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The trade in counterfeits is on the increase and therefore causing problems for companies across industries. In order to stop the sale of counterfeits, companies are faced with the challenge of finding the most effective and cost-efficient measures to protect their products.

In the recent decision of Polo/Lauren Company LP v Ziliani Holdings Pty Ltd [2008] FCA 49, the Federal Court has closed off the capability of trade mark owners to shut down parallel importation of a genuine product using our Copyright Act.

Among non-registrable designations the Russian Trade Mark Law operative until January 1 2008 (and possibly the laws of the other countries) mentions the official names and images of exceptionally valuable cultural heritage objects of the Russian Federation. In this regard it is interesting to study a recent decision of the Chamber of Patent Disputes of the Russian PTO. The case concerns the cancellation of the Russian word trade mark Baikal, registration number 297,460. Baikal is a lake in Siberia characterized by exceptional natural properties. It is a unique ecological system and a UNESCO world natural heritage site. UNESCO has a catalogue of the World Cultural Heritage and also issued Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention.

At the ninth session of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore at WIPO in Geneva, the South African Minister for Science and Technology, Mosibudi Mangena, presented a working document on an Indigenous Knowledge Systems Policy for South Africa.

The Trade Marks Act 1999, which came into force on September 15 2003, was India's successful attempt to harmonize its trade mark laws with the requirements of TRIPs, as it differentiates between well-known trade marks and trade marks generally. The 1999 Act deals extensively with the facts to be considered and methods to be adopted by the Registrar in protecting a well-known trade mark while considering an application for registration of an identical or similar mark in any class or classes of goods or services, whether the proprietor of such a well-known mark be an Indian or a foreign company, as well as at the same time protecting the interests of good faith proprietors. The courts in India, however, already afforded protection to such well-known trade marks against illegal copying, even before the introduction of the provisions in the Trade Marks Act 1999.

Canada has its own classification system for designs comprising 50 classes and 220 subclasses, compared to the Locarno System, which has 32 classes and 102 subclasses. The Design Office is studying the possibility of utilizing the Locarno classes together with more detailed subclasses from the Canadian classification system, thereby permitting Canada to harmonize with other IP offices.

The trade in counterfeits is on the increase and therefore causing problems for companies across industries. In order to stop the sale of counterfeits, companies are faced with the challenge of finding the most effective and cost-efficient measures to protect their products.

Eileen McDermott, New York

Peter Ollier, Hong Kong

Eileen McDermott, New York