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CHINA: Intcera High Tech Group is adding a new plant in mainland China to expand its manufacture of fibre-optics components. CHINA: The Ministry of Information Industry and National Copyright Administration prepared a draft amendment to the Regulations for the Protection of Computer Software. Changes include an extension of the period of protection for software from 25 years to 50 years. EUROPE: From January 1 2001, new Block Exemptions and Guidelines, which affect trade between the member states of the European Union, became effective. The aim of the Guidelines is to provide a simplified framework for assessing whether a horizontal agreement comes within the Article 81 (1) prohibition and, if it does, whether it is exempt from it. UK: Protocol Solutions, which specialized in NT and desktop systems, has been forced into receivership following legal action taken by the police over counterfeit software. US: Brobeck Phleger & Harrison raised its first-year associate pay by $10,000 to $135,000. A first-year associate can now expect to receive $170,000. US: In the first case of its kind, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have claimed a website selling counterfeit software on the internet as part of a criminal case. Maria Yolanda and Sola Lirola, who made $900,000 in profit, sold software billed as retail products from companies such as Adobe and Microsoft.

On May 10 2000, there entered into force a new Act No 116/2000, amending some IP laws, including the Patents Act No 527/1990. The only exception concerns Section 3 of the Patents Act, regulating European patent applications and the European patent. This Section will enter into force on July 1 2002, ie on the day of the supposed accession of the Czech Republic to the EPC. The most important part of the said amendments concerns the grant of supplementary protection certificates for medicinal products and plant protection products. Commercial exploitation of inventions protecting such products is shortened by the registration proceeding carried out by the respective state authorities before such products can be put on the market. In justified cases, supplemental protection certificates extend the life of protection by the time of registration proceeding. Reasons for the introduction of supplementary protection certificates are just the same as those which led the European Union to adopt Regulations of the Council No 1768/92 and 1610/96 ie to keep up the level of research, and to safeguard a competition ability and free circulation of medicinal products and plant protection products.

Nearly one-third of European dot-com companies are failing to protect their trade marks in their home markets, according to a new survey. Even worse, just 60% have registered any trade marks overseas and four out of five have spent nothing on patent protection. The findings come in a survey of 400 senior managers at companies in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. The survey was carried out by Landwell, the correspondent law firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

New decisions and rulings on domain names are coming thick and fast from Palestine to Belgium. The past month has seen some significant amendments and cases. MIP rounds up some of the latest domain name developments. US: www.vw.net Volkswagen won the right to the domain name vw.net. Virtual Works of Virginia registered VW.NET in October 1996, but Volkswagen claimed the use constituted infringement and dilution of its mark. Virtual Works filed a civil lawsuit to block an attempt to reassign its domain name claiming that .net was for networking operations, not automobiles. In February 2000 a court ruled that the car maker was entitled to the name as Virtual Works had attempted to sell the domain name to Volkswagen which was a violation of the 1999 Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. A three-judge panel upheld this decision on January 22 2000.

Todd Dickinson´ s two-year stint as head of the US Patent and Trademark Office ended on Saturday 20 January, following George W Bush´ s inauguration. He was immediately hailed as one of the most successful Commissioners in recent times. Dickinson oversaw a 70% increase in patent applications; a 200% rise in the number of trade mark applications; a complete restructuring of the agency´ s management team; and an increased number of patent and trade mark examiners. It was a busy two years. "He did a marvellous job," says Michael Heltzer, government relations manager of the International Trade Mark Association (INTA). "He totally understood the role of the PTO in safeguarding America´ s ideas, something which his predecessors did not." Michael Kirk, executive director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) agrees: "Dickinson dedicated a lot more effort to the actual running of the office than his predecessor Bruce Lehman, putting more emphasis on processing applications and the quality of patent examinations, which are critical to the office."

In an unexpected turnaround, on December 26 2000, the Clinton administration killed a proposal to allow imports of low-priced prescription drugs into the United States. Congress abandoned the controversial plan on the grounds that it would be unsafe and would not achieve its aim of providing the public with cheap drugs. Describing the proposal as severely flawed, Donna E Shalala , secretary of health and human services, echoed the concerns of pharma companies who believed that without sufficient funding and strict regulations, the plan would have had a devastating effect on public safety.

The patent alternative

Membership of the European Union came one year closer for many Eastern European countries last year, but as governments rush through necessary legislation, consumers and companies are being left behind. Tabitha Parker reports

The Andean Pact member states have long been viewed as a backwater in the technology field. But, reports James Nurton, the new Decision 486 should radically improve patent protection and transform that image

January 1 2000, as for many developing countries, was an important date in India’s diary. It marked the end of the country’s five-year transition period and the moment it became subject to the TRIPs agreement. Tabitha Parker spoke to two senior industry figures about the change