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Last week the South African parliament passed a law to protect traditional knowledge that most observers consider to be an expensive waste of time

The UK’s Supreme Court has overturned the lower courts’ interpretation of industrial application in its first ruling in a patent case

With the success of many local franchise systems, the drive to establish South African franchise businesses abroad is gaining traction. One of the most valuable components of a franchise is its brand identity: the trade marks inform this identity. Why do we protect trade marks? Simply, they distinguish a business from its competitors. The trade mark of a franchise, for which franchisees pay huge fees, is an indication to consumers of the quality of the goods or services on offer. Without trade marks, some of the best-known international franchises would dilute their market share and brand identity, losing their value.

In Argentina there is no legislation specifically regulating the domain name registration procedure, except for administrative resolutions passed by the government.

In two cases between Centrotherm and OHIM, the General Court had to assess revocation of a Community trade mark (CTM) based on lack of genuine use.

In a recent trade mark cancellation action procedure, the Trademarks Administrative Commission considered whether there is a likelihood of confusion between the following national trade mark in class 32

The EPO has announced a change in its practice regarding the issuance of a second written opinion in the procedure under Chapter II PCT.

Obtaining interim injunctions in patent infringement suits in India is considered a rather difficult feat. While this belief may be questionable anyway, in what may be a swooping contradiction to it, the Delhi High Court on September 16 2011 passed an ex parte injunction order in a patent infringement suit in favour of Vifor, a pharmaceutical company.

In May 2010, then deputy commissioner of Patents and Trademarks Noah Shalev Shlomovits ruled that the cigarette brand Eva, produced by Bulgarian manufacturer Aktsionerno Droujestvo Bulgartabac is not confusingly similar to the Eve brand of cigarettes produced by Philip Morris, allowing Eva to be registered as a trade mark.

Parallel import is a prevalent business model in the new age economy. However, the laws governing parallel imports are still in infancy and require clarification in many jurisdictions, including Malaysia.