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Hoffmann Eitle's Thorsten Bausch investigates why Germany's Federal Patent Court appears to be invalidating more patents than ever before

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Ernest Gutmann-Yves Plasseraud SAS, Lyon

In Common Services Agency v Scottish Information Commissioner, the House of Lords has ruled on the extent to which anonymised information about individuals constitutes "personal data" for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998. The decision makes clear that, in keeping with the EU Directive from which the UK's data protection legislation is derived, disclosure of fully anonymised personal information does not amount to processing of personal data which must be carried out in accordance with the data protection principles.

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.