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The IP offices of Chile and Brazil have signed an agreement on intellectual property and technological development.

The USPTO cited access to major research institutions, skilled engineers and scientists, and high volume of patenting activity as the reasons for choosing Detroit as the site of its first satellite office

Judges at Europe’s top court will tomorrow begin considering whether country-specific broadcasting deals, such as those used to protect the showing of soccer matches, are anti-competitive

WIPO can continue to play a key role in harmonising IP laws, director-general Francis Gurry said yesterday

The doctrine of exhaustion or the first sale rule affirms the exhaustion of an asset's intellectual property rights vested with its owner after its first use or sale. As a result, no further control can be exercised by the owner vis-à-vis distribution or resale of the product. Applying the principle more specifically to the realm of copyrights, it allows the purchaser to sell or give away a legally made copy of a copyrighted work without permission once it has been obtained. The copyright holder's right to control any further change in ownership of a particular copy ends once that copy is sold, as long as no additional copies are made. Thus, the rule of exhaustion has the power to interfere with the copyright owner's exclusive market position, reducing any leeway for price differentiation and exposing the product to intensified price competition.

According to the Greek law on trade marks, administrative authorities (the Trade Mark Administrative Commission and the administrative courts on appeal) have exclusive jurisdiction on all disputes relating to the right on a trade mark, while civil courts have exclusive jurisdiction on all disputes relating to a trade mark infringement. Naturally, this dualism in jurisdiction may give rise to several concerns in cases, where there may well be an overlap. A typical example would be a trade mark infringement case, where the defendant raises the objection that the claimant's trade mark, sought to be protected, lacks distinctive character or has become of common use.

A new referral, G2/10, is pending before the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) of the European Patent Office. The question to be considered by the EBA is the following: does a disclaimer infringe Article 123(2) EPC if its subject matter was disclosed as an embodiment of the invention in the application as filed?

On July 29 2010, China Internet Information Network Centre (CNNIC), the Chinese registrar for internet keywords and wireless keywords, issued new policies for resolving internet keyword and wireless keyword disputes.

It seems that the Opposition Board spends more time drafting new practice notices or proposed amendments to the Trade-Marks Regulations than handling opposition files.

Sanjay Kumar, former head of patents for Indian IP firm Remfry & Sagar, has moved to Lakshmi Kumaran & Sridharan.