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Sam Mamudi, Washington DC

The realization that classic tracks will soon be in the public domain is prompting record companies and affected artists to demand that Europe increases the duration of sound recording copyright, as Andrew Forbes and Jane Mulcahy explain

US: The Justice Department unveiled a report by its IP Task Force. The report recommends the creation of five new Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) Units in Washington DC, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, Nashville and Orlando. The Department has 13 CHIP Units across the US at present. The report also includes calls for an increase in the number of FBI special agents dedicated to investigating IP crimes, and the use of more federal resources and tougher enforcement to tackle infringers. US: A California state court of appeals in Los Angeles upheld a $500 million infringement verdict against biotechnology leader Genentech. Genentech was found to have hidden licensed sales and not paid royalties on human insulin and human growth hormone developed by the City of Hope National Medical Center. US: Biotechnology company Amgen won a federal district court case against Transkaryotic Therapies (TKT) and Aventis Pharmaceuticals. Judge William Young of the district court of Massachusetts ruled that Transkaryotic and Aventis violated two of Amgen's product patents on erythropoietin and two patents with claims on the production of erythropoietin. TKT said it would appeal the decision to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. US: The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of KP Permanent Make-Up Inc v Lasting Impressions on October 5. Lasting Impressions is claiming trade mark infringement against KP Permanent Make-Up for use of the words micro color on the packaging of KP Permanent's products. In hearing the case, the Court asked whether the classic fair use defence to trade mark infringement is an absolute defence, regardless of whether confusion may result.

Execution of private coexistence agreements is not a ground for automatically allowing the registration of identical or similar signs as trade marks. This was the position of the Council of State of Colombia when it decided to refuse the registration of the trade mark Starbucks (File 7063 dated August 20 2004).

The Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw argued that the word "fish" should be written as "ghoti". In the light of three recent CFI decisions on pronunciation, Jean Leon Pire and David H Tatham examine how European trade marks are assessed phonetically

Two years on from the Supreme Court’s decision in Holmes v Vornado, Elizabeth Stotland Weiswasser and Rekha Ramani look at the opportunities for disruption of patent uniformity in patent cases in the US

Standard setting organizations are in a state of flux in the US, thanks to recent setbacks to the FTC's efforts to police members, as well as a new statute. Stafford Matthews, Robert S Harrell, V Walter Bratic and Shirley Webster review the latest developments

A court victory by peer-to-peer networks against copyright holders may lead to the passage of an Act that would stunt technological progress. Michael R Graham argues against a hasty extension to US copyright law

Registration remains the best form of trade mark protection in the UK. But two recent English cases reveal the continuing importance of unregistered rights, as Graeme Fearon explains

EU: The European Commission launched a call for tenders for a study looking at the effects of patented computer-implemented inventions. The aim is to set up an independent survey about the effects of computer-implemented inventions on the software sector. EU: The European Court of Justice announced that Irish IP judge Fidelma Macken will leave the court later this year to go back to the Irish High Court from which she joined the ECJ in October 1999. She will be replaced by Mr Justice Aindrias O'Caoimh from the Irish High Court. The Netherlands: The Netherlands has brought its copyright rules in line with the EU copyright directive by updating the Dutch Copyright Act with the new article 29a. It was enforced on September 1. Switzerland: WIPO paid tribute to its founder Arpád Bogsch who passed away on September 19 at the age of 85. Bogsch worked for WIPO as its first director-general for 24 years, while also heading the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants.