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In recent years, the German Utility Model Act has undergone several important changes which, among other things, have made utility model protection available for essentially the same subject matter (except methods) as for patent protection, and extended the maximum period of protection to 10 years. However, a utility model will still be registered without examination as to the novelty and non-obviousness of its subject matter. Registration will be effected within six to eight weeks after completion of the filing procedure.

The EU has taken a big leap towards implementing WIPO’s two December 1996 copyright treaties.

On July 23 1998 the Trade Mark Law No. 84/1998 came into force. Section 88 of this Law provides that if a trade mark is infringed, the owner may ask, by way of interlocutory injunction, for the immediate cessation of any infringement until the main trial case is settled and the decision is final.

Exhaustion of rights, as an exception to the rights afforded by IP laws, has been recognized in the laws of many countries in the world. In general terms, it implies that the owner of intellectual property rights cannot oppose the further trading of products embodying its rights, if and to the extent that such products have been marketed by or with its consent. Exhaustion of rights marks the border between intellectual property rights and those of the buyer of a product or copy embodying the IP rights.

On December 3 1993, the European Union Authorities filed their first proposal of Regulation and Directive relevant to the legal protection of designs. On October 28 1998, Directive 98/71/CE was eventually published, to be validated on a domestic basis in each member state by October 28 2001, and which consists of 21 Whereas... and of 20 sections. This demonstrates though it is widely known anyway how many difficulties there are and remain to be overcome to harmonize design laws which vary throughout the European Union.

The problem of whether a claimed invention in relation to a selection invention is patentable may arise not only in the chemical, but also in many other fields.

An intellectual property owner faces difficulties when trying to recover full damage compensation from an infringer in Korea due to three main reasons:

Patent Ordinance

Several changes to the German Patent Law became effective on November 1 1998. Among the minor changes is a modification of the name of the patent office which now is Deutsches Patent und Markenamt, to emphasize the increasingly important role of trade mark matters. There are also significant modifications of more relevance to applicants, and these will be briefly commented on below, as far as they relate to filing procedures.

After more than eight years of fruitful activity, Mr Ladislav Jakl, president of the Czech Industrial Property Office, decided to resign from his duties and leave the Office on December 31 1998.