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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.

A recent IP perception survey commissioned by the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) reveals that 4 out of 5 Singaporeans agree that it is important to protect intellectual property rights and the works of IP creators. They are aware that IP right infringement could give rise to legal penalties, and more than half of the respondents cited moral reasons as a key deterrent for not engaging in infringing activities. The household survey was conducted with the objective of measuring Singaporeans' awareness, attitudes and behavioural dispositions towards IP and issues relating to IP rights. These results were announced at a 2015 World IP Day Appreciation Event held in Singapore on April 23 2015.

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.

The new office in Western Australia will be led by Mary Turonek

After over six years of review, and 10 days of high-level delegation meetings, the Lisbon Union members have finally adopted a new treaty that will cover geographical indications (GIs) and open up membership to intergovernmental organisations

A dispute between DC Comics and Rihanna over the name Robyn, Lycos putting its patent portfolio up for sale, Rockstar objecting to a BBC film about it, a copyright case over the song Happy Birthday to You, and Alibaba being sued by the owner of Gucci were in the IP headlines in the past week

In the second part of his post on the UPC, Tom Carver asks whether arbitration will be an attractive option once the new court system comes into effect

The USPTO has released a final rule containing amendments to the regulations for Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings. These include increasing the page limits for the petitioner’s reply brief and the patent owner’s motion to amend