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As a general rule in the UAE, there is no synchronization between the Economic Department and/or the Municipalities (which regulate the grant of trade licences and approval of trade names in the different Emirates) and the Trade Mark Registry in terms of clearing the trade names against the Trade Marks Registry's database prior to granting approvals. As a result, trade marks often compete with company names as identifiers of the origin of goods and services. A common belief is that these signs confirm similar rights to the owner or registrant.

The growth in applications has raised more questions about the qualification requirements for patent attorneys in Turkey. Only patent attorneys are statutorily allowed to represent foreign applicants with regard to patents before the Turkish Patent Institute (TPI).

On March 1 2006, US pharmaceutical company Pfizer sued the Philippine International Trading Corp (PITC) and the Bureau of Food And Drugs (BFAD) before the Regional Trial Court of Makati Branch 61. It accused them of infringing its patent for its anti-hypertension drug Norvasc (which has the generic name amlodipine besylate), after the PITC imported some samples of a similar drug sold by Pfizer in India (under the brand name Amlogard) and submitted the samples to the BFAD for testing and product registration. Pfizer's Philippine patent expires in June 2007. The PITC filed a Ps1.5 million ($30,000) countersuit against Pfizer, claiming that the US company was attempting to stop the government from importing cheap medicine.

On April 3 2006 the UK Patent Office took the lead in promoting alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in Intellectual Property disputes by being the first patent and trade mark office anywhere in the world to set up a formal commercial mediation service. The initiative involves the creation of a new Mediation Service Team within the Patent Office who are able to mediate IP disputes referred to them from Patent Office hearings, the Courts or the parties themselves. To raise awareness of the new service the Patent Office has issued Guidance Notes on its website and is producing a range of literature aimed at encouraging parties to consider mediation as an alternative to litigation.

José Antonio Hernández and Patricia Koch of Herrero & Asociados review how courts have dealt with preliminary injunctions in Spain and provide some tips on what IP rights owners need to prove in order to obtain one

A recent decision of the UK High Court has confirmed that Trade Marks Registry oppositions can create estoppel in subsequent High Court infringement proceedings.

The Singapore Court of Appeal recently overruled a High Court decision upholding the registration of the trade mark NIKE, which had been registered by a Spanish company, Campomar.

According to the Romanian provisions, a trade mark registration can be cancelled if, within a continuous period of five years, the mark has not been put to genuine use on the Romanian territory in connection with the goods or services in respect of which it is registered, and there are no proper reasons for non-use. Not using the trade mark for an uninterrupted five-year period implies that the trade mark is no longer capable of fulfilling one of its basic functions: to differentiate the goods and services of a natural or legal person from those of other natural or legal persons. Thanks to the non-use, the trade mark does not allow the consumers to easily and quickly choose a verified product, which earned a reputation, the competition function no longer being fulfilled.

The Measures on Protection of IPR at Exhibitions (the Measures) were jointly promulgated by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC), State Administration of Industry & Commerce (SAIC), State Copyright Bureau (SCB) and the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) (collectively the IP authorities) on January 10 2006. They took effect on March 1 2006. By strengthening protection of IP, China hopes to promote the healthy development of the exhibition industry.

Under German law an invention may be protected simultaneously by a granted patent and a registered utility model.