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Traditional IP enforcement measures are sometimes ill-equipped to deal with the rapidly evolving nature of internet resources in the digital era. Thailand has been responding to the exponential rise of online IP infringement on a rolling basis – most recently in 2017 when it amended the Computer Crime Act (CCA) to give IP owners the option of blocking websites that post IP-infringing content. This is set out in Section 20(3) of the law.

On April 21 2020, Beijing High Court issued the guiding opinions on the determination of damages in cases of infringement of intellectual property rights and unfair competition as well as the judging standards for statutory compensation ("关于侵害知识产权及不正当竞争案件确定损害赔偿的指导意见及法定赔偿的裁判标准") (opinions).

Unfortunately, Mexico remains on the Watch List of the Annual Special 301 Report on Intellectual Property Protection and Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy compiled by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). In this document, the United States government reviews and evaluates the protection actions that governments have taken to fight against counterfeits and piracy. The document concluded that the Mexican government has so far not adequately implemented the necessary actions for the protection of intellectual property rights.

In September 2020, New Zealanders will participate in a non-binding cannabis referendum on the question of whether to legalise the use and supply of cannabis. New Zealanders will be given the option of voting either for or against the proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill (the Bill). The final version of the Bill, which was released in May 2020, legalises the use of cannabis for persons over the age of 20, but places severe restrictions around the promotion and packaging of cannabis products.

While Vietnam, like the rest of the world, has been focusing on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vietnamese courts have quietly recorded new milestones in the judgment of patent cases. One of those milestones came on March 12 2020, in a decision on appeal settlement issued by the Superior People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City against a provincial court's decision on suspension of a patent case.

(Praluent IF, page 78)

Stuart Fuller, of corporate domain name management company BrandShelter, argues that trademark protection tools such as the AdultBlock will help brand owners to protect their revenues and reputations

Brazil's legal system provides several options for IP owners to enforce their rights. Trade dress protection is not expressly foreseen in our law but falls within general unfair competition rules which basically forbid competitors to fraudulently divert third parties' clientele.

The UK formally left the EU on January 31 2020, although there is a transitional period running until December 31 2020, and there is a chance that this may be extended. Much has been written about the consequences of Brexit for IP rights.

Despite being a market of only 26 million people, Australia possesses a world-class healthcare system and well regarded scientific community. This is most recently demonstrated through the participation of Australian scientists in the race to successfully manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine, and by the low infection death rates from the current pandemic in Australia.

The global COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the world in various ways. One of the lessons we have learnt from this traumatic period is that while people always tried to find value in cooperation rather than in rivalry, cooperation could be more fragile than expected, especially in a multilateral scenario.

In the second article from an exclusive series on the automotive industry, Pankaj Soni of Remfry & Sagar discusses patent protection in India