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Companies losing millions of dollars to makers of fakes want consumers to understand that counterfeiting harms legitimate businesses, exploits workers and is often run by criminal gangs with murky links to terrorism. So why do people still buy knock-offs? Peter Ollier took the short journey from Hong Kong to Shenzhen to see how the counterfeit buyers justify their purchases

When business strategy contemplates the expansion of a particular brand or the introduction of a new brand into the US marketplace, it is recommended that US trade mark counsel first be retained to conduct and review a complete US trade mark search to ascertain the availability of the proposed mark for use and registration. Conducting a full search and obtaining the advice of counsel will, among other things, help a trade mark owner understand the potential risks associated with use of a mark in the United States, assist in developing a plan to ensure the ability to obtain a federal trade mark registration and facilitate an approach to avoid infringement of third party rights.

In Taiwan, although a trade mark owner is not required to submit evidence of use of his/her registered mark to the Trademark Office voluntarily, the registered mark will be vulnerable to cancellation if, without justifiable cause, the mark has not been used for three years following its registration or if, after a period of use, use of the mark is discontinued for a period in excess of three years.

Article 3 of the Swedish Patents Act states that no one other than the patent holder or the patent holder's licensee is entitled inter alia to manufacture, offer, launch on the market or use a product which is protected by a patent. A recent judgment addressed the question of what constitutes an offer and when such an offer contravenes the terms of article 3 of the Patents Act as far as pharmaceutical preparations are concerned.

The Polish Parliament has been given a proposal of changes to the Law on Industrial Property (the IP Act). The proposed changes cover several aspects of industrial property protection in Poland, including the protection of trade marks under criminal law. If the proposed changes are implemented, they should have a significant impact on criminal case law.

For the first time in history, the Vatican is working on a law on copyright aimed at protecting the writings, words and images of the Pope, on which there is a real risk of manipulation and speculation.

As Korean industry has rapidly grown, obtaining IP protection has become increasingly important. There have been more patent disputes, and accordingly the costs involved have risen. As a result, industry is now realizing how important it is to resolve disputes as quickly as possible.

Record numbers of trade mark and patent applications were filed in China in 2006, reflecting the growing awareness of IP in the country. But the growth is also putting increasing pressure on the agencies that administer IP rights, say Xuemin Chen and Xiaoguang Yang of Zhongzi Law Office

Chinese and foreign companies are filing patent applications at the State Intellectual Property Office at a phenomenal rate. At the same time, a small but growing number of Chinese applicants are trying to protect their IP rights overseas. Emma Barraclough and Peter Ollier consider the trends behind the statistics

The OECD is to release a report into the economic effects of counterfeiting and piracy later this year. Among other things, it is expected to reveal that almost 60% of seizures of counterfeits by Customs authorities around the world originated from only five countries – Thailand, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia and China.