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The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, IPOPhil, officially launched its new service called TM Online on April 25 2006. After encountering some initial problems, TM Online became available to the public in May 2006. This project is not new. As early as November 26 2004, IPOPhil issued Office Order No. 25 Series of 2004, amended by Office Order No. 42, providing for the rules on the trade mark electronic filing system. However, its implementation was deferred following demand from practitioners for clearer rules. The following are the requirements for using TM Online:

Business method patents, granted for particular business models unique to a particular organization, have been the subject of mounting interest and controversy among business leaders in the digital media, internet and e-commerce sector.

The protection of the appearance of a product is often neglected. Companies tend to focus on patents (protecting technical aspects) or on trade marks (protecting the name of a product) but seldom on the shape of the product.

The Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic has decided to issue the Official Journal in an electronic form on the website www.upv.cz.

Several rules of the German Patent Act with regard to oppositions have recently been amended. In order to reduce the backlog of the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (GPTO) in opposition cases, transitional rules were implemented in 2002 that oppositions against German patents filed up to July 2006 have to be handled by the Federal Patent Court instead of by the GPTO. These rules have now been cancelled, so that all oppositions filed from July 1 2006 will again be handled in the first instance by the GPTO.

Following a major amendment to China's Trade Mark Law in October 2001, prior to it becoming a member of the WTO, China intends to amend its Trade Mark Law further. A draft was published on April 18 2006 for public consultation. Some of the proposed changes are as follows:

On July 18 2006, the full court of the Australian Federal Court, in Grant v Commissioner of Patents [2006] FCAFC 120, made a significant pronouncement likely to add confusion to the borders of possible business method patent protection in Australia.

There is controversy in Kenya about a provision of the patent law, highlighted in a statement by the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs and reported in the press on July 28 2006, about the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2005. The Bill, which is still under debate, proposes (among other things) to amend Section 58(2) of the Kenyan Industrial Property Act, 2001.

In accordance with Article 88 of the Mexican Law of Industrial Property (LIP), a trade mark is a visible sign that distinguishes products or services from others of the same kind in the market.

Yoshitaka Sonoda of Sonoda & Kobayashi, Tokyo provides an overview of patent initiatives in Japan, ranging from simplified prosecution for international applicants to the latest decisions from the courts