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Autocontrol is a private Spanish association whose members are many of the leading advertisers, advertising agencies and mass media. One of its objects is resolving disputes and matters arising in connection with specific advertising.

On April 1 2005, the Singapore authorities amended the patent rules. The amendment was intended to clarify the deadlines for the various search and examination options for patent applications filed in Singapore. The search and examination options include traditional substantive examination as well as reliance on prescribed information from a corresponding foreign patent.

The British Horseracing Board (BHB) has received a welcome endorsement of its overseas data supply contracts in recent proceedings taken against it by Irish bookmakers. The proceedings went to trial in the second week of November in the Irish Commercial Court before Justice Kelly. The group of independent Irish bookmakers representing 357 bookmaking shops were seeking repayment of about €20m that had been paid by them under a contract for the supply of elements of the BHB's pre race data. A settlement was reached on day two of the trial that involved the repayment claim being dropped in its entirety, and an affirmation by the bookmakers of the contracts under which the data had been supplied to them since 2002.

A reference for a preliminary ruling under Article 234 EC was received from the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf (Germany) at the European Court of Justice on March 5 2004 concerning the interpretation of Article 5 (1)(b) of First Council Directive 89/104/EEC of December 21 1988 in the case Medion AG (petitioner) v Thomson multimedia Sales German & Austria GmbH (defendant) dealing with the following question:

Recently the Benelux Trademarks Office (BTO) announced that as from January 1 2006 the opposition procedure will be open for all classes. This means that oppositions can be filed against all applications filed on or after January 1 2006.

This year saw key changes to the Regulation governing Community trade marks. But is further reform necessary? Jeremy Phillips wonders what lessons legislators could learn from the trade mark system of the mythical jurisdiction of Atlantis

More and more people are incorporating companies in Hong Kong whose names include trade marks that do not belong to them. These so-called shadow companies can confuse customers and the authorities into thinking they are related to the genuine brand owner. Adelaide Yu provides strategies for dealing with the problem

A monthly column devoted to IP curiosities and controversies, named in honour of John of Utynam - who received the world's first recorded patent in 1449

IP owners have for the past 10 years been able to file for patent protection in several countries in one simple step - with the Gulf Cooperation Council patent office. Stéphanie Bodoni spoke to Ebrahim A Al-Mannai, the GCC patent office's assistant general-director, who has been with the office since the beginning

The internet has changed the way we do business. We size up our holiday options in our lunch breaks, select our Christmas gifts online without moving from our seats and communicate with friends and associates by e-mail to plan weekend events and corporate deals. Ours is a digital age, and today's business must harness the capabilities of the internet if it is to succeed in both global and local markets. IP practices are no exception, but while IP firms have not been slow to follow the digital trends in terms of marketing their services, the same cannot always be said for the software they use to support their work.