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Three international law firms have closed their Hong Kong IP groups already this year. But, despite fundamental changes in the IP market, the mood is not one of doom and gloom. Practitioners are still looking forward to the future with optimism. Ralph Cunningham reports

On May 22 2003 the Law On Amending Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Intellectual Property Protection was adopted. The new Law came into force on June 25 2003, and was passed to harmonize Ukrainian legislation with the provisions of the TRIPs Agreement. It covers a number of legislative innovations including the amendments introduced into special legislation, that is the Law On Protection of Rights in Trade Marks and Service Marks (the Trade Mark Law); the Law On Protection of Rights in Inventions and Utility Models; and others presented into the Codes of Civil and Commercial Procedure of Ukraine.

The exclusive rights of a trade mark proprietor and the interests of competitors and the general public in free trade require a compromise, so that in certain instances third party use of the trade mark cannot be prohibited. Such constellations are inter alia mentioned in Section 23 of the 1994 German Trade Mark Act, which permits the use of a third party's own name or address (number 1), the use of an indication concerning the characteristics or features of the goods or services (number 2) or where such use is necessary to indicate the intended purpose of a product, in particular as an accessory or spare part or a service, insofar as the use is necessary for it (number 3), provided the use is not contrary to the principles of morality.

Alain Coriat and Ricardo Fischer of Hoet Pelaez Castillo & Duque in Venezuela tackle the misconception that globalization and IP protection is detrimental to developing countries

The advent of computers and electronic communication has added a new dimension to preserving evidence, explains Glen P Belvis of Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione

IP litigators and their clients are scrambling to revise enforcement strategies to keep up with new developments in the law, while keeping a close eye on the next few months, discuss Elliott S Simcoe and L Catherine Eckenswiller of Smart & Biggar/Fetherstonhaugh in Ottawa

Creating a robust climate for licensing is a significant challenge for an economy in transition. Antonina Pakharenko-Anderson explains how Ukraine is tackling the obstacles

Liberal legislation and a stable economic environment has fostered enthusiasm for licensing in Mexico, explains Jose Antonio Romero

An application for a business method patent is subject to the same requirements of novelty, inventiveness and industrial applicability as any other patent application in Korea. Careful drafting will secure your rights, explain Eun-Jin JUNG & Andrew CHOUNG, of Kim & Chang

Wubbo de Boer, OHIM president, spoke to MIP editor James Nurton about the challenges facing the Office as it deals with the new Community Design, the introduction of electronic filing and the expansion of the EU