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Luddites may resist it, but mediation is taking off in trade mark disputes. Michael Leathes of BAT explains why mediation is necessary, and why trade mark practitioners must lead, follow or get out of the way

Stéphanie Bodoni, London

Jakkrit Kuanpoth, associate professor of law at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Thailand

The Community Trade Mark (CTM) Regulation (EC No 40/94) of December 20 1993 is being amended by EC Regulation No 422/2004 of February 19 2004 (the Amending Regulation).

Following the entry into force of the new Civil Code of Ukraine and the Commercial Code of Ukraine in January 2004, it became necessary to bring the specialized IP legislation into compliance with the provisions of the Codes. One of the steps taken is the development of a draft Law On Protection of Rights in Trade Marks, Geographical Indications and Trade Names (the Draft Law) under the auspices of the Ukrainian State Department of Intellectual Property. The Draft Law was published on the official website of the State Department for public consideration.

According to Section 30(3)(a) of the Singapore Patents Act, the Registrar of Patents has the power to refuse the grant of a patent in pursuance of more than one application, where one applicant files two or more applications for a patent for the same invention, which have the same priority date (the so called double patenting exclusion).

It is always prudent to conduct a trade mark search before a particular trade mark is adopted and used in commerce. The main purpose of conducting a search is to ensure that the mark of interest is not visually, phonetically or conceptually similar to any earlier mark for the same or similar goods or services in that country.

A patent dispute in the US can be a frightening prospect for foreign companies. Alan M Anderson looks at some of the pitfalls to avoid, and provides tips on successful litigation tactics

David Haigh and Michael Rocha explain why the new international accounting standards will have important implications for owners of IP assets, especially brands

Big drugs companies want Hong Kong to give them more protection from generics. Emma Barraclough looks at the arguments in favour of US-style protection and assesses the likelihood of such a system being adopted