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A recent case Scomadi Ltd & Anr v RA Engineering Co at the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) referencing two Registered Community Designs (RCD) showed the importance of accurate agreements between parties involved in manufacture and sales. The issues before the judge were breach of contract and infringement relating to three scooter models manufactured and sold by RA Engineering. The registered rights were two Registered Community Designs for motor scooters. The RCDs were owned by Scomadi who themselves sold a portfolio of retro-style vehicles with the look of the well-known 1960s Lambretta scooters.

The EPO's Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) recently issued its long-awaited decision G 1/16 relating to undisclosed disclaimers. The decision lays down under which circumstances the introduction during prosecution of a patent application before the EPO of a disclaimer not disclosed in the application as filed may be allowable under Article 123(2) EPC. The decision essentially confirms the standard defined in decision G 1/03 of 2004.

Although not as frequently as in the past, the Greek courts still require in several instances "uniqueness" of the mark in order to rule in infringement cases that the trade mark at issue is well known. In a recent case, the specialised Division of the Appeals Court in Athens handed down a judgment where it is straightforward that "uniqueness" of the mark may not serve as a criterion for a trade mark to gain a well-known status.

After the expiration of the product patent of therapeutic agent for hypercholesterolemia "LIVALO" (pitavastatin Ca), many generic drugs entered the market. Nissan Chemical and Kowa filed infringement lawsuits against generic drug manufacturers, based on a patent for a crystal form and a trade mark right, respectively, however both were unsuccessful. This case is about an infringement lawsuit filed thereafter based on a formulation patent, which was successful.

The smuggling police and customs enforcement officers take ex-officio action against smuggling offenses as per Anti-Smuggling Law no.5607, the basic purpose of which is fighting customs tax evasions. All smuggled products seized by such enforcement bodies are delivered to customs liquidation directorates for storage and sale.

Article 115 of Vietnam's IP Law prohibits any amendment of a mark in a pending application that "materially alters" the character of the original mark or expands its scope of protection. However, the question of what constitutes material alteration in Vietnam is not easily answered, as the law remains silent, and the interpretation of the National Office of Intellectual Property (NOIP) can vary depending on the department or the examiner.

It seems that Britney Spears, when she recorded a phonogram of the song "I Love Rock 'n' Roll never thought that one day she would be protected by Russian court. The rights for that song are owned by a US company Sony Music Entertainment, which licensed the rights to its offspring in Russia with the same name Sony Music Entertainment Ltd. This company has the rights for the song on the Russian territory and on the territory of the CIS countries. It monitored TV shows and noticed that TV channel "Friday" ran a show "Heads and Tails" dedicated to Shanghai. That show included the disputed phonogram. Besides, that show was also placed on the Internet at the address www.friday.ru. Sony Music Entertainment Ltd did not authorise broadcasting the song in that show and sued the TV channel.

In a recent ruling (ECLI:NL: RBDHA:2017:15395), the Dutch Patent Court in The Hague had to decide whether or not Vialli contributorily infringed the Dutch part of SCA's European Patent 1 799 083 B1 relating to a toilet paper dispenser housing a roll of pre-cut toilet paper. The granted independent claim, which survived an opposition and appeal before the EPO, requires that the roll of toilet paper and an outlet nozzle of the dispenser are designed so that the interconnected paper sheets, for which specific dimensions were required, are unwound one at a time and emerge with less crumpling from the nozzle such that the toilet paper is consumed in "an optimum and pleasant manner".

In a recent trade mark decision the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, has rejected Starbucks' case against Japanese dairy producer Morinaga Milk and its Mt Rainier trade mark.

Artificial intelligence innovation is challenging to patent because of changes in US law, meaning trade secrets may be more appealing. David A Prange and Alyssa N Lawson examine how to approach AI asset protection