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Music Broadcast Pvt, the plaintiff, is a company that has been granted permission by the Indian government to start FM radio stations in various cities. Phonographic Performance Ltd, the defendant, is a collecting society administering the public performance rights of publishers of sound recordings in India. Over the period of a year, Music Broadcast Pvt has invested huge sums of money, and has applied for, and obtained, all the necessary government clearances for commencing private radio broadcasts. The company has also obtained a licence to publicly perform musical works from the Indian Performers Right Society (IPRS), a collecting society which administers the public performance rights of composers and authors in India. The only remaining licence that was required to be obtained to commence the broadcasting of music was a licence from the defendant.

The year 2000 saw important progress regarding both the Community Patent and the European Patent Convention. Neil Jenkins reviews the developments and looks forward to further changes

Pictured are some of the guests at the MIP and Questel Orbit four elements reception at the San Francisco Design Centre during the INTA Conference on May 6. The photos show members of MIP and Questel Orbit as well as representatives of firms receiving awards

Internet and e-commerce allow an entrepreneur to develop sales schemes of its products and services with a never previously imagined territorial scope and extension. Direct selling is both attractive and advantageous. E-commerce requires in some cases, therefore, the adjustment and of course, the amendment of some clauses of commercial inter-mediation contracts, either distribution, agency, licence, supply or franchise contracts.

The month in figures

Egypt has often been seen as backward in IP matters. But major reforms under discussion will overturn that image, says James Nurton

In the first case over a .jp domain name, the Toyama District Court has ordered a website to be shut down for infringing a famous name. John A Tessensohn examines the decision

Todd Dickinson´ s two-year stint as head of the US Patent and Trademark Office ended on Saturday 20 January, following George W Bush´ s inauguration. He was immediately hailed as one of the most successful Commissioners in recent times. Dickinson oversaw a 70% increase in patent applications; a 200% rise in the number of trade mark applications; a complete restructuring of the agency´ s management team; and an increased number of patent and trade mark examiners. It was a busy two years. "He did a marvellous job," says Michael Heltzer, government relations manager of the International Trade Mark Association (INTA). "He totally understood the role of the PTO in safeguarding America´ s ideas, something which his predecessors did not." Michael Kirk, executive director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) agrees: "Dickinson dedicated a lot more effort to the actual running of the office than his predecessor Bruce Lehman, putting more emphasis on processing applications and the quality of patent examinations, which are critical to the office."

Due to growing importance of modern achievements of biotechnology in industry, agriculture and medicine, an adequate legal protection of IP rights in this field is one of the most vital issues world-wide (including in Russia) that needs to be solved for the benefit of public.

In three crucial areas, the UK is under pressure to adapt its traditional trade mark practice to European standards. Lee Curtis argues that such harmonization is a culmination of the changes introduced in the 1994 Trade Marks Act