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The Andean Pact Decision 344, applicable in the five countries of the Andean Community (Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia and Venezuela) provides in article 1 that the member countries shall grant patents to inventions of either products and/or processes in all fields of technology, provided that they are new, have inventive level, and have an industrial use.

The Spanish Government has drafted a new Trade Mark Law which will be presented to the Spanish Parliament for debate later this year. The new law will tighten the existing 1988 law by enforcing the Spanish Constitutional Court ruling which argued that competence in some matters of trade marks should correspond to the Spanish Autonomous Communities; some provisions of the Protocol and TRIPs Agreement; harmonization with the Community Trade Mark Regulation and the complete implementation of the Trade Mark Law Treaty including the introduction of the multi-class system.

The Andean Court of Justice has just passed an important decision concerning the implementation of Decision 344. Jose Barreda explains that the decision will lead to greater conformity between the member states

Franchising has a big role to play in internet business. As the e-conomy takes off, Mark Abell and Andrew Scott argue that traditional views of market exclusivity in Europe must be changed

Tomorrow's biggest industries will all be driven by technology. Robert Stoll, of the USPTO, takes a timely look at the significance of patent law as an engine of economic development and improvements in human life

Tacking allows you to secure priority for your US trade marks by citing earlier registrations. But Thomas M Williams warns that recent cases have limited trade mark owners' ability to tack old marks on to new ones

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According to German case law, patents directed to the use of a substance or a device for a certain purpose may confer protection which goes beyond the actual application of the method of use. If the product involved shows an "obvious orientation" or "apparent adaptation" towards the protected use, a use claim protects a patentee essentially in the same manner as a product claim directed to that product. This adaptation of the product includes acts as formulation, ready-for-use packaging together with instructions, dosage (for medical substances), or similar preparations towards the protected use.

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The so-called Belgian torpedo action has become a popular defence to a cross-border patent action. But three recent cases threaten to undermine its effectiveness. Johann Pitz reports