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The Indian courts, as well as granting permanent injunctions and general damages that are compensatory in nature, also grant punitive damages, which aim to be a deterrent. Punitive damages were granted in Time Incorporated v Lokesh Srivastava & Anr (2005 (30) PTC 3 (Del)), where the court held that punitive damages were founded on the philosophy of corrective justice and so must be awarded to show wrongdoers that the law does not take a breach merely as a matter between rival parties but is concerned about those who are not party to the proceedings but suffer on account of the breach.

With the impending free trade agreement negotiations with the US, the Malaysian government appears to be making new moves to strengthen intellectual property rights enforcement. Specialized IP courts are proposed and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry has also proposed that the copyright laws be amended to prosecute building owners with the offence of allowing their premises to be used for storing, selling or distributing counterfeit materials.

The Korean National Assembly recently made amendments to the Patent Act and the Utility Model Act, which came into effect on March 3 2006. The amendments make three specific changes that will immediately benefit applicants filing in Korea.

Emma Barraclough, Hong Kong

A group of anti-counterfeit offices (Desks) will be established in nine non-EU countries within the next couple of months, thanks to a recent agreement between the Italian Ministry of Productive Activities and the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE).

With the new Regulation on Community designs, the path towards a unified system for protecting designs in Europe is clear. But it is still not easy, as Henning Hartwig of Bardehle Pagenberg reports

Attention is increasingly focusing on the enforcement of Community trade marks. Verena von Bomhard, Burkhart Goebel and Ana Castedo of Lovells examine enforcement in the new Spanish CTM courts in Alicante and find that, despite their heavy workload, they have proven efficient and quick, producing reasonable decisions in a highly complex legal environment

James Nurton, Chicago

IACC Conference, Toronto, Canada, May 3–5.

When planning the introduction of a recognized foreign brand to the US marketplace, owners of a well-known trade mark outside of the US may find that an American company has attempted to take advantage of the renown of the foreign mark by making an earlier trade mark filing in the USPTO.