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What can you expect if you want to challenge a granted patent in Russia? Vladimir M Rybakov and Yana Lipatova examine the rules for Russian and Eurasian patents, analyze some decisions of the Russian Patent Disputes Chamber and explain how invalidation works in practice

Proposals to harmonize criminal enforcement for IP rights in the EU have stalled, which means rights owners have to continue to act within the law of each member state. James Nurton introduces a survey of provisions in the six biggest EU countries

If you invest in research or creativity, IP laws allow you to retain your rights and charge customers whatever you think those rights are worth. But, says Emma Barraclough, there is another way: more and more businesses are finding that giving assets away for free can make economic sense

Peter Ollier, Hong Kong

In GlaxoSmithkline Philippines v Khalid Mehmood Malik and Muhammad Ateeque, decided by the Supreme Court on August 17 2006 (GR No 166924), the Court ruled that unless there is a clear showing of arbitrariness, "the determination of whether there is reasonable ground to believe that the accused is guilty of the offense charged and should be subjected to the expense, rigors and embarrassment of trial is an executive function exclusively of the prosecutor."

Unbeknown to many, the DVD logo pictured above belongs to the DVD Format/Logo Licensing Company of Japan (DVD FLLC). In the 1990s Hitachi, Philips, Matsushita, Mitsubishi, JVC, Pioneer, Sony, Thomson, Time Warner and Toshiba developed a standard media format with accompanying specifications. From this came the DVD logo and a set of rules for using it. Only authorized manufacturers may apply the corresponding logo to their goods.

According to Article 130 of Mexican Industrial Property Law, a trade mark must be in continuous and uninterrupted use for at least three consecutive years from the date when the registration is granted. If use of a mark does not commence within this period of time, the mark will become vulnerable to a cancellation action due to non-use which can be brought by any third party with a legal interest. This legal action is brought before the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI).

When Argentina joined the TRIPs Agreement in 1995, the Patent Law was modified to include the minimum standards. One of the most important changes was the term for which patent protection would be available for inventions in Argentina. The former Patent Law 111 established that patent protection was for 15 years from the granting date. Under this system, the prosecution delays of the Patent Office did not matter very much because they did not affect the effective life of the patent. But when Argentina adapted its regulations to TRIPs standards in 1995, and Argentina's Patent Law 24,481 was enacted, the situation changed completely, and the term of patents was set at 20 years counted from the date of filing of the application.

Entitlement disputes under the UK Patents Act have recently undergone something of a revival with several cases reaching the courts. Interestingly though, Patent Office figures reveal that the number of entitlement disputes filed before the Patent Office has remained steady over recent years as has the number of cases referred from the Patent Office to the UK courts. Why then is everyone discussing entitlement disputes under UK law?

In an extract from their book Little Blues: How to Build a Culture of Intellectual Property Within a Small Technology Company, André Carter and Raymond Millien examine how a small business with IP rights can also nurture an IP culture