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Cameroon has made it clear that it takes the infringement of IP rights very seriously.

Companies that decide to produce or sell products in mainland China without first having registered their trade marks do so at their own peril.

Vietnam applies the first-to-file principle for trade mark registration and does not require evidence of use or intent to use at the time of filing, or for renewal. For maintaining a registration, though, a trade mark owner or its licensee must use the mark or risk cancellation for non-use. The IP Law stipulates that if a mark has not been used by its owner or a licensee without justifiable reasons for five consecutive years prior to a request for cancellation, except where the use is commenced or resumed at least three months before the request, the registration is vulnerable to cancellation. However, the trade mark owner is not required to submit evidence of use on a regular basis – only when the mark is attacked for non-use.

The court structure in Sweden for IP matters has recently been reformed and a specialized Patent and Market Court is being established to take over all patent-related cases within the next couple of years. The new Court will handle all IP, marketing and competition law cases and is operational as of September 1 2016. The new specialised court replaces the former Court of Patent Appeals and Market Court, as well as the civil disputes in the field handled by Stockholm District Court.

On July 19 2016, the Supreme Court (SC), in GR 204605, entitled Intellectual Property Association of the Philippines (IPAP) v Hon. Paquito Ochoa, in his capacity as Executive Secretary, et al, ruled that the Madrid Protocol is an executive agreement and that its ratification by President Aquino is valid and constitutional.

The UK has voted to leave the European Union, but how does this affect patents? Patents can be obtained in the UK via two separate means, either directly from the UK intellectual Office (UKIPO) which is governed by the UK Patents Act, or from the European Patent Office. Both organisations are unaffected by the UK leaving the EU. The European Patent Office is not an EU organisation, and already has members who are not member states of the EU such as Turkey, Norway and Switzerland.

The Dutch interim injunction court is only competent in cases with urgent interest. A recent case, Ruby Decor v Basic Holdings, raised the question whether or not such urgent interest was indeed present.

Under a recent judgement of the Specialized IP Civil Court the trade mark Havaianas was found to be a famous trade mark, which may enjoy broader protection provided by law for trade marks of such status.

Earth Wind & Fire is the name of a music band founded in 1965 by the drummer Maurice White. Since 1975 that formation has celebrated worldwide successes and earned Grammies and gold- and platinum albums. The band became famous also in Austria and was famous at the time of priority (2003) of the attacked trade mark. It was from 1977 onwards in the Austrian charts, also at the time of priority. This was so irrespective of whether Maurice White played with his band at that time.

Recently, the Australian Patent Office has allowed a patent application for an unfertilised ovum in an application directed to the parthenogenic activation of human oocytes for production of human stem cells.