Search

The national emblem of New Zealand is the silver fern. Many businesses use the fern to sell and promote their products. The silver fern is also the symbol of New [...]

Individuals in the intellectual property field are beginning to challenge the traditional notion in Japan that success belongs to an entire team rather than to an individual. A prime example [...]

In February 2003, the International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) released its "Special 301' anti-piracy recommendations to US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick. The recommendations identified countries that the IIPA believes either [...]

Russia has made recent amendments to its patent law intending to spur scientific and technological growth. On January 24, 2003, the Duma, Russia's lower house of Parliament, gave its approval [...]

Prompted by the prevalence of cheap imitations of luxury products in the Korean market, many companies are seeking to protect their brand names and logos. Owners of well-known trademarks are [...]

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is cracking down on copy right violators, enforcing a new law enacted in July 2002. Recent enforcement activity, including a judgment in January 2003 against [...]

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled on December 5, 2002, that a genetically altered cancer-prone mouse developed by Harvard University researchers, the so-called oncomouse, is not patentable under Canadian law. [...]

In October 2002, the Russian cabinet set up a new task force, headed by Prime Minister Mikhail Kasynov, to solve the growing problem of intellectual property piracy, reflecting the country's [...]

Prompted by the debate over patenting business systems, the Australian Advisory Council on Intellectual Property (ACIP) convened an independent body to advise the government on the issue. The group issued [...]

Thailand's Trade Secret Act (TSA), which took effect in 2002, is the first law in that country specifically to protect trade secrets. As a member state of the WTO, Thailand [...]

On June 27, 2002, the Korean Trade Commission ruled against two parallel importers of StarCraft and Diablo computer games and granted a request for an injunction made by HanbitSoft, Inc. [...]

The WTO has extended the deadline for least-developed countries (LDCs) to ensure that their domestic legislation on the patent protection of pharmaceuticals complies with the TRIPs agreement. At a meeting [...]

The Polish Supreme Court recently dismissed toy manufacturer Lego's application regarding competing products that are designed to work with Lego's well-known plastic bricks. The Polish Supreme Court ruled that Polish [...]

WIPO members agreed to procedural changes to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) at the annual meeting of the WIPO General Assemblies held September 23 to October 21, 2002. The changes [...]

On October 10, 2002, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) requested comments on the intellectual property rights practices and policies of the eight countries subject to "Out-of-Cycle" reviews [...]

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ruled on July 11, 2002, that India's MindTree Consulting has exclusive rights over use of the word MindTree for its domain name. MindTree Consulting [...]

A recent report by the European commission indicates that EU member states do not enforce the Public Lending Right (PLR) equally, delaying realization of the goals of that initiative. The [...]

Effective September 1, 2002, Japan's Patent Office will require applicants to disclose prior art that is pertinent to their patent applications. This is also the effective date for other important [...]

On August 28, 2002, Canadian Privacy Commissioner George Radwanski ruled that a Canadian Internet service provider (ISP) had violated provisions of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act by [...]

Shaolin monks in China are now actively engaged in efforts to protect and safeguard the names "Shaolin" and "Shaolin temple." The Shaolin Temple, built in China in 496, is considered [...]

The Patent Office of the United Kingdom has issued for comment proposed regulations that would change the UK copyright law to bring it into line with the European Union's Copyright [...]

In an early August 2002 infringement decision, a Chinese court ruled that Tianjin Gangtian Co. must pay Yamaha Motor Co. damages of $109,000, permanently halt production of Yamaha-brand motorcycles, remove [...]

There has been much debate between the European Union and the United States over the EU's position on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and genetically modified foods. The European Parliament recently [...]

In early July 2002, the Thai police raided a Bangkok house and seized more than one million pirated CDs containing US movies, music, and pornographic movies. This represents the largest [...]

The Office of the USTR released its annual "Special 301" report on April 30, 2002. The report cites 51 US trading partners for failing adequately to protect intellectual property rights, [...]

The new Russian Code of Administrative Offenses comes into effect as of July 2002. Although the Code addresses a number of topics, the provisions pertaining to intellectual property law are [...]

After almost two years of deliberation, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, an international food standards-setting organization, issued a decision granting Italy trademark protection for the country's famous Parmesan cheese. The Rome-based [...]

A US trade official stated on April 9, 2002, that, although the Philippines is not under immediate threat of trade sanctions, the country does need to improve its enforcement of [...]

Last summer, Philippines President Gloria Arroyo made a very strong statement directed against intellectual property pirates in her country. She promised that "we will go after the pirates; we will [...]

On March 26, US Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and PTO director James Rogan expressed a willingness to compromise in order to build a new global patent system. [...]

The Taiwanese legislature passed an amendment to its patent laws that decriminalizes the infringement of invention patents in Taiwan. The amendment brings the country one step closer to membership in [...]

On January 2, 2002, the Netherlands revised the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure with the goal of simplifying procedural laws, reducing formality, increasing efficiency, and modernizing the relationship between courts [...]

In February 2002, the United States blocked China's application for formal acceptance into the WTO's Information Technology Agreement. US officials blocked the application as a result of Beijing's decision to [...]

Although China has taken legal strides toward improving its nationwide protection of intellectual property rights, weak enforcement at local levels has led to relatively few practical improvements. In conjunction with [...]

On January 22, 2002, the European Commission approved standard, voluntary contract clauses designed to facilitate data transmissions to non-EU countries that do not provide "adequate protection" based on EU privacy [...]

In accordance with recently enacted anti-piracy and copyright laws, Czech police in February 2002 destroyed approximately 300,000 illegal compact discs that were intercepted last year. The destruction of the discs [...]

On January 2, the WTO's Appellate Body issued a decision reversing an earlier panel ruling in the dispute over the US trademark ownership of "Havana Club" rum. The WTO found [...]

In 1995, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., a Taiwanese electronics company, did not have any US patents, and Taiwan's high tech industry was considered an industry of copycats. Five years [...]

Member States of the European Union were unable in December 2001 to reach an agreement on a proposed EU-wide patent system. The proposal would have enabled companies and inventors to [...]

The United States and the European Union have agreed on a scheme to compensate European copyright holders of music played in US restaurants and bars. They agreed to the temporary [...]

According to officials from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the ministry is currently drafting legislation to combat the importation of counterfeit industrial and consumer products by granting [...]