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Novel trade marks - such as smells, sounds, shapes and colours - are popular with brand owners, but have often proved controversial when tested in Europe's courts. MIP assembled five specialists from different backgrounds to discuss how companies use these types of marks and whether the registries and courts can meet their needs

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

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.

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

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.

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.

On July 24 2003 the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) issued the new Implementing Measures for Administrative Penalties on Copyright Infringement, effective September 1 2003, to replace the earlier measures issued in 1997. The Measures aim to make the provisions consistent with those of the new Copyright Law and Copyright Implementing Regulations which underwent substantial amendments in 2001 and 2002 respectively. Moreover, they supplement the Law and the Implementing Regulations so as to make them more operable when it comes to administrative enforcement of copyright. The major changes are as follows.

Draft legislation will revamp Australia's designs law. But it may not achieve its twin aims of making registration tougher and strengthening enforcement, argue Jamie Nettleton and Lydia Santoso

Since July 1 2003, the European Patent Office has started a new pilot project which may be of interest to a large number of applicants.

? EU: A coalition of 48 lobby groups from around the world has urged the European Parliament to reject the draft of an anti-piracy law that they say is too broad and threatens consumer rights and innovation across the EU.