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Companies embarking on a new business venture or undertaking a brand expansion programme under a selected trade mark typically believe that they have taken care of their intellectual property protection needs once they have searched, cleared and made a federal filing for their trade mark. However, these steps do not prevent a third party from securing internet domain names that are identical or confusingly similar. While the steps to protect trade mark rights accord a basis to challenge such third parties, trade mark owners are often surprised at the costs and difficulties that can be associated with enforcing these rights on the internet.

One of the most high profile initiatives within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the government's support of the media and broadcasting industries. For example, Dubai Media City (DMC) is generally considered an enormous success. In the four years since its creation, DMC has firmly established itself as the media hub of the region. With approximately one thousand companies from over 45 countries, it is described on the government's website as "a vibrant mix of talent and resources". And they're probably right.

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.