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Is the world facing a global patent crisis? Some patent owners fear that booming applications, lack of quality, duplication of work and excessive costs are forcing existing frameworks to crack. Can anything be done before it is too late? James Nurton reports

Morality is subjective and divisive, and determining the acceptability of potentially offensive words as trade marks can be problematic. Mark Pearce and Catherine Lamb illustrate how the UK and continental Europe interpret the moral impact of words

Christian Harmsen, of Wessing & Berenberg-Gossler examines what impact the Yplon case will have on trade mark protection in Germany

CANADA: Percy Schmeiser, a 70-year old farmer, lost a patent infringement suit against Monsanto Canada. Monsanto claimed Schmeiser infringed the GM Canola patent by growing and selling crops from seeds blown into his garden. UK: A British court ruled in favour of Amgen in its patent infringement suit against Roche Holding and Transkaryotic Therapies (TKT). Roche and TKT were held to infringe the Epogen patents in the UK. US: Fruit of the Loom is accusing competitor Gildan Activewear of stealing trade secrets. Fruit of the Loom alleges that former manager Elizabeth Walton passed critical documents to her ex-employer David Cherry. US: Jupiter Media Metrix reached a settlement in its patent infringement suit forcing PC Data out of the business of tracking internet usage. Jupiter also filed suits against two other competitors, NetValue and NetRatings, for patent infringement. Jupiter was represented by Daniel R Harris of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison. US: Monsanto and Aventis Crop Science settled two lawsuits against each other and agreed to avoid patent roadblocks to the development of genetically improved cotton varieties. Part of the settlement includes cross-licensing under existing cotton transformation patents. US: Pfizer filed a trade mark suit against Lara Williams for using the name Niagara for a fizzy drink. Pfizer contends Niagara is being promoted as Viagra for women. US: Pharmacia filed a trade mark suit against Alcon Laboratories for selling a competing drug with a similar name. Pharmacia allege their drug Xalatan has been harmed by Alcon naming its glaucoma drug Travatan. US: PrimeTime 24 Joint Venture lost its Supreme Court appeal against the National Football League to transmit NFL games to customers in Canada. PrimeTime argued that federal copyright law did not apply outside the US, but the Court held the company's actions violated NFL's copyright. US: Savin Corporation won its preliminary injunction against Main Street Copier & Fax Repair, who operated websites under domain names, incorporating trade names owned by Savin. Savin was represented by David A Einhorn, Andrea Pincus and James M Andriola of Anderson Kill & Olick. US: SunTrust Bank won its suit against Alice Randall for copyright infringement, over her book The Wind Done Gone. SunTrust bank accused Randall of infringing the copyright of the classic novel Gone with the Wind. US: Twelve major Hollywood studios won their case against RecordTV.com, which must pay the studios $50,000 (£35,714) in legal costs. Robert Schwartz of O'Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles represented the studios.

MIP's fifth annual list of the 50 most influential people in IP includes politicians, campaigners, IP owners, in-house counsel, academics and judges. Plus: interview with Alison Brimelow, EPO president

Human embryonic stem cell research provides hope to those who suffer from some of the world's incurable diseases. Helen Cline, Anoushka Myers and Lawrence Harrison examine the legality and regulation of research on embryos in Europe and the US

Has trade mark protection gone too far? Are brand owners too aggressive in pursuing broad-based claims against non-competitors? MIP asked two distinguished analysts to debate the role of trade marks in society. Tom Moore, who has reservations about the use of trade mark rights, opens the correspondence, and Bruce Lehman responds

The Tokyo High Court has upheld the Japanese Patent Office ban on obtaining trade marks for retail services. The internationalization of the country’s trade mark system could persuade the authorities to change their stance, say Shusaku Yamamoto and John Tessensohn

The Tokyo High Court has upheld the Japanese Patent Office ban on obtaining trade marks for retail services. The internationalization of the country’s trade mark system could persuade the authorities to change their stance, say Shusaku Yamamoto and John Tessensohn

In the spotlight: Woody Ritchey, Chief Executive Officer, Delphion