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In 2005 the Dubai Customs Authority announced its plan to set up a dedicated Intellectual Property Unit (IPU) to help curb the import, export and trans-shipment of counterfeit goods and products through all ports, including the Jebel Ali Free Zone Port. The first unit of its kind in the region, it has been finally implemented and the IPU is now ready to accept brand registrations and brand owners' complaints.

Making sure that your valuable technology is protected when you invest in China poses plenty of problems for IP counsel. Jinchen Song and Nancy Fix of Deqi provide a guide to getting it right

Qingfa Meng and Bin Zhang of CCPIT explain how IP owners can make the most of Customs and the AIC in their trade mark enforcement strategies

More and more companies are setting up R&D centres in China. But they need to have a clear patenting strategy if they want to transfer the resulting technology abroad, explains Junfeng Tian of China Sinda

Section IV of article 90 of the Mexican Law of Industrial Property (IPL) establishes an absolute ground for refusal based on the descriptiveness of the mark. This provision prohibits the registration of descriptive names, figures and three-dimensional forms. However, it also contains an exception in that all the elements and characteristics of the mark should be "considered as a whole".

Pending before the Philippine Congress and certified as urgent by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo are two bills or proposed laws: House Bill No. 6035 and Senate Bill No. 2263. Both have the objective of providing cheaper medicines, and are expected to be approved in the coming session of the Congress in June 2007. One common subject matter tackled in these bills is the amendment of Section 74 of the Intellectual Property Code (IP Code, RA 8293) referring to compulsory licensing of a patented invention by the government. Under RA 8293, the use by the government or a third person authorized by the government may be done without the agreement of the patent owner in two instances. First, if there is a public interest requirement, or secondly, if a judicial or administrative body has determined that the exploitation by the patent owner is anti-competitive, but subject to compulsory licensing. The terms and conditions of the licence are determined by the Bureau of Legal Affairs of the Intellectual Property Office in an action for compulsory licensing.

The Malaysian Patents Act 1983 and Patents Regulations 1986 have recently been subjected to several amendments in view of developments in the nation's patent scene.

In the UK, the compensation to which a successful claimant is entitled in respect of either patent or unregistered design right infringement may take the form of either damages or an account of the other party's profits (Patents Act 1977, Section 61 (1) (c), (d); Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988, Section 229 (2)).

In a recent High Court case (Unilever plc v Controller of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks and Sunrider Corporation [2006] IEHC 427), Unilever successfully appealed against the decision of the Irish Controller of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks who had dismissed its opposition to the registration of the trade mark SunSmile by Sunrider. Irish law states that a trade mark cannot be registered in circumstances where it is likely to deceive or cause confusion. In his High Court judgment, Mr Justice Smyth examined the degree of similarity and the potential for confusion between the words "Sun" and "SunSmile" in respect of detergents and goods for personal hygiene.

Thomas Pattloch was appointed to the newly-created post of intellectual property officer in the EU Delegation in Beijing in April 2006. One year on, he talked to Emma Barraclough about the biggest challenges facing foreign IP owners in China