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As Iraq continues to grapple with the difficult task of rebuilding amid a declining security situation, a reconstruction of a different kind has taken place in the IP field. Stéphanie Bodoni explores the struggle to provide patent and trade mark protection

The TRIPs Agreement requires countries to introduce Customs measures to deal with goods that infringe trade marks and copyright. But, explains Federico A Aulmann of Obligado & Cia, Argentina has gone further by introducing legislation to tackle the import and export of goods infringing all IP rights

Brevity can be a vital asset when arguing patent cases. Cynthia A Homan and Meredith Martin Addy of Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione in Chicago provide some tips on how to make use of it before the Federal Circuit

The Palais des Festivals in Cannes, which will host IPTEC in February 2006 Todd Dickinson of GE, Ruud Peters of Philips, Marshall Phelps of IBM and Jim Stallings of IBM will be the keynote speakers at a new technology transfer event to be held next February in Cannes, France.

Any truly international IP owner has to keep up-to-date with enforcement developments in the Americas, both North and South. In many areas, form patentability to copyright, the US courts have set standards that have been followed in the region and throughout the world. This year, the Supreme Court has produced two IP-related judgments, which MIP's Americas editor Sam Mamudi analyzes in the introduction. One focuses on the safe harbour for researchers who use patented compounds; the other on the topical issue of music downloads.

According to criteria recently adopted by the Mexican Trade Mark Office (TMO), single invoices are appropriate and sufficient evidence to prove the use of a mark. However, it is important to point out that these criteria are contrary to doctrine and to article 62 of the Regulations of the Mexican Industrial Property Law, which establishes that a mark is in use when the goods or services covered by its registration are available in commerce in the amounts and manners that correspond to its nature.

For many years the English patents judges have striven to reduce costs and time to trial in patent cases. The streamlined procedure introduced in 2003 is the latest such move. It is proving a great success. Although the procedure was primarily intended for use in smaller patent cases, the flexibility afforded to judges in the way that they can manage cases has influenced the conduct of all patent litigation. Actions are now coming to trial in shorter periods of time (nine months to trial is not uncommon), and trials are shorter in duration. Two recent cases may be seen as indicators of the increasing use of the procedure, and a further shift toward more flexible and efficient patent litigation.

We recently reported on a referral to the European Court of Justice, which may bring about the possibility for getting supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) for formulation patents (MIP, June 2005). This month we report on another referral to the ECJ, the outcome of which could also have a significant economic impact.

After a lengthy and heated debate between business people, scientists and engineers, the Korean Intellectual Property Office has prepared a draft amendment to the Korean Invention Promotion Act, which deals with employee inventions.

Companies working in the field of biotechnology could face limited protection for their inventions following the introduction of a revised patent law in Germany. Harald von Campenhausen outlines the pitfalls and how rights owners can best avoid them