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The US Supreme Court decision in MedImmune gave licensees the right to challenge a licensed patent while continuing to pay royalties. But those patent owners that are responding to the new challenge by redrafting their licences must pay close attention to EU competition rules, say Sangeeta Puran and David Fyfield

Has the US Congress found a way through competing interests to develop patent reform proposals that will satisfy everyone?

With the growth of the biotech industry and the maturing of the first breakthrough inventions, litigation over patents is becoming more frequent and spreading around the world. MIP has selected five important cases from the US, Australia, France and Germany that highlight some of the issues that have arisen in the past year. Emma Barraclough, James Nurton and Peter Ollier look at how the cases developed, and why they are significant for the industry

In my briefing last month, I explained that US patent litigation is governed by the American Rule pursuant to which the prevailing party is not automatically allowed to recover its attorney fees. Rule 54(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, however, states that "costs other than attorneys fees shall be allowed as of course to the prevailing party unless the court otherwise directs". The US Supreme Court has explained that Rule 54 does not provide "unrestrained discretion to tax costs to reimburse a winning litigant for every expense he has seen fit to incur in the conduct of his case" (Farmer v Arbian Am Oil Co, 379 US 227, 235 (1964)). Rather, federal courts are bound by 28 USC Section 1920, which expressly lists the kinds of expenses that a federal court may tax as costs, and the courts have stated that Section 1920 thereby imposes "rigid controls" on cost-shifting in federal courts ((Crawford Fitting Co v J T Gibbons, Inc, 482 US 437, 444 (1987)).

Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor has been a great success in attracting both international companies and high-tech start-ups. James Nurton asked Laura Ho of the Multimedia Development Corporation what is being done to promote IP awareness

Sharmila Sekarajasekaran of the Recording Industry Association of Malaysia explains how music companies have made use of landlord liability rules to make life far harder for music pirates

Timothy Siaw of Shearn Delamore & Co looks at how Malaysia intends to establish itself as a global leader in biotechnology

Plant variety protection is yet another progression in India's IP evolution. Neeti Wilson of Anand and Anand explains how it works

Patent protection for a new dosage regime of a known drug is now available in New Zealand after a decision by the assistant commissioner of patents

Trade mark applicants occasionally use ploys to avoid rejections from the Patent Office. In this case, the applicant filed an application for a design trade mark including a word element. The trade mark application according to the applicant was filed for a designation which consisted of a still-life including various meat products, pepper bowl and vegetable greens arranged in an artistic manner. Below this artistic piece there was an inscription in the Russian alphabet «» (meaning Meat Row). The inscription was made in lettering which, though understandable by a Russian, was in a peculiar script which is vaguely reminiscent of old Russian writing. The first letter has the shape of an old Russian helmet which in turn perhaps emphasizes in the eyes of the applicant the long-standing traditions of the company. The second word contains a letter that was discarded in the October Revolution of 1917.