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Tax incentives on patent income are at the centre of debate in the EU after the European Commission told Ireland that it must change the way that it taxes patent royalties or face legal action

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.

In a recent decision (3Ni-42/04) the German Federal Patent Court has revoked the German patent DE 19756864 relating to neuronal precursor cells derived from embryonic stem (ES) cells insofar as it concerns cells that descend from ES cells prepared from human embryos.

On April 5 2007, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate jointly issued the Interpretation of Several Issues Relating to Specific Application of Law to the Treatment of Criminal Cases of Intellectual Property Infringement No. 2 which came into force on the same day. This Interpretation aims to further strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights in China, in particular copyright, via criminal means. The previous interpretation on these issues was the No. 1 Interpretation which came into force on December 22 2004.

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 Mexican Industrial Property Law (IPL) does not provide for oppositions to trade mark registration, which is generally understood as the ability of third parties to oppose the granting of a trade mark registration within a set period of time after the publication of the application.

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.

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.

Today the Indian Patent office is a live organization. It has been growing, adapting and is now socializing with its peers. Until the late 1990s, the Office was a low profile organization working quietly under the Department of Commerce. But since the dawn of this century the Patent Office has begun to emerge as an active organization determined to make its mark. As a part of efforts to improve its level of service the Office has been collaborating with various developed patent offices around the world. The most recent of these collaborations is with the EPO.

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) recently announced plans to move forward with implementation of its new WHOIS policy. The anticipated changes will mean that contact information for individual domain name owners will not be readily available to trade mark owners for trade mark enforcement purposes.