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Internet penetration and widespread use of handheld devices is fuelling e-commerce in India. With the rise in online purchases of goods and services, complaints about counterfeit goods are also rising. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade released a Draft National E-Commerce Policy (hereinafter referred to as the policy) on February 23 2019 and invited comments from stakeholders and the public. The draft policy is separated into six categories:

During the early months of 2019, the Vietnam IP field enjoyed a rare burst of public attention. First there was the wide reaction to the IP changes ushered in by the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which took effect on January 14 2019. Then the spotlight moved to two high-profile copyright lawsuits related to derivative works, when the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City's (HCMC) District 1 returned a verdict in a 12-year-old case on February 18 2019, and the People's Court of Hanoi issued its decision on a similar case on March 20 2019. The cases were heard by courts at opposite ends of the country, and the results might also be called opposite.

Trademark owners who have assured their rights in Myanmar through the current best practice combination of Declaration of Ownership registration and Cautionary Notice publication are now being faced with a challenge deciding how to prepare for the imminent implementation of the Trademark Law, which is the first of its kind in the country. While it is certain that the Trademark Law will take effect in 2019, its specific mechanisms, which may be well-defined in many instances in the text of the law, are far from settled.

In a battle between country and company, Iceland (the nation) and Iceland Foods (the UK supermarket) have been locked in a frosty trademark battle. Now, the EUIPO has ruled in the case, although a thawing in relations between the parties is unlikely.

In In re Hikari Sales USA, Inc., the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) issued a second precedential decision involving genericness, this year, just two days after issuing its first one. In doing so, the TTAB sent a strong message to brand owners hoping to obtain exclusive rights in highly descriptive or otherwise common terms.

A few days ago, a photograph of a bottle of Dutch tequila began circulating on the web. The creators of this product, which has not yet hit the market and probably never will, claim to have improved the taste of original tequila, based on Dutch gin, and now feel ready to enter the European market.

The opponent in the case discussed in this article has owned the word mark SEVEN since 2009 and the word and design mark 7seven in a fancy script since 2014. He opposed the registration of the word mark ROOM SEVEN. All these marks were registered for identical goods in international Class 18 (bags). Among other reasons, the defendant stated that the word mark SEVEN was not used during the last five years and that he has used the mark ROOM SEVEN since 1995 in several European countries including Austria without problems. This conflict has already led to decisions in several countries. For example, the Cour d'appel de Paris did not see any danger of confusion in its decision of September 26 2017 since ROOM SEVEN will be seen by consumers as a combination in which the word SEVEN has no particular importance.

Performing trademark clearance searches should always be the first step taken prior to filing a trademark application, as they are an effective way of preventing legal risks before launching a brand.

In Korea, patent term extension (PTE) of a maximum of five years may be granted once for a patent covering a drug or agrochemical that has to obtain marketing approval after patent registration. According to Article 95 of the Korean Patent Act, however, the scope of protection during the extended period is limited only to the working of the patented invention in relation to products whose marketing approval was the basis for PTE.

Pankaj Soni of Remfry & Sagar analyses trends in AI, data concerns arising from AI, global subject matter eligibility standards for AI and whether AI can be classed as an inventor