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The sixth annual World IP Survey reveals that competition for patent work is more intense than ever. James Nurton, Ingrid Hering and Ralph Cunningham analyze the results and interview some of the leading firms, and their clients

A new law is to be introduced in the UK for registered designs applied for after October 28 2001. The Registered Designs Regulations 2001 (RDR), currently before parliament, amend the Registered Designs Act 1949 (RDA) in order to give effect to EC Directive 98/71 on the legal protection of designs. The aim of this Directive is to harmonize certain aspects of national registered design law within the European community. The United Kingdom and all other European member states are required to bring their national laws into line with the Directive by October 28 2001.

Australia: Daryl Williams, the federal attorney general, announced on September 18 that Screenrights will be the sole collecting society to collect copyright royalties for retransmission of free-to-air television programmes by pay-TV services. Screenrights will be responsible for distributing royalties to the owners of copyright in the films, scripts, music, sound recordings and art works in the retransmitted programmes.

A Canadian court of appeal has overturned a decision that determined that the use of a trade mark by a US retailer violated the ownership rights of a Canadian company.

Michiel Rijsdijk, of Arnold & Siedsma in The Hague, discusses the proposals for unifying patent litigation in Europe

There is tension across Europe on the question of constructing patent claims. Gerard P Cronin, of Arnander Irvine & Zietman, examines how the English courts have dealt with the question

Ingrid Hering, London

The European Patent Office provides various means to challenge patent applications as well as granted patents. Hendrik Wichmann, of Bardehle Pagenberg Dost Altenburg Geissler Isenbruck, Munich, explains the options

As rights owners increasingly face trade mark infringements on the web, they need to be pro-active in enforcement. Ken Taylor provides some tips for handling investigations

The economic downturn has affected all US and Canadian attorneys in the past year. But patents remain as popular as ever, leading to the prospect of increasing litigation in the future. Ingrid Hering examines how attorneys and courts are coping with the new challenges