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As more and more multinational companies move R&D facilities and management operations to China, they will inevitably want to file more patent applications there for software-related inventions and business methods. Huang Xiaolin of Liu, Shen & Associates explains how they should go about it

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.

There are a number of instances where the monopoly under a patent is not absolute. Recently, the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (US-SFTA) required Singapore to amend the compulsory license provisions in the Singapore Patents Act to include a remedy for anti-competitive practices.

A recent decision by the Malaysian Courts in Shachihata & 18 others v Registrar of Industrial Designs & Ors, has in effect made redundant a recent circular issued by the Industrial Designs Registration Office (IDRO). The circular followed the advice of the Attorney General's Chamber and stated that designs registered under the UK Registered Designs Act 1949 which continued to have effect in Malaysia by virtue of their registration prior to the coming into force of the Industrial Designs Act 1996 (the Malaysian Act) on September 1 1999 would not be allowed to be extended beyond three five-year terms in Malaysia.

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

In a recent case concerning the admissibility of evidence and the construction of patents, the Irish Supreme Court endorsed the purposive approach to patent claim construction under Article 69 of the European Patent Convention and its Protocol. In upholding a decision by the High Court, the Supreme Court refused to permit the introduction of documentation used in arguments before foreign patent offices and in foreign proceedings concerning the scope of the patent at issue.