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One of the most fundamental biotechnology inventions is due to be tested in a Massachusetts district court, after Applied Molecular Evolution (AME) filed a patent infringement suit against Morphosys on June 26. AME owns a licence to six patents filed by Stuart Kauffman covering directed evolution technology. The patents have been described by Nature Biotechnology magazine as being as important as those filed by Cohen and Boyer in the first generation of biotechnology.

An Australian attorney has patented the wheel in an attempt to draw attention to problems with the country's recently introduced innovation patent. Since May this year, the innovation patent has been available for inventions with a lower inventive threshold than standard patents. It is defined as a development that makes a substantial contribution to the working of the invention compared with the prior art.

Spain is a step closer to bringing its trade mark system into line with the rest of the EU after the Spanish House of Representatives approved the draft Spanish Trade Marks Act. The legislation will now be debated by the Senate for a final vote, with July 31 mooted for its implementation. Its key objectives include implementing the Madrid Protocol and the EU Harmonization Directive, TRIPs compliance, and introducing amendments that bring Spain closer to harmonization with the Community Trade Mark.

The Russian Patent and Trademark Office (Rospatent) has approved Anheuser-Busch's application to register the Bud trade mark in Russia, following a 12-year battle with Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar.

Name partner Aurelio Perani and his two sons have left Italian firm Jacobacci & Perani and established another practice following divisions within the firm's management. Aurelio Perani was a partner in the trade mark and patent agency Jacobacci & Perani's Milan office. His son Paolo was a partner in Studio Legale Jacobacci e Perani, where younger brother Andreo was an associate.

The copyright landscape for publishers has been redrawn by a landmark US Supreme Court decision in June that found the inclusion without permission of previously published articles in an electronic database constituted copyright infringement.

The Festo decision is arguably one of the most controversial to fall on the US patent landscape in recent times. It is deeply divisive, generating as much ardent opposition as it does adamant support. Patent lawyers, unsure of the way forward, now look in hope to the Supreme Court for guidance on this most vexed of issues.

Jeff Neuman is director of policy and intellectual property for Neulevel, which has the licence to run the new .biz top-level domain. He was formerly an attorney with Greenberg Traurig’s technology department, and also worked on ICANN’s working groups to develop the UDRP. James Nurton and Ralph Cunningham spoke to him during the INTA Conference in San Francisco in May.

On June 18 and 19, MIP held its first IP Forum at Simpson's in the Strand in London, sponsored by IP law firm Morgan & Finnegan. Nearly 30 speakers covered a range of topical issues, with a particular focus on the latest developments in the US. The conference opened with a keynote speech by Todd Dickinson, former director of the PTO, outlining recent changes to IP law in the US. The first day covered patent developments such as business methods, gene patents, litigation, trade secrets and damages. Day one concluded with a panel session on European litigation and a cocktail reception.

The first of the new top-level domains have been launched with extensive measures to protect IP rights. James Nurton investigates the options available to trade mark owners