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Yoshitaka Sonoda of Sonoda & Kobayashi, Tokyo provides an overview of patent initiatives in Japan, ranging from simplified prosecution for international applicants to the latest decisions from the courts

Canada's Supreme Court has clarified the protection available for famous trade marks, ruling that fame can extend to different goods and services.

The patentability of methods for controlling the operation of medical devices has long been disputed in Japan. But, as Akihiko Okuno of Sonoda & Kobayashi in Tokyo explains, it is now possible to get protection – provided you draft your claims carefully

An understanding of copyright developments has become vital for all involved in digital and networking technology. Yuko Noguchi of Mori Hamada & Matsumoto analyzes recent legal changes and court decisions in this area, and compares Japanese and US practice

Justine Henin-Hardenne wears adidas Tennis players at Wimbledon and the US Open can wear clothes featuring the distinctive adidas three-stripes design, thanks to an injunction granted by an English High Court judge last month.

The Mexican Law of Industrial Property (LIP) provides that use of a registered trade mark inures to the benefit of a registration only if it is effected directly by the registrant or by a recorded licensee.

The Korean Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling on April 27 2006, establishing a list of factors that must now be considered when calculating the reasonable royalty rate in all patent infringement cases.

Generic manufacturers operating in Ireland will welcome the recent introduction of legislation which enables them to conduct necessary pre-approval experiments without infringing the patent rights of the original manufacturer. The exemption is contained in new Irish regulations in the form of the European Communities (Limitation of Effect of Patent) Regulations, 2006 (the Irish Regulations) which implement certain sections of Directive 2004/27/EC (with respect to medicinal products for human use) and Directive 2004/28/EC (with respect to veterinary medicinal products).

In the wake of the Law on Advertising, which came into force on July 1 2006, the State Duma adopted some changes to the Criminal Procedure Code. The Criminal Code already contains provisions for the punishment of IP infringers and in past years those sanctions have been made harder. Now the new procedure makes it easier for law enforcement bodies to deal with infringement cases in the field of copyright. At present, only public prosecutors are empowered to initiate criminal cases against infringers according to Section 146 of the Criminal Code. The new provision of the Criminal Procedure Code empowers the police to prosecute wrongdoers in copyright matters. A criminal case according to Section 146 may be initiated if the damage to the copyright owner is more than R50,000 ($2,000). A crime of this calibre shall be punished by imprisonment of up to five years.

In Germany a declaratory action is an established instrument to react to an unwarranted warning letter. But whether it is necessary to send a counter-warning in response to a first warning letter so as to prevent an award of costs pursuant to S 93 ZPO (Code of Civil Procedure) when filing a declaratory action has up to now been a moot point. Different courts have handed down different decisions on this point. The District Court of Cologne confirmed the necessity of a counter-warning letter to prevent an award of costs pursuant to S 93 ZPO. Several Higher Regional Courts, however, denied the basic necessity of sending a counter-warning letter.