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In a decision that significantly curtails the reach of the US International Trade Commission (ITC), the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held the ITC lacks jurisdiction over electronic transmissions of digital data (ClearCorrect Operating, LLC v Int'l Trade Comm'n, No 2014-1527 (Fed Cir November 10 2015)). In practice, this means the ITC may investigate the importation into the United States of allegedly infringing software or data files if importation occurs via physical media (for example, a CD-ROM or thumb drive), but not if it occurs in machine readable form by electronic means (for example via file transfer protocol).

A defendant in a patent lawsuit filed before the IP Court may, as a defence, challenge the validity of the patent in suit, and file a separate invalidation action against the patent with the IP Office. Although the IP Court and the IP Office often agree on patent validity in their decisions, there are sometimes disparities.

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently began two collaborative search pilot programmes, one with the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) and a second with the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO). Both pilot programmes aim to increase patent quality by giving applicants a second prior art search to consider before an initial determination of patentability is made, while also promoting work sharing between patent offices.

Among the many challenges in enforcing IP rights in developing countries such as Vietnam, those that arise from violations occurring on the internet may be the most difficult to handle. However, an American entertainment production company's recent success in dealing with online copyright violations shows that progress can be made with the right strategy.

IP stakeholders from around the world agreed four Resolutions on patents, trade marks, copyright and trade secrets at the AIPPI World IP Congress in October. Sarah Matheson discusses each of them

The Australian courts have again rejected the notion that what the applicant says during prosecution can be held against the patentee during later litigation.

Kanchan Vadehra and Sharad Vadehra of Kan and Krishme discuss some of the unique features of the Indian patent system and tips to overcome those challenges

The Beijing IP Court published a notice on its website in October 2015 entitled Collection and Publication of Opinions Regarding Law Application on Issues Related to Article 19.4 of the Trademark Law. This notice looks like irrelevant to the patent world, but actually the implication goes well beyond trade marks. Arguably, this court notice started something similar to the amicus brief system for Chinese IP cases. The issue in this case is related to whether or not Chinese trade mark agent firms are entitled to register trade marks under their own names except for their own trade names.

On October 15, the national authority in China responsible for administrative enforcement of trade marks, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), issued a notice announcing an unusual year-long campaign to provide special trade mark protection to the Walt Disney Company.

It is not rare that a company be faced with trading partner's bankruptcy. While many companies that have a monetary claim against the trading partner would perform credit management in preparation for the partner's bankruptcy, only a few companies which have a claim not intended for monetary payment would take such a step. However, where a company has been provided with technology by a trading partner, it is likely that that company incurs greater loss than a company only having a monetary claim when the trading partner went bankrupt. For example, such a company will be unable to be provided technology from the trading partner or may be obligated to pay a large penalty to a third party as the following case shows.