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Californian lawyer William Levin has reacted angrily to a judge's ruling that he acted "unethically" in a high profile trade mark litigation case. In the ruling on May 23, US district court judge Lourdes G Baird overturned a record $143 million damages award against Pfizer due to attorney misconduct by Levin & Hawes, which represented British medical company Trovan.

The 9th Circuit has upheld a $5.4 million award against singer Michael Bolton, the largest ever music copyright infringement case. On May 9, the court unanimously agreed that Bolton's 1991 hit 'Love is a Wonderful Thing' infringed the rights of the Isley Brothers 1964 song of the same name.

The past decade has seen important changes in Europe’s trade mark regime. Peter Verhaag, of Arnold & Siedsma in The Hague, looks at the impact of these changes

Riikka Palmos and Antti Papula, of Nevinpat-Russia in Helsinki, examine what facilities are available to combat the growing problem of counterfeit goods in Russia

Rainforest Coffee Products Pte Ltd (RCPPL), which was held to have infringed the RAINFOREST CAFÉ trade mark of Rainforest Café, Inc (RCI) under the repealed Trade Marks Act (Cap 332, 1992 edition) by the High Court last year, has failed in its appeal to the Court of Appeal (see the December 1999 issue of MIP under the same column for our report on the High Court decision).

Trade marks have a special economic importance, with their ability to attract and to keep customers, and are one of the major elements in companies´ strategies.

Brazil has thrown off its poor reputation for protecting trade marks. Rodrigo Caiuby Novaes, of Clarke, Modet & Co in Rio de Janeiro, reveals how the new industrial property law has transformed registration practice

In the rapidly developing software market questions often arise regarding proper protection of program names. Of course, program names can be registered as trade marks. On the other hand, many software developers are not aware of the fact that program names may enjoy protection in Germany as titles of works. Titles of works are defined as designations of printed publications, cinematographic works, musical and dramatic works, or other comparable works which, according to German case law, include computer programs.

Where do you draw the line over what is registrable as trade dress? Michael A Cantor and Pamela S Chestek, of Cantor Colburn LLP in Windsor, Connecticut, examine how different courts have tackled the problem

Boudewijn van Vondelen and Alexander van Laaren examine how you can protect shop designs against imitators in the Netherlands