Search results for

The Mexican Patent Office has finally implemented internal examining guidelines that substantially mirror those of the European Patent Office for the examination of computer software-implemented inventions. The emphasis now to be placed by Mexican examiners examining computer software-implemented inventions is on the technical characteristics that have a technical effect rather than on the subject matter of the invention.

Stéphanie Bodoni speaks to OHIM's new director of IP policy, Vincent O'Reilly, about OHIM trade mark practice, examination guidelines and the implementation of EU case law

Emma Barraclough, Hong Kong

Italy has ratified Directive 98/44/EC on the protection of biotechnological inventions, aimed at harmonizing the laws of the member states to promote investment in the field of biotechnology and avoid barriers to trade.

The Paul Manufacturing Co Case (2006 (32) PTC 285 (Del) came up before the Delhi High Court by way of a writ petition under Article 226 of the Indian constitution. The petitioner's prayer was to issue a writ of certiorari or a direction to quash the trade mark registration No 1280913 granted under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 by the Registrar of Trade Marks. The usual procedure is that the Trade Marks Registrar's decisions and orders are appealed to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (the IPAB). In this case too, the petitioner filed a rectification application at the IPAB. However, interestingly, the IPAB has been dysfunctional for several months because of the delay in appointing a technical member. The petitioner therefore contended that the IPAB was not functioning and that the High Court had extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 to issue a certiorari to quash the order granting the trade mark registration.

News and photos from MIP's third annual Brand Management Forum, featuring leading in-house counsel and trade mark regulators, held in London at the end of March

Sex, drugs and religion are just some of the subjects that can prompt refusal of trade mark applications on the grounds that they are against public policy or morality. MIP correspondents consider what is banned in different countries, and look at recent cases where the boundaries have been tested (note: some references may cause offence)

Eight out of ten licensors do not perform royalty examinations of their licensees, yet research suggests that in 90% of cases royalties are misreported. Melanie Butler examines what is going wrong and provides some pointers for licensors

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

Licence agreements in Malaysia are generally governed by the Malaysian Trade Marks Act 1976 and the Contracts Act 1950. Nevertheless, the term "licence" is not expressed in the Trade Marks Act 1976. Instead the licensee is referred to as a "registered user".