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In the global endeavour to afford protection to geographical indications (GIs), Malaysia has been an active crusader. There are a large number of GIs particular to Malaysia such as Sarawak Pepper, Sabah Tea, Borneo Virgin Coconut Oil and Kelantan Budu (anchovy sauce), to name a few. In 2000, the Malaysian government enacted the Geographical Indications Act, under which registered GIs were given territorial protection for 10 years from the date of filing (renewable every 10 years as long as they are in use). Although registration is not compulsory, it is actively encouraged to protect the interests of producers and consumers. Non-registration does not put the GI in the public domain (available for use by all and sundry) though, of course, in a dispute the court would be inclined to adjudicate on the tort of passing-off in the extended form rather than in the classic form.

The revised Korean Trade Mark Act (KTA) will come into effect from July 27 2010. The main contents of the revision are:

The Amendment to the Japanese Unfair Competition Prevention Act will come into effect on July 1 2010. This Amendment aims to expand the scope of criminal punishment for trade secret infringement cases.

Philip Morris Products has a brand of cigarettes called Eve and a number of trade marks registered in Israel for the brand, including word marks and flowery designs. Atsionerno Droujestvo Bugartabac Holding filed a mark (Israel trade mark TM 196741) for cigarettes called Eva, with a heart replacing the v – Ea. Philip Morris filed an opposition, but neither side submitted evidence.

On World IP Day, April 26 2010, key stakeholders of the Indonesian IP community announced the formation of an Indonesian arbitration centre specifically designed to handle intellectual property disputes. The arbitration centre will provide arbitration and mediation services for those with civil intellectual property disputes, which are now handled exclusively by the Commercial Court.

Recently the Delhi High court decided on an important question of law concerning the maintainability of a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India against an order of the Controller of Patents either allowing or rejecting a pre-grant opposition under Section 25(1) of the Patents Act 1970. The case is UCB FARCHIM SA v Cipla Ltd and Ors and Colorcon Inc v Ideal Cures Pvt Ltd and Ors and Yeda Research and Development Co Ltd v Natco Pharma Ltd and Ors and Eli Lilly and Co v Ajanta Pharma Ltd Ors WP (C) Nos 8393, 12006 and 13295 of 2009 and WP (C) No 332 of 2010 along with WP (C) Nos 8388 and 8392 of 2009. The Court combined the six writ petitions presented before it for determination to clarify the position of law as regards the remedy available to a person against the unfavourable orders of the Controller in pre-grant proceedings.

In an effort to reduce pharmaceutical expenditure, the Greek government has recently introduced a new pricing policy for pharmaceutical products. The new provisions on pricing of pharmaceuticals were introduced by market decree 2 of March 31 2010.

The April 2010 edition of the Guidelines for Examination in the European Patent Office has been released and applies from April 1 2010. The Guidelines constitute the EPO counterpart to the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

In a recent decision (G2/08) published on February 19 2010 the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) of the European Patent Office (EPO) ruled, inter alia, on the patentability of claims relating to the use of a known active ingredient in the preparation of a medicament for the treatment of a known medical indication where the treatment differs merely with respect to the administration regimen (generally referred to as dosage regimen).

The Intellectual Property Customs Protection Regulation of China was amended on March 24 2010 by the State Council. The new Regulation came into effect on April 1 2010.