Search results for

Before the Linkage Regulation in Mexico, the health authorities granted marketing authorizations for pharmaceuticals when the applicant complied with the regulatory requirements, without reviewing possible violations of patent rights. In short, marketing authorizations granted in the past for patented pharmaceutical products to non-authorized third parties were government authorizations to infringe patents.

In last five years, the Indian parliament has amended the patent law twice. Despite the government's efforts to make the patent law compliant with the TRIPs Agreement, the international community's qualms about India's patent law remains unchanged. The debate on TRIPs compliance is heating up again since the publication of a report on various patent law issues by a government-appointed panel of experts.

Shahnaz Mahmud, New York

Canada is not unique in its concern over increasing prevalence and diversity of counterfeit goods. The OECD recently reported counterfeiting in virtually all economies with a cost estimated at 5% to 7% of world trade, up from 2% to 4% 15 years ago. Canada is, however, a jurisdiction in which enforcement is difficult. This is probably attributable primarily to the fact that, unlike the United States, Canadian Border Service personnel are not mandated to search for and seize counterfeit goods.

In this case, car maker Opel discovered in Germany scale models of Autec that reproduced the Opel Astra V8 Coupe car shape and the Opel Z logotype. Opel owns trade marks in Germany for cars and toys and consequently regarded these scale models as infringing its trade marks. The case was brought before the court and the German judge asked the Court of Justice of the European Communities (ECJ) (1) whether the Opel Z logotype on toys could constitute trade mark use and (2) whether the toy manufacturer was legitimate in raising the necessary indication of a characteristic of the product to avoid trade mark infringement.

In October 2006, Senator Marina Riofrio proposed a bill to the National Congress aiming to introduce into the Argentine trade mark legislation a specific regulation for collective and certification trade marks. While these are not forbidden by current provisions, they are not expressly regulated in national legislation.

The European Patent Office (EPO) has recently published its statistics for opposition and appellate activities in 2005.

Brand pharmaceutical companies sometimes agree to share profits from their patented drugs with generic manufacturers to keep rival products off the market. James Walsh and Lisa Huett consider the legality of these so-called reverse payments under Australian law in light of increasing attacks from antitrust authorities overseas

OHIM's second user satisfaction survey identified a number of areas where the European trade mark and design office needs to improve its service to users - starting with the accessibility of examiners and information provided by the office. James Nurton reports

By spending a little extra time preparing a patent application, an experienced patentee can draft the specifications and claims in a manner that may later enable a court to award maximum damages in view of the Entire Market Value Rule. Brett Alten, Glenn Kubota and Ryan Scoville explain how