Search results for

Emma Barraclough, Hong Kong

Trade mark protection has advanced significantly from the days when marks consisted of words, letters, logos or reproductions of images in two-dimensional forms. In many countries, legislative amendments and continually evolving trade mark practices have extended the scope of trade mark protection to include non-conventional marks such as three-dimensional marks, sounds and even smells.

China has launched a process to consider amendments to its Patent Law. The Law is being reviewed at the moment and any draft amendments will be presented to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for the committee members to discuss and pass into law. It could take at least three years for the legislative changes to come into force.

India's court system provides an array of remedies for trade mark owners seeking to enforce their IP rights. Man Mohan Singh and Surinder Singh of Man Mohan Singh Associates explain how launching a lawsuit, backed up by administrative action, can help tackle counterfeiting

Two years ago India passed a law to create the National Biodiversity Authority, a body given the daunting task of protecting the country's extensive biodiversity resources and ensuring that any commercial exploitation benefits local communities. NBA secretary Krishnamoorthy Venkataraman talked to MIP about the challenges ahead

The increasing intricacy and complexity of today's technologies is pushing more and more companies to think about joining standards bodies. However, says Sam Mamudi, there are risks inherent to such organizations

James Nurton, London

Marcela Waksman Ejnisman and Andreia de Andrade Gomes Moreira de Souza of Tozzini, Freire, Teixeira e Silva Advogados

A recent decision by the European Court of First Instance (CFI) has denied the Irish boy band Westlife registration of the Westlife name as a Community trade mark.

Over recent years in the Middle East, we have seen a massive increase in the use of mobile phone technology and included within that has been the arrival of several operators offering ringtones. So far in the Middle East, most of what has been on offer are polytones and monotones. Truetones are only just now beginning to break into the market place. Polytones and monotones are reproductions of a recording involving a publishing royalty whereas a truetone uses the actual recording of a song. It is becoming pretty popular in the Middle East for a mobile user to download his or her favourite sound recording into a mobile phone to be used for example as an incoming call alert.