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Recently, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), in FICCI-Multiplex Association of India v United Producers/Distributors Forum & Ors, disposed of the first-ever case filed before it and imposed a nominal penalty of Rs100,000 ($2,200) each on 27 cinematograph film producers for colluding to exploit multiplex owners. The complaint was filed by the Multiplex Association of India (the informant) alleging that the producers had engaged in cartel-like conduct during the course of, and subsequent to, a revenue sharing dispute between them.

The provisions concerning industrial design as stipulated in Law no 31 (2000) state that industrial design shall be granted for an industrial design that is novel. An industrial design is considered novel if it is not the same as any previous disclosure before its date of receipt. Novelty of an industrial design product is not solely judged on the product itself, but the creation of its form – its aesthetic value – as well.

Italy has always led the field in creating new designs, especially in fashion, interior design and the like. This is why protecting designs, which can often also be covered by copyright, is of special interest to Italian industry.

Under the amendment made to Articles 168 and 170 of the Health Supplies Regulation, which omitted the requirement that pharmaceutical companies must maintain a manufacturing plant in Mexico, the Mexican government granted the first marketing authorisation through the Health Ministry (The Federal Commission for Protection against Sanitary Risk COFEPRIS) to international foreign manufactures (Takeda International Company Limited and Amgen).

In line with its policy to strengthen its IP regime and encourage entrepreneurs to register their IP rights, Malaysia has introduced an expedited examination of trade mark applications, with effect from February 15 2011.

In two recent decisions of the Technical Boards of Appeal of the EPO, the recording of the transfer of a European patent played an important role in the admissibility of the appeal. Indeed, these decisions show the significance of accurately recording a transfer in the European Register and elucidate the requirements for validly doing so.

An individual entrepreneur filed an application for a trade mark Napoleon (application number 2007736513/50) which in itself seems strange. The entrepreneur resided in a far away town of Kirov, which is not known for any French connections. The entrepreneur was aware that Napoleon was a French emperor however he filed his application for the goods to be produced in Russia. The Patent Office refused the registration arguing that the word reproduces the name of a famous historic person, which may be a reason for misleading the Russian consumer with regard to the place of production of the products.

While Thailand has been on the Priority Watch List of the Office of the USTR Special 301 Report since 2007, the Royal Thai government has remained steadfast in its commitment to the stronger protection and enforcement of IP rights.

The doctrine of exhaustion of patent rights has long been a grey area of law in Taiwan. The main reason is that there are neither clear provisions in the Patent Law nor precedents.

A company's use of their brand often extends to several categories of goods or services and, in turn, a company's trade mark filings for such brand typically cover the range of products and services that the company offers. Thus, when a company enters into negotiations to sell part of its business to a third party, namely, selling rights in and to the company's trade mark in connection with certain goods or services while retaining the rights in the mark for other goods and services, the USPTO provides procedures for effecting the associated assignment of rights. These procedures differ depending on the status of the trade mark filing at issue – specifically whether it is a pending application or an issued registration.