptive or generic words, surnames, geographic names or isolated colours and isolated letters, even through continuous and exclusive use or extensive advertisement of the branded products or services (which some jurisdictions deem grounds for proving "acquired distinctiveness").

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