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Litigation and dispute resolution can be a costly and time-consuming business. Clients looking for reassurance from their legal advisers would often like those advisors to "put their money where their mouth is" and shoulder at least some of the financial risks of the legal action by working under a so-called no win – no fee payment arrangement. However, such arrangements are not as simple as their name suggests and those considering such arrangements would be wise to remember that "if it looks too good to be true, it probably is". For example, a losing party will generally be required by the court to meet the costs of the other side. Such costs would not be affected by a no win – no fee arrangement. Accordingly, no win would nevertheless still result in a significant financial outlay for the losing party, even if they did not have to pay their advisor' fees.

Some US courts have embraced the aesthetic functionality doctrine to the detriment of trade mark owners. But recent court decisions limiting the applicability of the doctrine should provide some comfort to trade mark owners. Tywanda Lord considers the latest legal developments

The US has, until now, been the preferred habitat of the patent troll. But assertive licensing companies are becoming increasingly aware of how they can use Europe's fragmented system of patent rules to their negotiating advantage, explain William Cook and Dafydd Bevan

China has long been criticized for failing to enforce IP rights. Now, after years of thinly veiled threats, the US has taken the matter to the WTO. Peter Ollier considers what may happen next, and how the row will affect IP owners

Deals between patent owners and open source distributors using the GNU General Public Licence version 3 would be blocked if the latest draft of the GPL is adopted

Has the US Congress found a way through competing interests to develop patent reform proposals that will satisfy everyone?

A company at the heart of the controversy over compulsory licensing for pharmaceuticals in Thailand is to reduce the price it charges for one of its key drugs

A trade description order can be a useful enforcement tool. But Kherk Ying Chew and Sri Sarguna Raj of Wong & Partners warn that it is a double-edged sword

Karen Abraham of Shearn Delamore & Co outlines Malaysia's ew approach to sniffing out piracy and combating counterfeiting

The Wellcome Trust spends over £500 million a year on biomedical research. Zoë Ballantyne and Daniel Nelki of the Trust's Technology Transfer group discuss how it manages the IP arising from its grants to achieve its charitable objectives