Search results for

The doctrine of equivalents may not be used to cover unclaimed subject matter disclosed in a US patent application. This was the holding of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (sitting en banc), in Johnson and Johnston Associates, Inc v RE Service Co (62 USPQ 2d 1225(March 28 2002)). This conclusion was contrary to the Supreme Court's majority opinion in Graver Tank & Mfg Co v Linde Air Products (339 US 605, 609 (1950)).

Better safe than sorry: even companies with no immediate intention of doing business in China should register their trade marks there. If not they could find themselves paying a lot of money in the future to prove fame, warns Gary Fechter

Ownership rights could be reclaimed by thousands of musicians and writers in the US if the creator of the Captain America character is successful in his battle with Marvel Enterprises, the publishing company.

New industrial property regulations in Poland give the Supreme Administrative Court control over the legality of decisions issued by the Polish Patent Office. The new rules that came into force on August 22 last year overturn more than 60 years of administrative procedure where control was limited to extraordinary appeals against final sentences which could be filed only by administrative boards in clearly defined special situations. These appeals were examined by judges of the Chamber of Administration Labour and Social Insurance at the Supreme Court and until last August the Supreme Administrative Court (which was set up in 1980), did not examine any matters related to industrial property. Under Polish constitutional law the Supreme Administrative Court along with the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Tribunal and the Tribunal of State is the highest court in Poland.

Patent applications in biotechnology have grown dramatically in the past decade, throwing up many challenges and posing new problems for patent offices. Ingrid Hering speaks to examiners at the EPO and USPTO to find out how they are dealing with these issues

The Community Trade Mark Office in Alicante (Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market or OHIM) has appointed Bruno Machado to the new post of Boards of Appeal president, MIP has learned. His appointment has been recommended by OHIM's Administration Board and will be formally announced in June, after it has been confirmed by the EU Council of Ministers.

IP owners can use many tactics to fight against counterfeiting in Vietnam. These include meeting with officials to request action and educating the public, writes Pham Vu Khanh Toan of Pham & Associates in Hanoi

The trend to harmonize intellectual property laws in Europe continues with the introduction of a proposed Directive on computer-implemented inventions; if the Directive is adopted in its current form it may mean Europe provides less patent protection for software than is currently available in the US, argues Michael Molineaux of Haarmann Hemmelrath in London

A wealth of IP rights exists in innovations from the developing world, particularly in biodiversity inventions. The battle has always been to secure access to those rights. India’s Honey Bee Network is one organization fighting for a fairer system. Ralph Cunningham reports

A cigarette company has proved use to fight off an attempt to register a mark similar to one of its products. This is in spite of failing with its own application. Owners of foreign trade marks in Singapore should gain confidence from the result, writes Farah Namazie