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Andrew Hammond of Valea looks back at the lead-up to the EPO Enlarged Board’s recent decision regarding divisional applications and forward to its possible consequences

Three years ago the European Patent Office launched an innovative project to consider how the IP environment may evolve by 2025. What they discovered will have far-reaching consequences for IP users, owners and policy makers, says project leader Shirin Elahi

Peter Ollier, Hong Kong

Reverse engineering can be defined as copying a competitor's technology by dismantling an existing product and reproducing its parts and construction to manufacture a replica. Does this amount to copyright infringement? Does copying the drawing or the article made from the drawing constitute taking the idea or the expression of the design? In Malaysia, there are two views on the matter.

The Labour Contract Law of China was adopted on June 29 2007 and promulgated on the same date. It will come into effect on January 1 2008.

In a dangerous development for patent holders, the Australian government, in an adventurous move, has accepted the recommendation of the Australian Council on Intellectual Property (ACIP) to introduce an experimental use exemption (EUE) under the Patents Act. To be clear, this is not an amendment to the law, but constitutes the introduction of a statutory EUE where previously none existed. Moreover, the notion of an EUE does not feature in our precedent law.

Verimark is the market leader in South Africa in the field of television marketing in which so-called infomercials are used. Two of its products are Diamond Guard car care kit and Diamond Guard car polish, which have been widely advertised and sold since 1996. Throughout this period, Verimark used vehicles of different makes, but especially BMW cars, to demonstrate these products.

The effective implementation of the so-called Paediatric Regulation (Regulation 1901/2006, as amended) is taking place. The Regulation came into force in January 2007, but the necessary measures for the implementation of the Regulation are only now under way. In particular, the newly established Paediatric Committee (PDCO) held its first meeting on July 4 to 5 2007, where it set out its future action plan. The meeting was chaired by Daniel Brasseur, former chair of the Paediatric Working Party, pending the election of a chair by the PDCO in September 2007.

On December 12 2007, EU Directive 2005/29/EC on Unfair Commercial Practices (UCPD) will enter into force in the member states. The Directive fully harmonizes rules within the EU regarding business-to-consumer (B2C) relations and is a big step towards creating a pan-European advertising market without borders. It means that it will be possible to use common advertising campaigns throughout the EU.

James Nurton, London