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Failing to obtain a foreign filing licence in the US can lead to the invalidation of a patent, and even imprisonment of the patentee. Dervis Magistre explains that overseas companies doing research in the US must take care to follow the rules

The "Gunners" have finally succeeded in their registered trade mark infringement claim against Matthew Reed, a trader selling unofficial Arsenal merchandise from his stall outside the club's Highbury stadium.

Rapid innovation and intense investment in the biotech industry has required patent protection to adjust accordingly. Antonina Pakharenko-Anderson explains how Ukraine is rising to the biotech challenge

Bruce Proctor has global responsibility for all IP matters at premium drinks company Diageo. He tells Ingrid Hering about the challenges of protecting a brand portfolio that includes Smirnoff, Baileys and Guinness

Interview: Judge Arjen Meij, Court of First Instance With an increasing number of Community Trade Mark cases reaching the European courts, Stéphanie Bodoni asks judge Arjen Meij from the European Court of First Instance how well the system is coping

A local farmer's appeal to Canada's Supreme Court in a case involving agribusiness leader Monsanto could set the limits of patent holders' rights. Sam Mamudi examines the dispute

Ralph Cunningham, Hong Kong

A case that will decide how to calculate the length of patent protection for new medicines in the EU has been referred to the European Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling.

Readers of this column will recall that we published an article last year indicating that the French government was studying a proposed revision of the 'Lois sur la bioéthique'. The draft bill contained an article 12bis, which unambiguously indicated that "the sequence or partial sequence of a gene is not patentable". If adopted, the French law would have been in complete contradiction with the EU Biotechnology Directive (Directive 44/98/CE).

Section 10 of the German Patent Act defines the constituent elements of contributory infringement as follows: a patent has apart from prohibiting direct infringement the further effect that a person not having the consent of the patentee shall be prohibited from supplying or offering to supply within the territory to which the Act applies a person, other than a person entitled to exploit the patented invention, with means relating to an essential element of such invention for exploiting the invention, where such person knows or it is obvious from the circumstances, that such means are suitable and intended for exploiting the invention. This does not apply when the means are staple commercial products, except where such person induces the person supplied to commit acts of direct infringement.