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In its ruling in eBay v MercExchange, the US Supreme Court seems to have found a comfortable middle ground that keeps everyone happy. But, as James Nurton reports, some fear it will lead to inconsistency in the courts

The town of Barcelona has won its challenge to the registration of Barcelona.eu as a domain name.

Internet: The latest top-level domain name, .mobi, launched on May 22 with a sunrise period for rights owners in the mobile telecoms industry. This will be followed by a sunrise period for IP rights owners, starting on June 12 and lasting until August 21. The .mobi registry is Mobile Top Level Domain Ltd in Dublin, Ireland, which was set up by companies including Ericsson, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung and Vodafone. Dot-mobi is the first TLD that will be tailored to mobile devices: owners of .mobi domain names have to comply with rules that make their content easily accessible on phones, personal digital assistants and other gadgets.

Maintaining an IP portfolio can be a costly exercise, particularly where patents and trade marks are concerned. However, domain names can generate tangible financial rewards without having to cost the earth. Often the registration of a URL can prove to be one of the most valuable investments a company can make.

A monthly column devoted to IP curiosities and controversies, named in honour of John of Utynam - who received the world's first recorded patent in 1449

Technology transfer provides the scope for creativity in the organization and structure of what is usually a long-term relationship. The bottom line is always lasting profitability for the respective parties.

Michele C Bosch and Adriana L Burgy outline a three-stage approach to conducting IP due diligence, and explain its application in a typical corporate scenario

The 2001 EU copyright directive has still not been implemented in France following disputes between rights owners and users. Laëtitia Bénard and Alexandre Rudoni examine the three issues that have caused most concern and consider what happens now

Once again the Swedish legislator has looked into abolishing the traditional teacher's exception, which gives Swedish university researchers and teachers full ownership and control of their research results. The inquiry addresses a few interesting questions, and was motivated by the finding that not enough research results from Swedish universities are used, either commercially or any other way that benefits the surrounding community.

On April 7 2006, Dan Brown and The Da Vinci Code were cleared of infringing copyright in The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (HBHG). The case was brought by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, authors of HBHG, against Random House (the publisher of both books).