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Membership of the European Union came one year closer for many Eastern European countries last year, but as governments rush through necessary legislation, consumers and companies are being left behind. Tabitha Parker reports

The year 2000 saw important progress regarding both the Community Patent and the European Patent Convention. Neil Jenkins reviews the developments and looks forward to further changes

Nearly a decade after the first release of shocking advertising images by Benetton, the German Federal Constitutional Court has now found the ads acceptable. Henning Hartwig examines the landmark decision, which has finally put an extensive discussion to rest

In one of the most eagerly-awaited patent trials in recent years, Amgen has successfully defended three out of the five patents protecting its best-selling drug Epogen. In a 245-page ruling, Judge William G Young of the US District Court in Boston ruled that Transkaryotic Therapies (TKT) infringed the patents in its experimental drug Dynepo. But he ruled that two further patents on Epogen were not infringed. Dynepo is at present in phase III clinical trials. TKT´ s shares fell over 50% following the decision, while Amgen´ s share price shot up 10%.

Fact they say is stranger than fiction. In the David v Goliath case that is Trovan v Pfizer this is certainly true. In the story David slays Goliath and is proclaimed king. In the Trovan case, Pfizer´ s Goliath is made of stronger stuff. On January 11, Trovan filed an appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court challenging an earlier ruling which overturned a record $143 million damages award to the company for infringement of its Trovan trade mark.

For copyright owners, news from Hank Barry, Napster´ s CEO, that there are more than 200 million multimedia PCs worldwide with the capacity to copy an MP3 file, and that Napster´ s software has been downloaded and installed 57 million times, will make grim reading. Except that is for copyright owners in France. French authorities are planning to put levies on the sales of computers and digital recording devices as a means of compensating musicians and film-makers against pirate copying. The taxes on recordable CDs, DVDs and mini-discs went into effect on January 22. A 420-minute recordable DVD faces a Ffr57.7 ($9) levy, most of which will go directly to the artists and producers.

With TRIPs compliance, legislative reform and a booming technology market, 2000 was a busy year for patent owners in the emerging markets. MIP writers reveal the results of our annual survey and profile some of the interesting stories from the past year

Israel is a high-tech oasis in the Middle East, and home to a burgeoning number of biotech, software and internet companies. Its transformation into this position provides a model for the neighbouring states, reports James Nurton

Owen Dean analyzes the South African law on parallel imports for trade mark and copyright-protected goods in the light of divergent court rulings

In the first case over a .jp domain name, the Toyama District Court has ordered a website to be shut down for infringing a famous name. John A Tessensohn examines the decision