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The Saudi Trade Mark Law sets out the rights of a trade mark owner in Saudi Arabia against infringement. Since the law provides protection against infringement only for registered trade marks in Saudi Arabia, unregistered trade marks cannot be enforced. Administrative and legal actions are available against trade mark infringement in Saudi Arabia.

Malaysia acceded to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) on August 16 2006. Thereafter, all PCT patent applications filed on or after that date automatically designated Malaysia. In order to enter the national phase in Malaysia, the time limits under PCT Chapters I and II are before the expiration of 30 months from the priority date under Section 780 of Malaysian Patents Act 1983. However, some of these PCT applications have often missed the 30 months deadline to file a request to enter national phase in Malaysia due to the applicant's failure to file the said request on time.

In recent months, the Mexican Patent Office (IMPI) has changed its practice regarding the time limit to file divisional applications. In cases where divisional applications are filed as a result of a requirement regarding lack of unity of the invention, they must be filed simultaneously with the response to said requirement, rather than at a later date, as was traditionally acceptable.

Liu Shen & Associates, Beijing

EU: The European Commission is to introduce a communication aimed at convincing small and medium-sized enterprises to make more use of IP rights and to take concrete steps to tackle counterfeiting. The objective of the communication, which was published on July 16, is to assist inventors and innovative companies – particularly SMEs – in making informed choices about protecting their IP rights and integrating them into their business plans. The Commission believes that more should be done to promote IP in Europe and it also stressed the creation of a Community patent and an integrated patent jurisdiction.

The EU directive to introduce a US-style Bolar provision promised to harmonise the law on clinical trials. But, says Marina Barnden, inconsistent application has led to uncertainty

Brands such as Wal-Mart and Mattel have suffered from problems caused by foreign manufacturers. Oliver Herzfeld and Richard Bergovoy provide some guidance on how to minimise the risks

As more and more US courts become patent-savvy, it is important to understand the procedural differences between the main venues. Authors in five districts and the ITC answer your questions

The House of Lords made its most important patent ruling in recent times when it clarified the test for obviousness in the UK. How have other courts dealt with this issue?

The Federal Circuit will hear one of its most controversial cases before the end of 2008, as the USPTO appeals a lower district court ruling that its rule changes were unlawful