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Trade mark owners can prevent comparative advertising only if it creates a likelihood of confusion among consumers, according to the ECJ

China's has approved a long-awaited National IP Strategy that commits the government to consider developing specialized IP courts

Australia: The Advisory Council on Intellectual Property (ACIP) is reviewing what constitutes patentable subject matter. ACIP has said the review will look at the appropriateness of the "method of manufacture" test as the threshold requirement for patentable subject matter and expects to circulate an issues paper in July with a request for submissions in September.

K Balaji Majumdar explains how Indian Customs has improved the way in which it enforces IP at the country's borders

Applying for a patent in the United States is a dialogue, largely in writing, between the applicant and the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). The PTO must keep applications secret for at least 18 months after filing, following which most are published. Until the patent issues or the application is published, the dialogue is secret, conducted out of public view. Only the applicant, the applicant's lawyer(s) and an often overworked patent examiner know the application was filed or have a say in whether a patent will issue. Others knowledgeable about the invention's field have no opportunity to comment or present evidence and arguments on whether an invention deserves patent protection.

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).

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

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".