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Franchising is one of the more popular modes of going into business in the Philippines, whether small, medium sized, or large. They are easy to set up and the franchised business has a built-in support system, and some goodwill attached to it. Because almost all franchise agreements involve a bundle of intellectual property rights, prior to January 1 1998, registration of this type of agreement was mandatory. After that date, registration became voluntary and enforceable in the Philippines, provided it complied with the provisions of the IP Code. The signatories to the registered agreement are certainly the real parties in interest, but in Pepsico Inc doing business in the name and style Pepsico Restaurants International v Emerald Pizza Inc (GR No 153059) promulgated by the Supreme Court on August 14 2007, the Court declared that Pepsico Inc, who was not a party to the franchise agreement, was a real party in interest. The case facts are as follows:

It is a common misperception that people have an absolute right to use their own names in connection with their business or the sale of merchandise. A senior user of a personal name which has acquired secondary meaning will typically be given priority over a junior user of even his or her own personal name if the result will be to avoid confusion.

When it comes to prosecuting a patent application before the Mexican Patent Office, the applicant should remember that the Office does not undertake a completely independent substantive examination of patent applications. Mexico's Law of Industrial Property contemplates that the Office may accept or require the findings of substantive examinations conducted by foreign patent offices or, where appropriate, a copy of the patent granted by foreign patent offices.

The Italian Council of Ministers has recently approved the bill ratifying the deed of revision of the European Patent Convention 2000 (EPC 2000). The bill is now being examined by the Italian Parliament and its approval is expected by the date that the Convention comes into force.

The US has introduced new rules for the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. This is what they mean in practice

This year has seen Malaysia experience a positive whirlwind as far as IP rights are concerned. The deployment of specialist tracking dogs to combat software piracy, relentless raids conducted by authorities in their quest to curb piracy, the Prime Minister's declaration of a national IP day on April 27 2007; these are among the very many developments that bear testimony to Malaysia's serious approach to the protection and enforcement of IP rights.

Proprietary and open software have developed in parallel in the US over the past two decades. Craig Bachman and Anne Glazer of Lane Powell examine some legal intersections between the two models

The Croatian Parliament has enacted amendments to the Trade Mark Law, some of which went into effect on July 31 2007.

Protection for IP rights in the Dominican Republic is much better than it used to be, thanks to a reorganized registry, effective Customs and efficient courts. Wendy Diaz discusses the latest developments and explains how they can help rights owners

Céline SA, a famous clothing company, and owner the trade mark Celine, sued clothing boutique Company Céline SARL, Inc, and won at first instance before the French courts.