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David Highet is chief IP counsel for Becton Dickinson and a trustee of the American Intellectual Property Law Education Foundation. He spoke to MIP about patent trolls, changing approaches to patents and the need for diversity in the IP profession

Section 40(3) of the Australian Patents Act 1990 sets out that the claims of a patent specification must be "fairly based on the matter described in the specification". Essentially, this means that the support for the full breadth of the claims must be found in the description. This is one of the most contentious areas of Australian patent law.

On June Law 19/2006 to increase protection for IP rights was published in the Spanish Official Gazette. The Law establishes the rules of proceedings to facilitate the enforcement of different Community regulations. This Law transposes Directive 2004/48/CE regarding IP rights to guarantee a high level of protection, equivalent and homogeneous, in the internal market.

For Singapore patent applications, it has been common practice to make voluntary amendments, in particular to the claims, at any time before payment of the grant fee. The patent applications could proceed to grant even though the amendments were not searched and examined.

Peter Spours and Dan McCurdy explain why treating your patents like currency and researching competitors' portfolios can help you build a successful IP strategy

Jorge A Goldstein and Timothy J Shea, Jr look at how you can avoid inventorship disputes and explain how to resolve them when they occur

When two companies could not agree a price for a trade mark sale, they decided to hold an arbitration followed by a mediation. Those involved explain how this unusual process worked

Well established as an offshore financial centre, the island of Guernsey is now looking to attract IP owners with a series of new laws. James Nurton reports

As companies strive for growth and new sources of value creation, many are turning to their IP portfolios as an asset base for exploitation. Managed intelligently as part of the corporate strategy, IP can become a key driving force behind revenue-generating transactions, provide lucrative licensing opportunities and be securitized against investment. However, if companies are to realize value from their IP, they must first ensure that their housekeeping is in order. Underestimating the importance of IP data management can be a risky business, particularly when it comes to licensing or merger and acquisition (M&A) activity.

On May 25 2006, the South African Minister of Trade and Industry published a notice in the Government Gazette, designating the 2010 FIFA World Cup as a protected event in terms of Section 15A of the South African Merchandise Marks Act. This protection will remain in force from the date of publication of the notice until six calendar months have elapsed after the commencement of the World Cup event.