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Manufacturers and retailers of recording devices have frequently complained about Europe’s patchwork of rules governing copying levies. At present there is no EU-wide system that governs whether a levy is charged and, if so, how high it is, and attempts by the European Commission to reform the rules have so far failed

The patent prosecution highway (PPH) pilot programme between the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) and the USPTO became effective on September 21 2011 and will last for a trial period of one year. Under this programme, applicants may obtain corresponding patents faster and more efficiently.

The owner of a supplemental protection certificate (SPC) with duration until August 27 2011, based on the Swiss part of a European patent, suspected a manufacturer of a generic (with a marketing authorisation by Swissmedic as early as March 2010) of planning a market introduction before the expiration of the SPC. Despite enquiries by the owner of the SPC no clear information was given by the manufacturer that they would respect it. The SPC owner then requested a preliminary injunction with the Court of Commerce of Zurich.

The Trade Marks (International Treaties and Enforcement) Amendment Act 2011 was passed in September 2011. The Act allows New Zealand to join the Madrid Protocol.

Obtaining interim injunctions in patent infringement suits in India is considered a rather difficult feat. While this belief may be questionable anyway, in what may be a swooping contradiction to it, the Delhi High Court on September 16 2011 passed an ex parte injunction order in a patent infringement suit in favour of Vifor, a pharmaceutical company.

In two cases between Centrotherm and OHIM, the General Court had to assess revocation of a Community trade mark (CTM) based on lack of genuine use.

Further to a decision that ruled the proceeding of allocation of domain names to be against the Constitution of France, the allocation and management of domain names for extension .fr must comply with the law. Indeed, a new legal framework for French domain names has been established by Law 2011-302 of March 22 2011. The decree relating to the management of first level domain names (.fr/.re/.mq) was issued on August 3 2011.

Some of the more vinophile IP enthusiasts might have heard of young Austrian wine called Junker coming from southern Styria. In 1986 some wineries from Styria joined together to sell the young white wine under a common name and a joint advertising campaign. An advertising agency developed the label Styrian Junker. The marketing of the new wine was so successful, more and more Styrian wine growers were interested in collaborating. This led to the establishment of the plaintiff, a common marketing agency, whose statutes state that it aims to protect and promote Styrian wine. In 1996 the trade mark Steirischer Junker (Styrian Junker) for wines (class 33) was applied for and registered; in 2004 the same word mark was registered for foods (class 30) without filing a proof of the reputation of the mark.

In Argentina there is no legislation specifically regulating the domain name registration procedure, except for administrative resolutions passed by the government.

With the success of many local franchise systems, the drive to establish South African franchise businesses abroad is gaining traction. One of the most valuable components of a franchise is its brand identity: the trade marks inform this identity. Why do we protect trade marks? Simply, they distinguish a business from its competitors. The trade mark of a franchise, for which franchisees pay huge fees, is an indication to consumers of the quality of the goods or services on offer. Without trade marks, some of the best-known international franchises would dilute their market share and brand identity, losing their value.