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The recent decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Board of Education ex rel Board of Trustees of Florida State University v American Bioscience Inc, 67 USPQ 2d 1252 (Fed Cir 2003) focuses on the importance under US law of correctly naming the true inventor (or inventors) on US patents. While the decision enunciates no new legal principles, its thorough discussion of the criteria for inventorship under US law merits attention. In particular, this discussion should be helpful in the US and elsewhere to institutions of higher learning in clarifying that the criteria generally used in naming authors on scientific papers are inapplicable to patent inventorship determinations. In addition, non-US companies and other groups applying for US patents will find that this discussion presents in one place a clear exposition of US inventorship criteria.

Due to the great flow of capital generated by royalties payments between nations, as well as between Mexican citizens and foreigners, the legal attorneys of IP rights owners must consider the fiscal rules. In accordance with Mexican law, fiscal treatment is granted to the income obtained from royalties payments, so that the payments can be deductible and generate a benefit to their clients.

The internet boom and bust left many companies with a myriad of domain names and very little idea of how to manage them. Rebecca Smith looks at why good management is important for companies and what they need to look for in choosing a solutions provider

Gladys Mirandah and George Miranda outline what you should include in licensing agreements for Singapore and Malaysia to exploit fully your IP rights

James Nurton, London

Wu Yuhe and Dong Jiangxong, of China Patent Agent (HK) Ltd, explain what you should know about patent and trade mark assignment, licensing and technology transfer in China

The obsolete Spanish regulation on industrial models and designs of 1929 has finally been reviewed and substituted by a new modern Design Law, adapted to EU Directive 98/71/EC.

To streamline the administration of the examination and grant of patents, industrial designs, trade marks and geographical indicators, the IP Department was converted into an independent corporation with autonomous powers on March 3 2003. It is known as the Malaysian Intellectual Property Corporation, or PHIM (the Malay language acronym of the corporation). Additional staff have been recruited, hours to receive applications have been increased and new administrative procedures have been introduced. Time taken to examine and grant a registrable IP right is being substantially reduced. More good news is that the filing fees remain unchanged. These changes augur well for owners and users of IP rights.

One of the most elusive questions in copyright litigation faced by courts the world over has been how to map out the horizons of the idea/expression dichotomy. In 1978, the Supreme Court of India in the RG Anand case held that one of the surest and safest tests to determine whether or not there has been a copyright infringement is to see if the reader after having read both the works gets an unmistakable impression that the subsequent work appears to be a copy of the original.

On May 6 2003 the European Court of Justice handed down a revolutionary judgment on the possibility of taking out trade mark registrations for colours per se.