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Claims drafted overseas and filed in Australia are often accepted by the Australian Patent Office without being adapted to local laws. In particular, claims that have been examined and accepted by European or US Patent Offices are often forwarded to Australian patent attorneys for submission as is, or with perhaps with only minor modifications. This is especially the case with modified examination, where an Australian patent may be granted on the basis of a patent granted in the United States, a European convention country, Canada or New Zealand, provided it uses exactly the same wording as the granted patent. This can lead to problems during litigation.

Rainforest Coffee Products Pte Ltd (RCPPL), which was held to have infringed the RAINFOREST CAFÉ trade mark of Rainforest Café, Inc (RCI) under the repealed Trade Marks Act (Cap 332, 1992 edition) by the High Court last year, has failed in its appeal to the Court of Appeal (see the December 1999 issue of MIP under the same column for our report on the High Court decision).

James B Lumenta, of Amroos & Partners in Jakarta, explains how improvements to the Trade Mark Law make it easier to protect rights in Indonesia

There has been a steady flow of interesting trade mark disputes in India in the past year. Pravin Anand, of Anand & Anand in New Delhi, reviews the most important cases

Trinidad and Tobago is a more attractive litigation forum than it first appears. Brien de Gannes, of JD Sellier & Company in Port of Spain, provides an insight into resolving trade mark disputes in the country

Brazil has thrown off its poor reputation for protecting trade marks. Rodrigo Caiuby Novaes, of Clarke, Modet & Co in Rio de Janeiro, reveals how the new industrial property law has transformed registration practice

Boudewijn van Vondelen and Alexander van Laaren examine how you can protect shop designs against imitators in the Netherlands

The world's biggest selling drug is under attack on both sides of the Atlantic as its patent expiry looms. AstraZeneca, maker of Losec, has been accused of breaching European competition rules, and is also facing litigation to stop US companies bringing out generic versions of the drug.

Michael Bolton was represented by Robert G Sugarman of Weil, Gotshal & Manges in New York and Russell J Frackman of Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp in Los Angeles.

In the rapidly developing software market questions often arise regarding proper protection of program names. Of course, program names can be registered as trade marks. On the other hand, many software developers are not aware of the fact that program names may enjoy protection in Germany as titles of works. Titles of works are defined as designations of printed publications, cinematographic works, musical and dramatic works, or other comparable works which, according to German case law, include computer programs.