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Pfizer has recently successfully resisted the Australian Competition Commission's attempts to shut down its patent evergreening activities in trying to leverage its atorvastatin (Lipitor) patent past its end of term.

The Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China (SPC) issued the Draft Judicial Interpretation on Application of Laws in Trial of Behaviour Preservation Cases Involving Intellectual Property and Competition Disputes (Draft JI) on February 26 2015 and is open for public comment until March 30.

The licensing of names and images from fictional works, including the names of cartoon characters and film titles, is growing exponentially in the PRC and in relation to an ever-widening range of consumer goods. While media companies, including Hollywood studios, have the most to gain from this sector, their business partners stand to benefit greatly also, including overseas companies taking master licences, local Chinese licensees and companies managing the licensing activity of others on their behalf.

Design protection is not always the best back-up plan when there is no other apparent means of protection. The General Court of the European Union taught us this lesson once again in September 2014 (3rd Chamber, Case T-494/12).

Backlogs and delay in the examination and grant of patents have been commonplace in India for several years now. In 2013 Nitto Denko, a patent applicant facing significant delays in the registration of its patents, approached the Delhi High Court on the issue of delayed patent examination. As per Rule 24B of the Patent Rules, 2003, the first examination report (FER) should be sent to the applicant within six months from the date of request of examination or six months from date of publication whichever is later. This time-frame is almost never adhered to by the Patent Office because of a shortage of human resources.

More than 2,000 three-dimensional trade marks have been registered since April 1 1997 when the registration of such marks became possible. Among them were Coca-Cola's bottle and Jean Paul Gaultier's perfume bottle. Now the Tokyo District Court has made the first decision on whether a three-dimensional trade mark was infringed.

A constitutional action was filed by an innovator pharmaceutical company before a district court against COFEPRIS, contesting the granting of a marketing authorisation for a generic medicine. This action was essentially based on: (1) the lack of opportunity for the title holder to be heard during the prosecution of the marketing authorisation application; (2) the need to have knowledge about the contents of the generic company's application and (3) the unconstitutionality of the Linkage Regulation as it does not allow a patent owner to have knowledge of a potential violation of the patent linkage system in the marketing authorisations of generics.

In a recent decision (first instance patent court, The Hague, March 4 2015: Occlutech Int AB v AGA Medical Corp) the court explained the rules for presenting evidence of public prior use before the Dutch court in nullity arguments.

Forty three tukutuku panels (a distinctive art form of the Māori people of New Zealand), woven by artists from around the country, now hang in the United Nations headquarters in New York.

On February 6 2015, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued Memorandum Circular No 2015-003 reiterating the FDA's disallowance of the phrase "No Approved Therapeutic Claim" in any form of advertisement, promotion, sponsorship activities or materials concerning food/dietary supplements, as embodied in FDA Administrative Order No 2010-008.