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New IP law abolished the provisions concerning the use requirement of patents and evidence on use detailed in the Decree Law on the Protection of Patent Rights. Instead, IP law now mentions the use requirement within the provision on compulsory licences, as a consequence of non-use of a patent.

In November 2015, the National Assembly of Vietnam issued a new Penal Code. This was scheduled to come into effect on July 1 2016, replacing the Penal Code of 1999. However, due to some inconsistencies and shortcomings in the law as drafted, its full implementation was put on hold until necessary amendments could be made. A revised version of the new Penal Code was subsequently issued in June 2017 and finally took effect this year on January 1.

In the chemical and biotech sector, China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) and courts have been extremely strict when it comes to accepting supplementation of post-filing data during prosecution, invalidation or administrative litigation proceedings. The amended Patent Examination Guideline, which took effect on April 1 2017 seemed to provide some principles for the data supplementation issue. According to this, experimental data submitted after the filing date shall be analysed by the examiners. The technical effects to be testified by the supplemented experimental data should be such that a person skilled in the art can derive from the disclosure of the patent application. However, from such wording, it is still unclear to the applicant or patentee what the technical effect derivable from the disclosure of the patent application means exactly.

In January 2018, Thailand's efforts to strengthen its IP system and enforcement processes for counterfeit and pirated goods were recognised with the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) removing Thailand from its Priority Watch List for intellectual property. Thailand had been on the USTR Priority Watch List for more than a decade.

Tish Berard, the new president of the International Trademark Association, discusses the association’s plans for 2018 in an interview with Ellie Mertens

A decree has changed the rules for intellectual property in Argentina, quite drastically in some instances. Iris V Quadrio, Martín Bensadon and Iván A Poli analyse the most important modifications

In Teksystems v Teksavvy Solutions, the US District Court for the District of Maryland addressed the issue of whether a party's threat to initiate a cancellation action against a trade mark registration before the US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) was sufficient to create a case or controversy which provides a basis upon which a party may seek a declaratory judgment concerning the validity of a mark.

If, like Utynam, you love internet memes almost as much as you love IP, you will have delighted in the news at the end of January. The owners of the feline known as Grumpy Cat won $700,000 in a copyright infringement case in California.

The question of the protection of spare parts by designs has always been controversial.

During the time of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, a famous hotel existed in Vienna. Its name was Meissl & Schadn and its restaurant was very well-known for its high-end beef dishes.