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Blogs are taking over the web, and becoming a useful source of news and gossip on IP developments. James Nurton tracks down the bloggers and profiles 10 indispensable sites

Courts in Beijing have recently ordered infringers to pay substantial damages. For example, in the case of Yu Sheng Tang (Yi Zhong Ming Chu 276, September 20 2004) the Beijing No 1 Intermediary People's Court held that the defendants had infringed the 400-year-old trade mark Yu Sheng Tang (in Chinese characters). It ordered them to cease infringement and to pay damages of Rmb5 million ($625,000).

In a landmark decision, the House of Lords has invalidated Amgen's key patent for erythropoietin. James Nurton examines the impact of the ruling

The global reach of the internet poses problems for courts with national jurisdiction. As Neil Smith explains, Yahoo!'s recent attempt to prevent the enforcement of a French judgment against it sheds some light on how these issues will be handled in the US

A frenzy of government-led reform in Japan is dramatically changing the IP regime in the country. Lloyd Parker and Yukihiro Otani provide a guide to the most important developments

US patent laws are increasingly affecting activities taking place outside the US. Philippe Signore and Pierre Michon examine six examples of this trend

The British Phonographic Industry, the trade body for record labels in the UK, is to begin action against 28 major file sharers - individuals who make their record collections available for others to download from peer-to-peer (P2P) sites. In a P2P site, there are four groups of potential defendants; each is considered below.

As business leaders increasingly recognize the value of IP rights, it is more important to consider the tax issues involved in protecting them, argue Isabel Verlinden, Axel Smits and Patrick Boone

US: The Justice Department unveiled a report by its IP Task Force. The report recommends the creation of five new Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (CHIP) Units in Washington DC, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, Nashville and Orlando. The Department has 13 CHIP Units across the US at present. The report also includes calls for an increase in the number of FBI special agents dedicated to investigating IP crimes, and the use of more federal resources and tougher enforcement to tackle infringers. US: A California state court of appeals in Los Angeles upheld a $500 million infringement verdict against biotechnology leader Genentech. Genentech was found to have hidden licensed sales and not paid royalties on human insulin and human growth hormone developed by the City of Hope National Medical Center. US: Biotechnology company Amgen won a federal district court case against Transkaryotic Therapies (TKT) and Aventis Pharmaceuticals. Judge William Young of the district court of Massachusetts ruled that Transkaryotic and Aventis violated two of Amgen's product patents on erythropoietin and two patents with claims on the production of erythropoietin. TKT said it would appeal the decision to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. US: The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of KP Permanent Make-Up Inc v Lasting Impressions on October 5. Lasting Impressions is claiming trade mark infringement against KP Permanent Make-Up for use of the words micro color on the packaging of KP Permanent's products. In hearing the case, the Court asked whether the classic fair use defence to trade mark infringement is an absolute defence, regardless of whether confusion may result.

Sam Mamudi, Washington DC