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Brazilian IP law believes that renowned marks deserve special protection in all fields of activity. Differently from well-known marks, which are protected within their field of activity and regardless of the existence of a local registration, renowned marks must be registered and then go through a specific proceeding at the BPTO for a declaration of high renown which will be valid for 10 years.

A problem that impacts day to day in our country, and specifically the owners of trademarks, is the deficient or lack of regulation in our legislation regarding what is and what should be understood by "use of a trademark", "use of a trademark in accordance with the customs and habits" and "effective use v token use".

Recently, the Korean medical devices market has been growing notably. According to a 2019 Annual Report by the Korea Medical Devices Industry Association, the Korean domestic market has grown at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 8% during the last five years (2014 to 2018). The global medical devices market also exhibits a rising trend; Fortune Business Insight has forecasted a CAGR of 5.3% from 2018 to 2025. In view of a growing geriatric population, the prevalence of lifestyle-related diseases, and rising demand for new innovative devices and personalised healthcare services, the future medical devices market is expected to show steady growth.

In In re Odd Sox LLC, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) issued a precedential ruling, holding that the term "generic name" as used in the Trademark Act encompasses product packaging, and that the generic inquiry is applicable to assessments of source identification capabilities of product packaging.

European regulations provide the possibility for works of applied art to benefit from both design right protection and copyright protection (for artistic work). Each form of protection is subject to its own specific rules. The scope and conditions of protection by copyright are subject to national rules.

An inventor invented a system for drainage of walls. He was managing director for several years of a group of firms (the ATG-Group), the business of which was the application of that system. The plaintiff is the Austrian firm of the ATG-Group.

The market for certain spare parts used for motor vehicle repair may be liberalised in France.

The Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (the IMPI) denied applications for the mark "Pinche Gringo BBQ" and design to Daniel Andrew Defossey and Roberto Luna Aceves, on the grounds of Article 4 of the Industrial Property Law (LPI). It stated that the mark was contrary to public order, morality and good customs. The term "Pinche" is a pejorative word and "Gringo" refers to a person born in the United States, especially one who is English-speaking. However, interestingly, the real meaning of "Pinche" is a person who provides services in the kitchen or an assistant cook.

The new provision for punitive damages for wilful infringement is now effective. The newly introduced punitive damages provision should contribute to stronger protection of patents and increase general value of patents in Korea. The new provision set forth below is now effective in Korea to deter unjust acts of patent infringement.

In Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc. v Goldsmith et al. No. 17-CV-2532, 2019 (S.D.N.Y. July 1 2019), the US District Court for the Southern District of New York addressed the question of whether Andy Warhol's (Warhol) use of a photograph of Prince Rogers Nelson, best known as Prince, constituted violations of the Copyright Act. Granting the Andy Warhol Foundation's (AWF) motion for summary judgment, the court found that although the at-issue photograph was protected by copyright, AWF had a viable fair use defence.

The Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has introduced its long-awaited plan to solve its patent backlog, a project called the "Preliminary Standardised Office Action Program". The idea is to reduce backlog by 80% over the next two years – after which the PTO estimates it will take under 24 months to examine new applications.

Editha R Hechanova, Brenda P Rivera and Chrissie Ann L Barredo of Hechanova & Co, analyse the law around patents and trademarks including the procedure for acquiring a patent, establishing patent infringement and the enforcement of trademark rights