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In this recent case in Singapore, the applicants, Siemens AG, sought to invalidate the mark Maglev, owned by a Taiwanese company, Sunonwealth Electric Machine Industry Co. Ltd (the respondents). Siemens alleged, among other things, that the respondents' mark is devoid of any distinctive character, has become generic in the trade, and was applied for in bad faith.

Non-conventional trade marks have been widely debated over the past few years. The registration of colours as trade marks constitutes a good example of the reluctance to accept trade marks that are different from the signs with which we are more familiarized. The Portuguese Industrial Property Code for instance determines that colours cannot be registered as trade marks except if combined with other colours or with graphics, slogans or other elements in a peculiar and distinctive way. The registration of a colour per se is therefore expressly excluded.

In order to prove that a trade mark is famous it is necessary to show, among other things, that ordinary customers associate the mark with a high quality of the goods or services on which it is used.

On October 10 2007, imitation Honda general purpose engines were destroyed before students and faculty of the De La Salle University in Bacolod City in compliance with the order of regional trial court judge Roberto Chiongson. The infringing engines, which bore the same shape and colour as the Honda engines, were seized by the National Bureau of Investigation by virtue of search warrants issued by Judge Chiongson on June 22 2005, against three establishments in Bacolod and Iloilo cities. While under preliminary investigation by the Department of Justice, the owner of the raided establishment issued an undertaking to cease and desist from dealing in Honda engines look-alikes, issue public apologies in national newspapers, agree to periodic inspection of his establishments, surrender the imitation Honda engines for destruction, and other commitments. Honda Motor Co Ltd and Honda Philippines Inc accepted these pledges. To ensure that none of the parts of the engines would be re-used, the destruction activity started with dismantling their removable parts, then using acetylene torches to cut the metal block, and lastly manually pounding of the broken parts. The destruction was scheduled in October to celebrate IPR month, and was highlighted with a series of talks on intellectual property held in the university.

The amendment of the Norwegian Customs Act section 39, which was implemented as of September 1 2007, makes it possible for the Customs authorities to notify owners of IP rights if there is probable and reasonable cause to believe that the imported goods are infringing the IP rights. Customs may with this amendment ex officio retain suspected goods for five days and thus give an IP owner the possibility to take action. Before this amendment, it was necessary to obtain an interlocutory injunction from a court in order to enable the Customs to retain suspect goods. The amendment creates a new and better instrument in the battle to fight piracy and counterfeits, making it easier to enforce IP rights. The Norwegian Patent Office will assist the Customs to identify the IP owners, enabling them to notify correctly.

On August 1 2007 a new evidence law came into force in New Zealand called the Evidence Act 2006 (the new Act).

In 2005 the Mexican Congress passed amendments to the Law of Industrial Property (LIP) concerning trade mark notoriety. With this reform, IMPI recognizes two different levels of trade mark protection.

In September 2007 the Court of First Instance of the European Union (CFI) annulled the decision of the Board of Appeal of OHIM with which the registrability of the word mark Grana Biraghi for various types of cheese had been confirmed. According to the Board, the existence of the Grana Padano protected denomination of origin, provided by the Community Regulation, could not obstruct the registration of the Grana Biraghi mark, as the term Grana was considered generic and descriptive of a particular quality of a product.

A monthly column devoted to IP curiosities and controversies, named in honour of John of Utynam - who received the world's first recorded patent in 1449

Australian universities and research institutes have a great deal to offer businesses - as long as their lawyers negotiate the right kind of deal. Peter Hallett and John Golding of Watermark provide a guide