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In parallel to the wide application of AI technology in various industries at a rapid speed, the number of patent applications covering AI is increasing in Taiwan as well.

There was a court case early in 2019 in connection with software unlawfully stored in a computer's memory by the respondent. The infringer was obliged to pay compensation of more than $40,000.

A recent court case, Republic v Anti Counterfeit Agency and Caroline Mangala t/a Hair Works Salon (20 November 2019), involved an application to quash a seizure of allegedly counterfeit beauty products. Kenya is one of the few countries in Africa to have specific anti-counterfeiting legislation, the Anti-Counterfeit Act. One thing this legislation does is create a dedicated enforcement body known as the Anti-Counterfeit Authority (formerly the Anti-Counterfeit Agency), and it was this body that conducted the seizure. The person from whom the goods were seized claimed that the raid had been unfair and illegal.

The Delhi High Court has clarified the patentability of a software or computer-related invention (CRI) while deciding a writ petition (W.P.(C) 7/2014) challenging the order of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) which held that the invention lacks novelty and inventive step along with the technical requirements needed under Section 3(k). The IPAB in this case had dismissed the appeal filed by the petitioner (i.e. patentee) challenging the order of the Patent Office refusing the patent application on the basis of the invention lacking novelty and inventive step and patentability under Section 2(1)(j) and 3(k) respectively of the Patent Act.

C.A. Brijesh and Sakshi Sharma of Remfry & Sagar examine the law on designs in India, detailing the requirements for design protection and assessing the overlap between this form of protection and copyright and trademark law

The owner of the trademarks "Miss Austria", "Miss Oberösterreich" (Miss Upper Austria) and further Miss-marks granted a licence to the defendant to use these marks for five years. These trademarks – as one can guess – are registered for an organisation handling beauty contests and the elections of the most beautiful women in an area. The contract contains a clause that allows immediate cancellation of the licence if there is violation by the licensee of any contractual duty. It also prohibits competition by the licensee in this field outside the licence and the use of similar trademarks to those licensed.

The Brazilian PTO celebrated a remarkable achievement at the beginning of the new year. In just four months, the office managed to reduce the patent backlog by 14%. Further important milestones towards eliminating the backlog for good are expected to be reached throughout the year, as the office intends to reduce the backlog by 80% by 2021. This was all possible due to a pioneer project called the Preliminary Standardized Office Action Program, implemented in September 2019. Once the project is successfully completed, the PTO estimates it will take under 24 months to examine new applications.

In the US-China Phase One trade deal signed on January 15 2020, notable agreements on patents mostly relate to pharmaceutical sectors – Articles 1.10, 1.11 and 1.12. It is possible that these articles may also have implications for other sectors, which remains to be seen in the subsequent implementation. In addition, the provisions on judicial enforcement and procedures should benefit all patent owners. More technical issues such as indirect infringement or changes to the judicial review of invalidation decisions are not addressed. This update provides a brief overview of these key changes.

Attempting to establish a trademark infringement test, on December 18 2019, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) released draft Criteria for Determining Trademark Infringement (Consultation Draft), inviting public comments.

Japan has suffered from trade secret theft by Korean companies who enticed Japanese employees. It significantly damaged national interest. Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. (now Nippon Steel) sued Posco for trade secret infringement and sought around 100 billion JPY in damages. Posco agreed to pay 30 billion JPY and the parties settled. Toshiba sued SK Hynix for trade secret infringement and sought around 110 billion JPY in damages. SK Hynix agreed to pay around 33 billion JPY and the parties settled.