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Irene Keeley explains what she finds challenging about patent cases and why she tries to be mindful of other courts’ schedules

A registration regime for foodstuff geographical indications (GIs) may soon be on the menu for New Zealand. If this happens, Prosciutto di Parma, Kalamata Olives and Feta will likely be struck off the menu, along with around 2,200 other product names.

Evidence of non-use of a mark for three consecutive years constitutes a prima facie showing of abandonment, triggering a rebuttable presumption that a mark was abandoned without intent to resume use. The rebuttable presumption then shifts to the party contesting an abandonment claim to submit evidence of use during the alleged period of non-use in situations where its registration basis is either Section 1(a) or 44(e) of the Trademark Act. However, in the circumstance of a ‘never-used’ mark registered on the basis of Trademark Act Section 66(a), an intent to begin use is acceptable evidence to rebut the presumption of abandonment. This distinction played a key role in a decision recently rendered by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) in Wirecard AG v Striatum Ventures B.V.

Cheese and alcohol consortiums mull whether geographical-based protections could be devalued as organisations begin to request waivers granting changes to production methods

Vivian Zhang, Wenwen Wang and Chong He of ACIP examine the different routes available to right holders who want to enforce their IP in China, analysing the administrative protection and civil and criminal litigation processes

Jie He, Mengmeng Yu and Xia Zheng of AFD evaluate the role of trademark disclaimers in similarity examinations, analysing a number of cases dealing with the issue

Bruce Tang of China Patent Agent examines non-infringement declaration litigation, looking at a range of issues including the different steps involved in such disputes, burden of proof, the scope of the claim and jurisdiction

He Zhao and Jing Zhang of CN-KnowHow compare disclosure practices in the US and China, examining different drafting strategies available to applicants

Contributors to the 2020 China IP Focus have written about a versatile range of issues, providing useful information for anyone with commercial interests in the jurisdiction. Indeed there are many articles in this supplement which will help foreign entities navigate China's IP terrain, including pieces on how right holders can enforce their IP in China, how US and Chinese disclosure practices compare and how to select Chinese language marks (if the applicant owns a trademark in a foreign language and wants to register a Chinese equivalent).

Simon Tsi, Chenyan Wu and Tracy Lin of Chang Tsi look at different strategies that can be employed during patent prosecution, including those relating to divisional applications, deferred examination and applications concerning business methods and algorithms