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Cert granted in Return Mail v United States Postal Service, which asks whether the government is a "person" who may petition to institute review proceedings under the AIA

In Thailand, trade mark applicants often encounter rejections on the ground of non-distinctiveness, where the application is principally composed of an acronym or a combination of unpronounceable letters. The Thai Trademark Office has consistently found that combinations of such letters in only a slightly stylised manner do not form an invented word and as such cannot pass the distinctiveness requirement. These decisions are then, almost without exception, upheld by the Thai Trademark Appeal Board (TTAB). At that point, many applicants refrain from appealing to the Thai courts due to the lengthy litigation process and the significant costs involved.

China just passed the long-awaited E-commerce Law, which will be effective from January 1 2019. While consumer protection is a key focus of the E-commerce Law, the new law represents some recent movement regarding IP protection in China.

It has been a longstanding practice in Taiwan for patent invalidation actions to be examined in written form and conducted using a pleading-and-defence template in which the two opposing parties are allowed to alternately present their contentions in writing. Taiwan's IP Office (hereinafter referred to as TIPO), upon receipt of the brief/counterstatement lodged by either party, will serve a copy on the other party, along with a notification for filing a response. After the two parties have exhausted their views and have no new evidence to file or TIPO believes that the observations and evidence submitted are sufficient, TIPO will proceed to examine all the documents/materials on file. Under this practice, none of the documents/materials on file can be divulged to the public, and the examination process could be rather lengthy.

The PTAB acting chief judge and vice-chief judge advised to inform them if there has been a final claim construction determination in another forum, and revealed another update to the Trial Practice Guide will be coming in the next few months

Keith Medansky of DLA Piper shares tips on best practices for managing international trade mark portfolios including filing strategies

Two recent cases have highlighted the gray areas of DMCA safe harbour rules, with one observer predicting “choppy waters for some time”

Meaghan Kent of Venable assesses highlights from the past year in copyright, including the influence of the Supreme Court’s Star Athletica ruling, enforcement of rights by photographers, and graffiti disputes

The software patent eligibility situation in the US is “a really high fence” that requires some sparkle to pass while the European test is drier

The Rogers test has proved little impediment to defending speech rights in US trade mark cases in the past year, while the trend for disputes over dog toys has also continued