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As the use of slogans to promote and build awareness of goods and services becomes a universal phenomenon, companies who use slogans and have them splashed across their products or at their place of business have become more aware of the need to protect the slogans as trade marks, in addition to protecting their traditional marks. This is because consumers are now more aware of the various slogans being used and it can be argued that slogans can be considered to be part of the brand itself.

The Irish government recently announced the introduction of a new Privacy Bill which will protect all Irish citizens from the invasion of their right to privacy. The new Bill creates the tort of violation of privacy, which is committed where any person wilfully and without lawful authority violates the privacy of an individual. The tort is actionable without proof of financial loss and applies to newspapers and magazines, broadcasting organizations and (to the extent that it is technologically possible to prove) the internet. In this month's article we take a look at the controversial draft Bill.

A prominent businessman is driving on Sheik Zayed Road one day and sees his image on a billboard advertising a property development in Dubai. An employee of a desert tour company is flipping through a magazine and sees his image used in a leaflet advertising the company's activities. A student is at an art gallery and comes across a photograph in which she is prominently featured. In all of these cases, the permission of the people featured in the photographs and advertisements was not obtained.

Law 23/2006, of July 7, which amends the consolidation of the 1996 Copyright Act, was published on July 8 2006 in the Official Gazette of the Spanish state.

For PCT applications that have an international filing date on or after July 1 2004 and which enter the national phase in Singapore under Chapter I, one of the search and examination procedures available is to file a statement saying that the applicant wishes to rely on the international preliminary report on patentability (IPRP) of the PCT application and proceed to grant. In other words, Chapter I cases can rely on the IPRP for grant, thereby avoiding the need to request local examination in Singapore.

China's economy is fast developing - and many people fear that IP protection cannot keep up. International investors are concerned about effective enforcement, while domestic companies seek a strong environment for developing IP rights and negotiating on issues such as standards. MIP and Finnegan Henderson jointly hosted a roundtable discussion in Beijing last month to discuss how these issues can be addressed. Read the full, unabridged transcript exclusively here on managingip.com.

The Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic has decided to issue the Official Journal in an electronic form on the website www.upv.cz.

Business method patents, granted for particular business models unique to a particular organization, have been the subject of mounting interest and controversy among business leaders in the digital media, internet and e-commerce sector.

Following a major amendment to China's Trade Mark Law in October 2001, prior to it becoming a member of the WTO, China intends to amend its Trade Mark Law further. A draft was published on April 18 2006 for public consultation. Some of the proposed changes are as follows:

There is controversy in Kenya about a provision of the patent law, highlighted in a statement by the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs and reported in the press on July 28 2006, about the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2005. The Bill, which is still under debate, proposes (among other things) to amend Section 58(2) of the Kenyan Industrial Property Act, 2001.