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In 1993, the European Community and Hungary concluded an agreement on the reciprocal protection and control of the names of wines. In order to protect the Hungarian geographical indication Tokajj as of March 2007 the agreement prohibited the use of the name Tocai for the famous Italian wine produced in the Friuli region, east of Venice.

Artists' resale right schemes, often also called droit de suite, have been a part of the law of a number of European countries since the 1920s. However, the disparity between those national systems that did recognize a resale right and the lack of a resale right in other member states prompted the European Commission to adopt harmonizing measures in the form of EU Directive 2001/84/EC on the resale rights of authors of original works of art. The object of the Directive is to confer the same benefits on authors/creators of graphic or plastic art, such as pictures, collages, paintings, sculptures and engravings, as other creators of artistic works who benefit from successive exploitations of their works. The Directive was passed on September 27 2001 and member states had until January 1 2006 to transpose it into domestic law.

On February 15 the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic received comments on the registrability of the published indication Euro Region propag, applied for by a Czech town. The indication was filed in classes 9, 16 and 4 as a colour combined trade mark. The indication is created by the word elements Euro, Region and propag, placed one above another in an oblong field, where the letter O in the work Region is created by a circle of blue stars, corresponding to the symbol of European Community.

The Austrian Supreme court recently ruled on the duration of supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) based on so-called old Austrian national patents, which were filed prior to December 1 1984. These patents had a duration of 18 years from the day of laying open to public inspection (and at least 20 years from the date of filing).

On January 1 2006 a new obligation law introducing non-material damages in Croatian court procedures came into force. The law for the first time provides legal entities with an opportunity to claim non-material damages based on injury to their personal rights in court procedures.

Putting a value on IP during licensing negotiations can be a complicated business. Regina Quek of One Legal LLC outlines some useful approaches and explains the issues that licensees and licensors need to take into account

In the race to attract overseas investment and nurture home-grown companies, governments in Asia are doing what they can to make life easier for business. Singapore is leading the way, says Emma Barraclough

The Singapore courts, after a period of relative calm, have considered and interpreted the Trade Marks Act in a spate of recent cases. Dedar Singh Gill, Paul Teo and Yvonne Tang of Drew & Napier outline the latest trade mark litigation developments

Marlous Stal-Hilders of Nederlandsch Octrooibureau provides a brief outline of the advantages and disadvantages of the various systems available for protecting trade marks in Europe

Singapore's Registrar of Patents has wide powers to revoke a patent once it has been granted. Winnie Tham and Jason Chan of Amica Law LLC explain what the rules mean for IP applicants and challengers alike