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A proposal to consider plain packaging for tobacco products was raised in Malaysia at the International Nicotine Addiction Conference in Kuala Lumpur on April 23 and 24 2015.

The Madrid System for the international registration of marks, governed by the Madrid Protocol, is gaining popularity across Southeast Asia. Several countries in the region are preparing to implement Madrid as part of their commitments toward regional integration via the ASEAN Economic Community, which will be created at the end of 2015.

On January 30 2015, the Ministry of Finance introduced Circular 13/2015/ TT-BTC guiding the implementation of regulations in the new Law on Customs on Customs enforcement against IP infringement. Circular 13 took effect on March 15 2015, and, in line with the new law, brought about changes to the border control measures that had been in place in Vietnam for the past decade. Two months into the new regime, it appears that these changes, though seemingly not substantial, have increased the transparency as well as the effectiveness of Customs enforcement.

The Bucharest Court of Appeal recently rendered a final decision in favour of Swarovski Aktiengesellschaft in a lawsuit against Bogdan Radulescu, the sole shareholder of the Romanian company B&B Marketing Online. The company traded jewellery, watches and pens under the Swarovski trade marks through the site www.crystalglamour.ro.

The Patent Office examined the appeal on the official action of the examiner who refused registration of a trade mark in application number 2012728603 with priority of August 17 2012 with regard to goods in class 9 and services in class 35.

In Ava Ruha Corp d/b/a Mother's Market & Kitchen v Mother's Nutritional Center Inc, the US Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) issued a precedential decision regarding a registrant's ability to assert a laches defence in a cancellation proceeding. The petitioner Ava Ruha, which owned a trade mark registration for the stylised mark, Mother's Market & Kitchen, had filed petitions to cancel trade mark registrations owned by the respondent for the marks, Mother's (stylized) and Mother's Nutritional Center, on the grounds of likelihood of confusion, fraud and dilution. In its answer, the respondent asserted the affirmative defence of laches; and the parties subsequently filed cross-motions for summary judgment on the laches issue.

In trade mark infringement lawsuits, it is not uncommon for a defendant to assert bona fide prior use in a defence. The basis for such prior use is found in Article 36.1.3 of the Trade Mark Act which states that use of a mark identical with or similar to another's registered trade mark is not infringement if such use occurred before the filing date of the registered trade mark and was in good faith.

According to the Mexican Industrial Property Law, legally organised associations or companies of producers, manufacturers, merchants or renderers of services may apply for the registration of a collective trade mark to distinguish the products or services of their members with respect to those of others from third parties. The law also states that collective trade marks shall be governed in the absence of special provisions, by those set forth in this Law for individual trade marks.

Ylva Skoglösa, Annika Unge Reis and Isabel Cantallops Fiol of Valea ask what the future holds for second medical use claims in Europe

Licences constitute the most common contractual negotiations (at a local, regional and international level) entered into by trade mark owners and involve a contractual mechanism by means of which the owner of a trade mark (licensor) acts jointly with other entrepreneurs (licensees) with the aim of extending the production and distribution of products or services identified with the corresponding trade mark.