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The Industrial Designs Law in Malaysia, which is governed by the Industrial Designs Act 1997 and the Industrial Designs Regulations 1999, is likely to be substantially changed in 2010 or 2011. There was no recorded amendment to the legislation in 2009. However this year, the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) has initiated a review of the designs law with IP practitioners and industry practice groups.

As was reported in the March 2010 edition of Managing IP, amendments to the Copyright Act of Japan came into force in January 2010. This article will highlight the reform to the ruling system (Saitei Seido system) that allows use of a copyrighted work, the owner of which is uncertain, under Article 67 of the Copyright Act.

On March 9, the Implementing Regulation of the Italian Code of Industrial Property Rights was published. This Regulation has been eagerly awaited since 2005, since (among other changes) it finally provides the procedural rules concerning opposition procedures against the registration of Italian trade marks and international trade marks designating Italy.

In a much-waited development, Israel is to accede to the Madrid Protocol on September 1 2010. This will make it easier and cheaper for foreign entities to register marks in Israel.

There are positive signs that the Supreme Court intends to treat trade mark pirates severely to protect Indonesia's reputation.

In India, original artistic works may sometimes fall under the Designs Act and the Copyrights Act. This overlap has been much debated and has come up for adjudication several times before the courts. In a recent case, the Copyright Board made some pertinent observations, especially with respect to artistic works produced by the application of an industrial process.

In a recent judgment from the Athens Full Bench Court of First Instance, Commercial Law Division, the court awarded €69,400 as patent infringement damages based on a royalty of 7.5%. The actual amount due is almost triple in view of interest due, dating back to the time the action was filed. By the same decision €6,000 was awarded as non-pecuniary damages.

Methods for treatment of the human body by surgery are generally excluded from patentability under Article 53(c) EPC. In decision G01/07, the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) of the European Patent Office recently decided on a referral putting forward several questions concerning the patentability of methods of treatment of the human body by surgery, especially in a case where the treatment itself, although including a significant physical intervention on the body, is not of a curative nature per se.

As reported in Managing IP, the member states of the European Union agreed on the fundamentals of a future European and European Union Patent Court (EEUPC) in December of last year. The legislative process that will eventually lead to a statute on the creation of an EU patent and the EEUPC is followed with great interest and anxiousness by industry, attorneys, national judges and other specialists. In this respect, a number of Europe's most esteemed IP specialists were assembled in Strasbourg, France, on 16 and 17 April at a conference organised by the CEIPI Institute of Strasbourg University to analyse and debate the proposed setup for the EEUPC.

Almost two years after the formation of the independent Appeal Council, which has jurisdiction to review the decisions of the State Intellectual Property Office, Croatian rights holders are feeling the benefits of its shortened procedures and the specialised knowledge of its panelists.