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Pursuant to the law it is not possible to reserve a company name in Poland. No register of company names is run in our country. However, a company name can be recorded in the National Court register along with data about the company (including, for instance, the nature of the company, such as a limited liability partnership or a joint stock company). Only companies domiciled in Poland can be recorded in the National Court register.

Under the Mexican Industrial Property Law trade names are published rather than registered, as happens with service marks. The difference between a publication and a registration basically consists in the rights derived from the legislation. While the exclusive right to use a service mark is granted only by means of a registration, a trade name does not require a registration to produce legal effects against third parties. Indeed, according to the Law, trade names are protected by virtue of their use without the benefit of a registration. The purpose of the publication is only to establish a presumption of good faith in the adoption and use of the trade name. Accordingly, use of a trade name is essential to produce its legal effects.

Throughout the world, the patent landscape is changing as patent offices and governments look at how they can provide a better service to rights owners. In the first part of the World IP Survey, MIP reveals the leading patent firms and asks top practitioners to discuss the latest issues

? US: A California court has cleared biotech company Genentech of patent infringement in a dispute with rival Chiron over a breast cancer drug.

Author's special rights or moral rights, as these are commonly referred to, have their genesis in Article 6 bis of the Berne Convention which states:

In a recent decision (3 Ni 3/01) the German Federal Patent Court concluded that one working example in a patent can be a basis to maintain method claims of broader scope in view of insufficiency objections raised in nullity proceedings.

Ralph Cunningham, Hong Kong

? China: According to the official Xinhua news agency, China's IP rights administration department handled 41,163 trade mark infringement and 4,416 copyright cases in 2001.

? Europe: WIPO is preparing to select a director general when Kamil Idris retires on November 30 2003. A special session of the general assembly will be held in May or June next year to endorse a nomination by the WIPO coordination committee. The EPO is also seeking a new president to start in January 2004, when Ingo Kober steps down.

Trade mark owners should find it easier to register shapes in Australia after the Full Federal Court decision in Kenman Kandy Australia v Registrar of Trade Marks.