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In the last 10 years of India's experiments with TRIPs compliance in the domain of patents, the one section in the Act that was put to a major test is Section 3. In the past a critical amendment to Section 3 was the insertion of a new sub-section 3(k) by the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2002. This sub-section, for the first time in the history of India's patents law indirectly made at least certain aspects of computer program related inventions patentable. Accordingly, the amended law provided that what is not an invention is only "a mathematical method or business method or a computer program per se or algorithms".

The European Commission has recently published a proposal for a Directive amending Directive 98/71/EC on registered designs by harmonizing the position in respect of spare parts. A spare part is a component part used for the repair of a product composed of multiple components, a so-called complex product, to restore its original appearance. Examples of such spare parts include car body panels, bumpers and windscreens which need to match the component being replaced. The proposal covers all repairable complex products, including household devices and electronic goods as well as cars.

April 1 2005 marked 10 years since the new Dutch Patents Act came into force. The old patents act of 1910 was phased out after a transition period of nine years on September 1 2004. After having been in force for 10 years, some of the upsides and downsides of the registration system under the Dutch Patents Act of 1995 (ROW 1995) have become clear.

On June 5 1998, the applicant filed an application for a Community trade mark at OHIM for a figurative sign consisting of the letter a (see figure 1).

In early 2005 the IP Division of the Tokyo High Court issued an opinion that helped settle a long-running employee invention dispute between Shuji Nakamura and Nichia. It also offered crucial pointers for companies deciding how to compensate their engineers. Yutaka Miyoshi of Mori Hamada & Matsumoto explains what the court's interpretation means for business

James Nurton, London

E-commerce is booming in Japan, and it is inevitable that disputes over search-related advertising, meta-tags and sponsored links will arise. Alan N Sutin of Greenberg Traurig, LLP examines the lessons that can be learnt from recent cases in the US

Japan has made a series of reforms to its patent litigation system designed to make it far more attractive to litigants. Yoshikazu Iwase of Anderson Mori & Tomotsune sets out seven reasons why foreign companies should launch their infringement suits in Japan and outlines the key changes that have made patent litigation an attractive option

Yutaka Tozaki of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry explains why he believes companies should disclose far more information about their intellectual assets and how his department is encouraging them to do so

The past year has seen a flurry of judicial activity across Asia as countries try to boost their IP courts. Emma Barraclough considers the latest developments, and how they will benefit IP owners