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The Delhi High Court has made a ruling in a recent trade mark case that has implications for the media industry in India. Warner Brothers had filed a suit against the proprietors of Mirchi Movies over the title of the latter's film Hari Puttar – A Comedy of Terrors, for being too similar to its Harry Potter franchise thereby infringing the plaintiffs' registered trade mark and diluting the goodwill of the plaintiffs and demanded stay on the release of the movie. Based on the alleged phonetic and structural similarity between the titles Harry Potter and Hari Puttar it was alleged that the defendants rode on the popularity of the plaintiffs.

Based on German 3-D-mark 399 06 072 (figure 1) registered for consumption-ready cereals and desserts in classes 29 and 30, German company Alois Müller GmbH & Co has obtained an interlocutory injunction against Italian company Milkon Alto Adige ordering it not to distribute in Germany its yoghurt product (figure 2), which also uses a two-chamber yoghurt cup (Civil Court Munich, file 4HK O 8370/08).

In Mexico, the Mexican Trademark Office (TMO) has been reluctant to grant registrations for composite trade marks, especially those involving the protection of the shape of bottles. Arguably, this is because the TMO improperly focuses its analysis solely on the shape of the bottle, without studying the collection of elements as a whole.

The recent Australian High Court case of Northern Territory v Collins [2008] HCA 49 highlights the problems of the Australian contributory infringement legislation. The legislation was originally introduced in an attempt to align Australia's patent laws with those of the United States and other major countries. However, the convoluted operation of the legislation has left it doubtful that it applies to method patents per se.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) of South Africa has ruled that the image of "Aunt Caroline" on Tiger Brands' Aunt Caroline rice product, as apart from the Aunt Caroline brand, is worthy of protection.

Selma Toplu Ünlü and Özge Atilgan of Mehmet Gün & Partners outline the likelihood of confusion and the relevant public in the world of pharmaceutical trade marks

Riza Ferhan Cagirgan of Gur Law Firm discusses the development of IP litigation in a developing country

Aydin Deris and Okan Çan of Deris Patents and Trademark Agency and Deris Law Office outline Turkish trade mark rights enforcement procedure and recent legislative developments

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Ersin Dereligil of Destek Patent Inc outlines the structure of Turkish patent prosecution and highlights some recent developments