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Utynam reports from the AIPLA Annual Meeting, held in Washington DC in October

In Trader Joe's Company v Michael Norman Hallatt d/b/a Pirate Joe's, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision which granted Trader Joe's the right to pursue claims for trade mark infringement under the Lanham Act against activity that occurred in Canada.

In case of a patent infringement, the patentee normally has an interest not only in obtaining damages from the infringer, but also that the infringer immediately stops the infringing action. A request for an injunctive relief against the infringer is therefore standard practice in patent litigation. In such a situation the infringer may have an interest in being granted a grace period in order to gain time to find a bypass solution or to deplete his stock of infringing products. Such a grace period for the infringer, known from copyright or competition law cases, has also been discussed in patent law literature as an exceptional measure. It may be granted by a court if an immediate cessation of sales of the infringing product were to lead to disproportionate disadvantages for the infringer. Granting such a grace period requires reflecting the overall circumstances of the individual case, and such a limited continuation of the infringing action must not cause unacceptable adverse effects on the infringed party.

The well-known optical retail chain Specsavers have been hitting the headlines in the UK again. This time it is not for their successful court battles with British supermarket retailer and Wal-Mart subsidiary, Asda, which set an important precedent for the protection of colour trade marks, but for filing an application with the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) to have Should've and Shouldve registered as trade marks in classes 9, 10, 16, 35, and 44.

Swiss products and services enjoy an excellent reputation worldwide, being associated with positive references such as quality, precision, authenticity and luxury. However, this enviable image has dragged unauthentic usage of markers of the Swiss origins such as the Swiss cross and "made in Switzerland" references.

About a year ago, news about the copying of a design belonging to the indigenous community of Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec ("Mixes community"), in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, by Isabel Marant (a famous fashion designer) caused great controversy in social media.

The Court of Amsterdam has decided in summary proceedings that the use of trade names Local Affairs and Studio Local Affairs constitutes an infringement of the trade name Local and on the corresponding Benelux device mark.

The European Observatory on infringement on Intellectual Property Rights has made a report in relation to the economic cost of infringements in spirits and wine in the European Union; this report aims to evaluate the consequences of counterfeiting in a concrete field, comparing the sales forecast and the actual sales.

Starting July 1 2016, the date on which the revised Enforcement Rules of Taiwan's Patent Law were implemented, applicants filing patent applications in Taiwan are given greater flexibility in the submission of certified priority documents.

Sometimes it is difficult to predict which is more lucrative – to toil over a trade mark and produce goods or do nothing but sue infringers. A CJSC Renna Holdin obtained trade mark registration number 421859 for a figurative trade mark with the word element "moo cow from Korenovka" (pictured; Korenovka is the name of a village).