Search results for

The search for prior art is a key component of the patent prosecution process, but it can often be time-consuming and costly. The US Patent Office issued 382,139 patents in 2004 alone, and as more and more patents are being filed, the need for accurate and effective prior art searching becomes even more essential. Patent offices in most major IP jurisdictions will perform patent searches. However companies are still choosing to scour patent office records, trade journals and patent databases themselves, to verify that no identical, similar or partially similar patents already exist. Although there is no affirmative duty to conduct a prior art search before filing a patent application, inventors and their attorneys are required to submit any prior art that they are aware of. A comprehensive search can therefore help support not only a patent application, but also licence negotiations, re-examinations and litigation further down the line. After all, an issued patent will stand up better in court with prior art to substantiate it.

The Russian legislators, when drafting the Patent Law, always sought to make the law as inventor-friendly as possible and to provide the widest possible scope of subject matter that could be protected. Much has been taken from the experience of other countries. Perhaps they went too far.

On January 25 2006, the Mexican Law of Industrial Property (LIP) was amended concerning the legal framework of franchises in Mexico to incorporate a new infringing cause based on the unauthorized use by a third party of the image of a product, best known as trade dress (Article 213 XXVI LIP).

Stéphanie Bodoni, London

Walter Maiwald and Volker Hamm explain how, thanks to changes in the courts and the EU enforcement directive, Germany has ceased to be a paradise for patent infringers and become an upholder of patent rights

Emma Barraclough, Hong Kong

Music rights owners will be pleased to read that the Irish courts have once again struck a blow to those involved in the illegal uploading of music. In January, Mr Justice Kelly of the Commercial Court, Ireland's new Court that has specialist expertise in IP matters, ordered that the national telecommunications provider and two other internet service providers give details of 49 of their internet subscribers to four record companies for the purposes of bringing copyright infringement proceedings.

Customs inspections are of primary importance in protecting IP rights in Europe. In fact, Customs authorities are responsible for 70% of all seizures of alleged infringing goods.

India is yet to become fully TRIPs-compliant, at least when it comes to obligations relating to data protection under Article 39.3 of the TRIPs Agreement. Article 39.3 requires India to provide protection against unfair commercial use of undisclosed test data submitted by pharmaceutical and agricultural chemical companies for the purposes of obtaining marketing approval.

Although Europe has a centralized system for filing and granting patents, "European patents" don't exist. Once a European patent application is granted, it falls apart in a bundle of national patents. This makes it difficult for patent holders to enforce their patent rights against an (assumed) infringer active in different countries, as court proceedings should be started in all relevant countries.