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When it comes to using patents to provide more brand and shareholder value, some companies may be getting in the way of their own success. In the following excerpt from their chapter in the book From Ideas to Assets – Investing Wisely in Intellectual Property (John Wiley & Sons), Bruce Berman and James D Woods show how the importance of these patents may be overlooked and under-communicated

Thanks to a new directive, artists across Europe will receive royalties on future sales of their works – many for the first time. George Moore and Matthew Warren explain how the royalty structure will work

The Tokyo High Court has upheld the Japanese Patent Office ban on obtaining trade marks for retail services. The internationalization of the country’s trade mark system could persuade the authorities to change their stance, say Shusaku Yamamoto and John Tessensohn

You are getting a lot more than simply going to the patent office to do your search

In April and May 2000, the Mexican Federal Administrative Proceedings Law was amended on a supplementary basis. The changes meant that standards for the administrative proceedings of the law became applicable to all actions filed before the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (the IMPI). These included trade mark registration, granting of patents, nullity and infringement actions.

The German Act Relating to Inventions of Employees (the Act) provides that an employer may, within a period of four months, claim an invention made by an employee which either results from the employee's work under the employment contract or is essentially based on the know-how of the employer. For such a claimed invention, a patent application must be filed. In return, the employee is entitled to compensation when the invention is used by the employer. Unfortunately, the administrative provisions of the Act cause considerable paper work. Large companies estimate that the costs for handling employment inventions in compliance with the provisions of the Act are in the same range as the compensation to be paid to the employed inventors for the use of these inventions.

? China: Sohu.com has responded to a copyright infringement suit from Sina.com, its mainland rival, by counter-suing for copyright infringement and unfair competition. The cases concern the use of cellphone screen designs.

Trade mark systems in Africa and the Middle East are at various stages of development. The difficulties with registering and enforcing rights should not put off those interested in doing so, reports Ralph Cunningham

Among several amendments to the Patent Act that came into force on January 1 2002 in Germany, there are two changes affecting patent opposition proceedings. First, an opposition fee of €200 ($174) has been introduced. Secondly, there is a temporary change regarding the responsibility for deciding on oppositions.

Ralph Cunningham, Hong Kong