Search results for

New Zealand for the most part has rather antiquated intellectual property legislation. The Trade Marks Act was in force for nearly 50 years before being replaced in 2002 and the Patents Act has been in force for more than 50 years. In a flurry of activity, two IP-related pieces of legislation were passed in late 2006 and there are several other draft bills being considered.

In December 2006 the Italian government definitively reintroduced filing fees and annuity fees on patents for industrial inventions and for utility models as well as fees on the registration of designs.

Bilateral trade between India and the US has increased exponentially over the past two decades, and gathered a full head of steam last year. In March 2006, US president Bush visited India for a meeting with prime minister Manmohan Singh on increased global partnership between the two nations. This was well received and very successful. This meeting was followed by meetings of the CEO Forum, the Trade Policy Forum and the Commercial Dialogue and High Technology Group, a clear indication of the two countries' desire to work together.

Ever since EU Regulation 1768/92 implemented supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) in the European Union, the unclear wording of various provisions of the Regulation has led to numerous decisions by courts throughout Europe.

On December 14 2006, the Court of First Instance (CFI) upheld that Community trade mark applications representing deer heads with the word "Venado" were confusingly similar to earlier trade marks consisting of a deer's head with a cross surrounded by a halo and the word "Jägermeister".

Our firm has virtually abandoned filing applications on paper. We feel that online filing is safer than paper filing, provided that some sensible precautions are taken.

On December 8 2006 the Administrative Council of the EPO took a further step in the implementation of EPC 2000, which will come into force this year. The Council reviewed and approved the Amendments to the Implementing Regulations to the EPC 2000.

The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic has considered an appeal against decisions of courts of lower instances in the case of the infringement of trade mark rights (8Tdo239/2004).

On January 8 2007, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce issued a measure which aims to strengthen the value of Chinese brands. By giving local brands a special status, and by promoting and protecting these brands, it hopes to boost the sale and export of local branded goods. As these gain popularity, it also hopes that the competitiveness of Chinese goods as a whole in the world market will increase.

The Patent Appeal Board in Canada recently issued its decision following a hearing at which we challenged the decision of an examiner regarding inter alia the patentability of subject matter. The claims were directed to a system for trading diamonds from remote computer terminals in communication with a host computer, including the use of data structures for presenting diamond characteristics in an orderly and structured manner. The examiner's rejection reflected a trend in Canada of examiners rejecting claims to less than fully tangible inventions, or to what can be loosely called business methods.