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For two decades, Canada has lagged behind its major trading partners in patenting higher life forms. Steve Garland and Kathy Lipic explain how this situation has changed, following a landmark Federal Court decision

The dispute over parallel imports of cigarettes bearing the trade mark BELMONT (Bigott v Philip Morris) has been developing over several years, under the industrial property laws of the Andean Community.

Julia Phillpot Anti-piracy manager Microsoft UK

Uexkull & Stolberg, Hamburg

Software distribution outside the scope of a licence agreement does amount to copyright infringement according to the US District Court of San Jose.

In a recent case, the English Court of Appeal looked again at the issue of the purposive construction of a patent (Wheatley & Anor v Drillsafe Ltd & Anors). Wheatley´ s patent claimed a centre-less hole cutter, which is a hole cutter with no central drill for forming a pilot hole. This is especially suitable for forming threaded holes in, for example, underground petrol tanks without the need to open the tanks. The defendants´ drill had a semi-penetrating retractable probe within the cutting tool to prevent the cutter from wandering. The defendants argued that this probe meant that the drill was a variant which fell outside the claims of the patent.

An October 25 2000 decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit re-emphasizes the importance of the so-called "written description" requirement of United States patent law. In Purdue Pharma LP v Faulding Inc, 56 USPQ 2d 1481 (Fed Cir 2000), the Court affirmed a district court ruling invalidating several claims because nothing in the underlying patent application clearly and necessarily described the subject matter later embodied in its issued claims, saying:

Indian courts have tackled a number of trade mark disputes in the past year. Binny Kalra and Gitanjli Duggal, of Anand and Anand in New Delhi, reviews the most important cases

Africa

The jury trial is one of the most challenging aspects of the US patent system for overseas users. James W Gould reveals the key issues litigants need to address when choosing between jury and bench trials