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In this increasingly transparent and closely connected world, trade secrets are becoming an effective way to protect certain intellectual assets. It is widely recognised that trade secrets can help a company maintain its competitive edge. Customer lists are often among a company's most valuable assets. Safeguarding this information may be critical to the success of a company. It is taken for granted that customer lists are treated as trade secrets which are protected by law. However, in reality, this is not always true. In China, a customer list must satisfy certain criteria in order to be considered a trade secret and thus entitled to legal protection.

One feature of Taiwan's Patent Law (and all the country's IP laws) that many patentees find interesting is the lack of indirect infringement. To seek remedies against suppliers (mainly contract manufacturers, or CMs) of essential elements of a patented invention, patentees need resort to the Civil Code rules regarding the liabilities for assisting torts.

The possibility of invalidating a patent is clearly set out in Vietnam's intellectual property laws. Historically, however, although thousands of patents are granted each year in Vietnam, the number of requests for invalidation has been extremely small. Nearly all of these cases have occurred in the context of patent disputes where the sanctioned party (in administrative measures) or defendant (in judicial measures) has been accused of patent infringement, and has attempted to invalidate the patent in question as a defence mechanism, with the argument that if a patent is not valid, it cannot be infringed.

Trademark professionals may be familiar with the Thai Trademark Appeal Board (TTAB), a body encountered when a trademark applicant wishes to appeal any decision of the Thai trademark registrar. The TTAB is established by the Trademark Act B.E. 2534, comprising 11-15 members chosen by the Cabinet from the Council of State, the judiciary and experts in international trade and IP. Section 96 of the Trademark Act empowers the TTAB to examine all appeals and cancellation petitions filed under the act. The TTAB's duties and powers regarding examination of appeals are regulated by various versions of the TTAB's Regulations on the Procedure for Examination of Appeal and Cancellation Petitions. On March 25 2019, a new edition of the regulations will come into force, with repercussions expected to be felt by most trademark applicants in Thailand.

The rise in the use of social media networks has been cited as one of the key reasons for increased visibility in terms of photo sharing among social media users. Many users take to social media to share details of their everyday life, from the food they eat and what they will be doing next to sharing experiences which they perceive to be novel and unforgettable. For travellers, social media is seen not only as an apt platform for them to keep an account of the places that they have been to but also a platform that enables them to share photos of their travels with friends on Facebook or followers on Instagram. Photographs taken could well be landmark buildings from the countries they have visited. Some of the more notable buildings include the Eiffel Tower, Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Esplanade which is shaped like durian spikes in Singapore, and back in our home country, the towering and breathtakingly beautiful Kuala Lumpur Twin Towers and the KL Tower. In addition, businesses may wish to capitalise on the images of these architectural buildings. On the face of it, photographs featuring these architectural buildings may appear harmless, but is that really the case? This article seeks to shed light on some of the copyright issues that could arise out of these photographs.

Managing Intellectual Property is delighted to publish the IP STARS 2019 rankings of the leading firms for patent work. This is the second set of results from the research for IP STARS 2019, which started in September 2018. The rankings over the following pages cover more than 50 jurisdictions.

Paul England of Taylor Wessing says there are two Brexit possibilities that pharma and medical devices companies really need to be aware of. Here he explains what their impact is likely to be on patents and regulatory rights

Despite agreeing to leave the EU, the UK has implemented some important EU-wide trademark reforms into its national system. Kate Swaine and Elwin Morgan of Gowling WLG give a rundown of what will change in practice

Negotiations are underway for a European Union (EU)–New Zealand Fair Trade Agreement (FTA). The EU proposal on intellectual property includes a chapter on geographical indication (GI) names for protection. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade recently concluded a consultation period on the proposed list of EU GIs, but what remains to be seen is the scope of protection that will be afforded to the agreed terms. A review of the EU's proposed FTA provides us with some insight into what the EU expects to achieve.

In Cards Against Humanity v Vampire Squid Cards, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) in February addressed the issue of the availability of acquiescence as a defence in an opposition proceeding.