Search results for

Two recent rulings have shed light on the interpretation of claims in Mexican patent litigation. Mariana Gonzalez Vargas of Becerril Coca & Becerril explains they provide an important reference for unity of invention and the doctrine of equivalents

Eduardo Kleinberg and Santiago Zubikarai of Basham discuss the lessons from Mexico’s nascent opposition system, including a lack of information about trade mark applications, examiners not being bound by oppositions, controversy over fees, and a lack of clarity about the basis on which an opposition may be filed

Why has Mexico’s adherence to the Madrid Protocol not fulfilled its potential? Ariadna Galvez of Dumont Bergman Bider & Co considers the factors

Registration of sound marks in Thailand has been legally possible since the Thai Trademark Act (No. 3) B.E. 2558 (A.D. 2015) came into force on July 28 2016. However, such registrations remained only a possibility that didn't mature into reality. On September 1 2017, new Ministerial Regulations were issued and guidelines published that provide clarification on the sound mark application process in Thailand as well as details on how to properly complete the revised trade mark application form to claim protection for sound marks.

The decree law pertaining to the protection of patent rights was in force between 1995 and 2017. As per to decree law the rules on how to determine the amount of compensation to be paid to an employee in case of full or partial claim on invention was to be regulated by a regulation. However this regulation was never prepared or enacted.

Recent patent infringement cases in Vietnam's pharmaceutical sector have revealed the ambiguity of competent authorities' roles in determining whether a patent has been infringed. Such vagueness has caused unexpected delays in legal proceedings.

On October 30 2017, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) published its revised Examination Guidelines, following legislative changes made to the Singapore Patents Act. The key amendments to the Guidelines include the expansion of the grace period provision, the ability to switch between substantive and supplementary examination, a clarification of the term "discoveries" in regard to patent eligibility and the rejection of post-grant amendment claims which are "obviously invalid".

Since the activity of the pharmaceutical industry is a regulated activity, in the sense that medicaments require governmental authorisation in order to be commercialised, registering the trade mark with the Trademark Office – as intellectual property right – is not sufficient to guarantee its use in the pharmaceutical product, because the name of the medicament must be accepted by a health authority at the time of issuance of the marketing and sales authorisation.

Following the signing of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union, the Government of Canada has amended Canada's pharmaceutical drug linkage regulations, the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations (PMNOC Regulations), which link the drug regulatory approval system to the patent system. The PMNOC Regulations are comparable to the Hatch-Waxman Act in the United States.

In early October, the top policy making body in China issued a special opinion proposing to explore the patent linkage system, to extend patent terms for pharmaceuticals and to improve regulatory data protection, all of which are intended to encourage innovation in pharmaceutical and medical device fields. While the exact details of such new policy initiatives are not yet known, it has excited the industry.