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With discussions on the accession to the European Union and global harmonization of IP protection in an emerging economy, Turkey has experienced remarkable advances not only in the new regulations introduced but also in the enforcement of IP rights.

James Nurton, London

In October 2005, the Provincial Appellate Court of Madrid gave an interesting judgment in an action that Lilly Group had brought against two companies in the business of selling generic products. The judgment confirmed that these companies' advertising was illegal and that there was trade mark infringement. The judgment is particularly noteworthy as high damages were awarded compared to what is usual in Spain.

The South African Patents Act has been amended to ensure that indigenous communities are adequately compensated when an invention that is sought to be patented in South Africa is derived from biological or genetic resources or traditional knowledge from South Africa.

With the publication of mailbox patent applications in the Official Gazette, a fierce battle has erupted between Indian and multinational pharmaceutical companies. According to media reports, Indian drug companies including Cipla, Ranbaxy and Cadila have filed around 45 pre-grant oppositions in the form of representations with the Controller of Patents. Major targets include Novartis' anti-asthma molecule, Pfizer's new controlled use of a known molecule and Scherring's formulation for PEG Interferon Alpha conjugates.

Following a period of calm, Russian law has again made a slight move towards better protection of the owners of IP rights. The major changes in the IP-specific laws were made in late 2002/early 2003. Since then, amendments have occasionally been made to the non-specific laws, such as the Criminal Code.

Patented inventions in Ireland provide a large source of revenue in the pharmaceutical and technology industries. Ireland's tax exemption in respect of certain patent royalties has been one of the driving factors behind investment by multinationals, principally from the US, in the Irish economy. After much recent speculation about the possible removal of the Irish patent exemption from the Irish statute books, in a welcome development, the Irish government in its recent budget retained the tax incentive for companies creating patentable intellectual property in Ireland. In this month's piece we give an overview of the main provisions of the exemption.

Supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) are provided under Regulation 1768/92/EEC and extend the lifetime of patents covering medicines by a maximum of five years. In particular they provide compensation for the effectively reduced lifetime of such patents caused by the lengthy marketing approval procedures which have to be followed before new medicines can be launched on the market.

As the deadline for the implementation of Europe's enforcement directive looms, Hanne Weywardt and Hea Vinskov examine the lessons from a recent case, involving luxury goods trade marks, in Denmark

Under the European Patent Convention (EPC) divisional applications can be filed. Cascading divisional applications are also allowed. The divisional application must be filed within the time period set out in Rule 25, that is at the latest on the day before grant or rejection (unless the appeal is successful) of the previous (generation divisional) application. Further, although the EPC does not intend to allow it, there is no provision against double patenting.