Search results for

New IP law abolished the provisions concerning the use requirement of patents and evidence on use detailed in the Decree Law on the Protection of Patent Rights. Instead, IP law now mentions the use requirement within the provision on compulsory licences, as a consequence of non-use of a patent.

Filing a utility model application for an invention can be a quick way to obtain patent rights in Taiwan. A utility model application will mature into a registration with a duration of 10 years from the filing date as soon as the formality requirements are fulfilled. However, as a utility model application filed in Taiwan is not subject to a substantive examination looking at novelty and inventive step, before a utility model patent holder can enforce his right against an infringer, he needs to ask Taiwan's IP Office to produce a technical evaluation report in which prior art references are cited (if any) and the relevance of these to each claim is specified. The scope of the claims of a utility model patent might need to be restricted in light of the references cited by the IP Office.

If, like Utynam, you love internet memes almost as much as you love IP, you will have delighted in the news at the end of January. The owners of the feline known as Grumpy Cat won $700,000 in a copyright infringement case in California.

In November 2015, the National Assembly of Vietnam issued a new Penal Code. This was scheduled to come into effect on July 1 2016, replacing the Penal Code of 1999. However, due to some inconsistencies and shortcomings in the law as drafted, its full implementation was put on hold until necessary amendments could be made. A revised version of the new Penal Code was subsequently issued in June 2017 and finally took effect this year on January 1.

In January 2018, Thailand's efforts to strengthen its IP system and enforcement processes for counterfeit and pirated goods were recognised with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) removing Thailand from its Priority Watch List for intellectual property. Thailand had been on the USTR Priority Watch List for more than a decade.

Recent intellectual property news includes the USPTO director being sworn in, a study on trade marks running out, the end of a Kung Fu Panda dispute in China, the Law Society urging UK UPC ratification, four years of Octane Fitness, the DOJ AAG again urging SEPs balance, and a $6.7m award in a graffiti artist copyright case

Sanjana Kapila reports from an INTA designs conference held in London where in-house counsel discussed designs and anti-counterfeiting

Turkey's New Industrial Property Code came into force a year ago. Uğur Aktekin and Zeynep Seda Alhas of Gün + Partners examine how it has changed the protection of trade marks in the jurisdiction

Özge Atılgan Karakulak and Selin Sinem Erciyas of Gün + Partners analyse the impact of EPO proceedings on enforcement and validity actions in Turkey

Toyota recently lost a trade mark case at India’s Supreme Court, in a surprising decision that has shaken up the principle of territoriality in trans-border reputation