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Under the Singapore Trade Marks Act, a trade mark application may be opposed on the ground that it is made in bad faith. The question is, when does bad faith arise, and are there any steps an applicant can take to prevent his mark from being refused on this ground? In a recent High Court case, the issue of bad faith was discussed at some length.

Unbeknown to many, the DVD logo pictured above belongs to the DVD Format/Logo Licensing Company of Japan (DVD FLLC). In the 1990s Hitachi, Philips, Matsushita, Mitsubishi, JVC, Pioneer, Sony, Thomson, Time Warner and Toshiba developed a standard media format with accompanying specifications. From this came the DVD logo and a set of rules for using it. Only authorized manufacturers may apply the corresponding logo to their goods.

Disputes concerning trade marks in Russia are examined primarily at the Chamber of Patent Disputes of the Russian PTO. Sometimes the Rules of the Russian PTO, which are the guiding light for the Board of the Chamber, do not cover all the eventualities in the practice of the Russian PTO.

In GlaxoSmithkline Philippines v Khalid Mehmood Malik and Muhammad Ateeque, decided by the Supreme Court on August 17 2006 (GR No 166924), the Court ruled that unless there is a clear showing of arbitrariness, "the determination of whether there is reasonable ground to believe that the accused is guilty of the offense charged and should be subjected to the expense, rigors and embarrassment of trial is an executive function exclusively of the prosecutor."

According to Article 130 of Mexican Industrial Property Law, a trade mark must be in continuous and uninterrupted use for at least three consecutive years from the date when the registration is granted. If use of a mark does not commence within this period of time, the mark will become vulnerable to a cancellation action due to non-use which can be brought by any third party with a legal interest. This legal action is brought before the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI).

US burger chain McDonald's has been involved in a number of lawsuits and other legal cases involving trade mark issues in its 66-year history. In Malaysia, they have now successfully protected their interests and obtained the exclusive use of the Mc prefix following a five-year legal tussle with McCurry Restaurant (KL). The Malaysian High Court has ruled that McDonalds has an exclusive right to "Mc" and it is the trade mark of the US fast food company.

Article 31 of the Patent Act, which previously limited the scope of patentable plant inventions to "a variety of plant that reproduces itself asexually," has been abolished by recent amendments to the Patent Act, which became effective on October 1 2006.

The Indian music industry has grown rapidly over the years and has become a major business in India along with the country's famous film industry colloquially known as Bollywood. As a result, copyright cases that affect the industry are closely watched. A recent case is Super Cassettes Industries Ltd v Chanda Cassettes Pvt Ltd 2006 (33) PTC (Del), where the Delhi High Court attempted to frame a test of balance of convenience in a copyright infringement case. The appeal was against the decision of the Additional District Judge denying the plaintiffs an interim injunction.

By an amendment to the Patents Act earlier this year, Finland became one of the 14 countries where the Patent Law Treaty (PLT) has entered into force.

In a recent judgment (C-431/04), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has gone against the Opinion of the Advocate General and ruled that the German courts were correct in rejecting an application for a supplementary protection certificate (SPC) for the chemotherapeutic Gliadel.