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Welcome to Managing IP's seventh India IP Focus. Not only is this year's edition by far the largest ever, with 20 articles, it is also the first to be published as a separate supplement. This move shows the increasing importance of intellectual property to companies doing business in India and also the increasing range of topics that IP owners need to be familiar with.

Since Vietnam's entry to the WTO, member countries have grumbled about Vietnam's seemingly toothless enforcement of IP rights. In recent years, however, Vietnam has made a strong commitment to encouraging more foreign investment and protection of IP is at the foundation of this cause. A recent decision issued by the Copyright Office of Vietnam (COV) highlights the country's commitment to protecting IPRs and may offer some peace of mind to both foreign and domestic businesses.

When a party receives a notice letter from a trade mark owner making an allegation of trade mark infringement, one of the first steps that the party should take following receipt of the notice letter (after conferring with counsel) is to review any insurance policy which it may have to ascertain whether insurance coverage is available. Too often, parties simply assume that their insurance policy does not provide protection for claims of trade mark infringement and miss out on the benefits that they are paying their insurance companies to provide.

Greg Kalbaugh tells Peter Ollier about the work the US-India Business Council does to promote IP rights in India

In a recent decision, the Federal Supreme Court has confirmed some important principles that are relevant for both plaintiffs and defendants in trade mark non-use cancellation actions.

Under section 30 of the Singapore Patents Act, an application may proceed to grant based on the grant of or final results of the search and examination of a corresponding application. As defined in section 2 of the Singapore Patents Act, a corresponding application is, inter alia, an application that is subject to a priority claim based on an application which is also the basis for a priority claim for the Singapore application.

AMexican company Hacienda de los Camichines SA failed to obtain a registration for Purple Label in Russia in respect of goods in class 33 (alcoholic beverages).

The Romanian State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (SOIT) has rejected a national combined trade mark application Slims EA, filed for registration for products in class 34 "unprocessed, semi-processed or processed tobacco; tobacco products; cigarettes; cigars and cigarillos; cigarette filters/cigarettes; articles for smokers; matches/lighters and ashtrays for smokers that are not made of precious metals" due to the conflict with the previous national combined trademark Eve, registered for products in class 34 "tobacco, raw or manufactured including cigars, cigarettes, cigarillos, tobacco for roll your own cigarettes, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff tobacco; tobacco substitutes (not for medical purposes); smokers' articles, including cigarette paper and tubes, cigarette filters, tobacco tins, cigarette cases and ashtrays not made of precious metals, their alloys or plated with such; pipes, pocket apparatus for rolling cigarettes, lighters; matches".

WIPO has published the agenda and other materials for the 48th series of meetings of the Assemblies of Member States.

The Polish Patent Office refused to grant the protection of international registration to the trade mark Premium De-Luxe Nemiroff for alcoholic drinks, in particular vodka. The refusal was issued due to similarity to an earlier series of trade marks, Premium, owned by a well-known Polish spirits producer and destined to denominate vodka.