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On the occasion of our last article of the year 2007, we thought it might be useful to compare past and present.

After the widely reported Häupl v Lidl case at the European Court of Justice (ECJ C–246/05), concerning the starting date of the five-year period in which to start use of international marks and about the validity of reasons for the excuse of non-use, we have now achieved a further referral to the ECJ by the Austrian Supreme Patent and Trade Mark Senate, the court of last instance in cancellation proceedings, in the case Silberquelle v Maselli over the trade mark WELLNESS for non–alcoholic beverages.

In an article in the November 2006 issue of Managing IP we reported the revival in Cape Verde of a Portuguese Code dated 1940, and proposed new IP laws for that country.

Entering into a sales agency agreement with an entity which has sales experience or relationships in a particular industry can often be a productive mechanism for a trade mark owner to expand its brand and to meet customers in a foreign country. When drafting an agency agreement, trade mark owners typically insist on a provision stipulating that the laws of a specific jurisdiction will govern in the event of a dispute under the agreement.

A recent patent assignment dispute in Taiwan addressed important issues.

There is no doubt that substantial efforts have been effected in Mexico to improve trade mark protection, such as those contained in the 2005 amendment to the Mexican Industrial Property Law, where the possibility to obtain declarations for well-known and famous trade marks has been established. However, it is worth mentioning the potential advantages of establishing a trade mark opposition procedure (TOP) in Mexico, in order to provide the owners of registered trade marks with a legal action to prevent registration of new trade marks which may conflict with previous acquired rights.

A recent (February 12 2007) judgment of Commercial Court 4 in Barcelona makes an interesting contribution to two issues: imitation and the requirements for imitation to be unlawful.

Managing IP and Finnegan Henderson jointly hosted a roundtable in Beijing to discuss how to develop an enforcement strategy in China

Trade marks reproducing familar words are popular among people, even more so if they allude to sexuality. Any moves around such marks provoke interest: what will come next? The Chamber of Patent Disputes of the Russian PTO recently busied itself with Kamasutra.

On October 26 2007, the Italian Official Gazette published a decree of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development (which is in charge of the Italian Patent and Trade Mark Office) indicating – among other issues – its willingness to reach an agreement with the European Patent Office on prior art searches of Italian patent applications.