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IP's intangible nature does little to bolster investor confidence in biotechnology. Roya Ghafele, who works as an economist at WIPO, says that biotechnology is insufficiently funded due to a lack of awareness of the value of patents among both borrowers and investors

Africa: The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), which covers 16 English-speaking countries, has revised its patent fees: a basic application fee is now $250, plus $75 per country designated. The examination report fee is $250, as is the search report fee. The publication fee is $300. The new fees came into effect on April 1.

How you prosecute a patent can affect how enforceable the right is. Blayne Peacock and Tim Watkin explain why legal changes in Singapore could mean that applicants face unexpected consequences if they try to patent on the cheap in one of Asia's burgeoning R&D centres

The test for trade mark infringement, as applied by US trade mark tribunals, is whether there exists a likelihood of confusion between two marks. In determining whether a likelihood of confusion exists between two conflicting marks, a comparison is made based on the marks' sight, sound and meaning.

In line with changes made to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) as of April 1 2007, the Singapore Patents Act and Rules have been amended. The amendments make it possible, for patent applications filed on or after April 1 2007 in Singapore, to extend the convention deadline up to two months and correct a missing part of a patent specification, without losing the priority date, subject to filing relevant documents before a specific time period.

The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) recently released a decision of particular significance to the pharmaceutical industry. The decision follows a hearing at IPONZ on the patentability of Swiss claims where the novelty of the claimed subject matter resides in a dosage regime, rather than the active ingredient or the disease to be treated.

Once perceived as a haven for pirates, Malaysia has responded with a positive salvo to eliminate this negative outlook. With a view to attracting and safeguarding local and foreign investment in the country, the authorities have been using various measures to eradicate this menace.

On April 1 Korea concluded historic free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with the US. Korea has a $1 trillion economy and is the United States's seventh largest partner in trading goods, while the US is Korea's second largest market, importing 17% of Korean exports. In general, the FTA will eliminate tariffs and other restraints on trade in addition to strengthening economic ties between the two countries.

Irish writers and performers have welcomed a recent decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) which concerned Commission proceedings against Ireland in respect of Directive 92/100/EEC of November 19 1992 on rental rights and lending rights and on certain rights related to copyright in the field of intellectual property. In Commission v Ireland, C-175-05, the ECJ held that Irish copyright legislation which exempted all categories of public lending establishments from paying royalties to authors and performers breached Ireland's obligations under the directive. Similar Commission proceedings had also been brought against Spain (which intervened on behalf of Ireland), Portugal and Belgium.

During a request for a declaration of partial nullity of a supplementary protection certificate (SPC), the Nullity Department of the Austrian Patent Office had to decide whether stating a wrong authorization to place a product on the market in the Community (EU/EEA) as a medicinal product would be a ground to declare partial nullity of an SPC insofar as the duration of the granted SPC extends beyond the date calculated by using the correct first marketing authorization.