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Opposition proceedings were introduced into Canada's trade mark legislation just over 50 years ago. While the opposition process functioned relatively well for the first few decades, such has not been the case recently. Gary Partington and Coleen Morrison of Marks & Clerk examine what changes lie ahead

A series of recent decisions in Canada and the UK has established rules for the way courts interpret patent claims. Robert H C MacFarlane and Adam Bobker of Bereskin & Parr explain what the changes mean for rights owners

Owning a market-leading product or innovation is useless if you fail to keep your competitors from copying you. Daniel S Drapeau and George R Locke of Ogilvy Renault outline the most effective options available to rights owners

The scope of IP protection in the biotechnology and life sciences sectors in Canada and the extent that such IP rights may preserve market exclusivity has been shaped by a number of recent authoritative judicial decisions. Arthur Renaud and Martin Kratz of Bennett Jones look at two areas that have particularly been shaped by the courts

IP owners can expect quicker and cheaper protection of their rights in Italy following the introduction of a revised IP law earlier this year. Trade mark owners in particular will be pleased to hear that the law now is on their side for the enforcement of their rights against cybersquatters. Francesco Terrano and Donatella Prandin of Bugnion explain

The success of technology transfer for universities in the US has prompted other governments to introduce or reform their laws governing licensing, as James Nurton and Emma Barraclough explain

Sam Mamudi, New York

The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) recently announced it will provide a new system called the Korean Patent Information Online Network (K-PION) from November 2005. As such, foreign patent offices can now access English translations of Korean patent documents through K-PION.

Registrations of the new .eu domain names started on December 7 2005. To protect the interests of brand owners and companies there is a sunrise period in which they will be allowed to apply for .eu domain names corresponding to their trade marks and company names. The general public will have to wait until 7 April 2006 before they can make applications. It is hoped that this head start will help to prevent a flood of abusive registrations by cybersquatters, but brand owners and companies must act quickly to take full advantage of it.

Patented drugs are expensive and are out of the reach of the majority of citizens in the developing world. As a result, activist groups and non-governmental organizations continually put pressure on governments to ensure that poor people are able to access drugs at prices they can afford.