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In a final report on March 17, the WTO has given its ruling on claims brought by the EU against Canada's patent regime.

We all know that obtaining patent protection internationally requires considerable funds, the average probably being $ 5,000 per country. For an individual inventor this can be a lot of money. However, it can also tighten a company´ s budget since companies generally have to seek patent protection for more than one product. It has thus become standard practice to base the decision for international filings on an early examination report which may be obtained in the country of first filing. It has further become good practice to file an international (PCT) application before the end of one year after the first national filing, thereby claiming convention priority, instead of going directly national at the end of the priority year. If the applicant asks for an international preliminary examination (IPE), there will be a further indication about the chances of obtaining national patents prior to converting the international application into national original applications.

Recently, as part of the national drive towards becoming a regional IT and e-learning hub, a research and education centre at the National University of Singapore known as the Institute of Systems Science (ISS) launched what it claims to be the world´ s first virtual institute. The ISS took about one and a half years to develop the necessary software. It is intended that the virtual institute will serve, among other things, to re-train graduates for the growing infocomm industry. Plans are also being made to offer courses to local students and to provide courses in languages other than English for students in other countries in the region.

If a major corporation appends its famous house mark to a registered mark owned by another party, is there a conflict? In the appeal case of Registrar of Trade Marks v Woolworths Ltd, the Full Federal of Australia, by a margin of two to one, allowed an application for WOOLWORTHS METRO to be accepted, notwithstanding several earlier METRO marks each of which related to similar goods or services. The Court, at trial and appeal, rejected the Registrar's contention that the marks were deceptively similar.

The new Woolf rules on litigation in the UK emphasize pre-action negotiations. Gerard Cronin, of Llewelyn Zietman in London, examines the tension this has created with the Brussels and Lugano Conventions

Patent claims are not always focused on in litigation, but they can play a significant role. Mary Helen Sears, of MH Sears Law Firm in Washington DC, reveals some often overlooked details of preparing an effective patent disclosure

Singapore’s High Court recently delivered its ruling in Merck v Pharmaforte. Ella Cheong & G Mirandah in Singapore reveal that the decision has big implications for all patent owners in Singapore

Romania has a new law governing the protection of plant varieties. Sonia Larion and Lucian Enescu, of Rominvent in Bucharest, explain how it works

Patent owners should be aware of the limitations regarding amending patent claims in the former Soviet Union. Antti Papula, of Nevinpat in Helsinki, examines the rules in Russia and the CIS

Japan’s patent law has seen a lot of changes over the past two years. Yoshiya Ishimura, of Tokyo Aoyama Law Office/Baker & McKenzie in Tokyo, analyzes some of the most important developments