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The Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw argued that the word "fish" should be written as "ghoti". In the light of three recent CFI decisions on pronunciation, Jean Leon Pire and David H Tatham examine how European trade marks are assessed phonetically

Two years on from the Supreme Court’s decision in Holmes v Vornado, Elizabeth Stotland Weiswasser and Rekha Ramani look at the opportunities for disruption of patent uniformity in patent cases in the US

Standard setting organizations are in a state of flux in the US, thanks to recent setbacks to the FTC's efforts to police members, as well as a new statute. Stafford Matthews, Robert S Harrell, V Walter Bratic and Shirley Webster review the latest developments

A court victory by peer-to-peer networks against copyright holders may lead to the passage of an Act that would stunt technological progress. Michael R Graham argues against a hasty extension to US copyright law

Registration remains the best form of trade mark protection in the UK. But two recent English cases reveal the continuing importance of unregistered rights, as Graeme Fearon explains

EU: The European Commission launched a call for tenders for a study looking at the effects of patented computer-implemented inventions. The aim is to set up an independent survey about the effects of computer-implemented inventions on the software sector. EU: The European Court of Justice announced that Irish IP judge Fidelma Macken will leave the court later this year to go back to the Irish High Court from which she joined the ECJ in October 1999. She will be replaced by Mr Justice Aindrias O'Caoimh from the Irish High Court. The Netherlands: The Netherlands has brought its copyright rules in line with the EU copyright directive by updating the Dutch Copyright Act with the new article 29a. It was enforced on September 1. Switzerland: WIPO paid tribute to its founder Arpád Bogsch who passed away on September 19 at the age of 85. Bogsch worked for WIPO as its first director-general for 24 years, while also heading the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants.

A recent US ruling has saved accused infringers from the fear that by not having a legal opinion, courts would automatically infer that such an opinion would have contained unfavourable advice. But, says Scott M Alter, that does not mean that such opinions may no longer be crucial

James Nurton and Stéphanie Bodoni, London

Stéphanie Bodoni, Rome

Stéphanie Bodoni, London