Search results for

Few foreign investors think they must pay attention to competition and antitrust concerns in their Chinese technology transfer deals. They need to think again, say Connie Carnabuci, Joan Wu and Melissa Handover of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

IP owners familiar with patent invalidation procedures in Europe and the US will find many areas of overlap with the rules in China. But there are crucial differences that could affect IP owners' patent strategies, as Tai Hong of China Patent Agent explains

Although IP owners still suffer high levels of infringement in China, Xuemin Chen and Xiaoguang Yang of Zhongzi Law Office believe that 2005 saw a new level of commitment on the part of the government to boost innovation and protect IP

French legislators adopted a new copyright law on March 21 that forces companies to open up digital content to music devices of all makes.

In order to protect and enhance the prestige of a licensed mark, trade mark owners, when drafting trade mark licence agreements, typically focus their attention on ensuring that they maintain the necessary level of approval over, and consistency in, the use of the licensed mark. Unfortunately, this desire often becomes a secondary concern as trade mark owners are blinded by the revenue-generating opportunities that may be derived from a proposed licence agreement and therefore, gloss over certain integral protections.

New Zealand's existing experimental use exceptions have been established through case law and a Bolar-type provision that was introduced into the Patents Act in December 2002. This provision essentially allows the reasonable use of an invention for the purposes of gaining regulatory approval. The case law attempts to clarify the distinction between research and use of an invention that is not for direct commercial gain, and research and use of an invention that is for commercial gain. The boundary between the two is unclear and at the moment the New Zealand courts are ultimately left to determine what activity constitutes legitimate experimental use and what constitutes infringement.

Italian law number 80/2005 introduced incisive measures to combat counterfeiting, including:

Li Jian, a judge in the IP division of the Supreme People's Court provides a guide to China's system of civil litigation and explains how recent developments will affect plaintiffs and defendants in IP lawsuits

The Republic Act No. 9168 (known as the Plant Variety Protection Act 2002) took effect on July 19 2002. The aim of the legislation was to protect and secure exclusive rights for breeders of new plant varieties. As of February 1 2006, the Plant Variety Protection Office has received 39 applications for Certificates of Plant Variety Protection, the breakdown of which is as follows:

Moratoriums on commercial cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops in Australia should be lifted, according to a report prepared by the Agriculture and Food Policy Reference Group (AFPRG) and submitted to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in February 2006.