India met its TRIPS deadline through the promulgation of the Patents Ordinance 2004 on December 26, 2004. The Ordinance came into force on January 1, 2005. This measure, albeit temporary, reflects the Government's resolve to meet its WTO obligations. The Indian Constitution provides that an Ordinance expires six weeks after Parliament reconvenes, giving it an […]
India’s Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005 & Software Patents
In the last 10 years of India's experiments with TRIPS compliance in the domain of patents, the one section in the Act that was put to a major test is Section 3. In the past a critical amendment to Section 3 was the insertion of a new sub-section 3(k) by the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2002. […]
The Current Approach Of The Judiciary Towards Well-Known Marks In Thailand
The situation concerning the protection and enforcement of well-known marks in Thailand can be rather good despite there being no mandatory provisions that clearly spell out the constitution of a well-known mark. The Courts and Examiners use the prevailing case law as precedents or the Ministerial Notifications as a guideline in deciding what amounts to […]
Highlights on Trade Marks Changes in the Intellectual Property Law of Vietnam
The new Intellectual Property Law of Vietnam has officially come into effect on 1 July 2006. Previously, the provisions pertaining to Intellectual Property were stipulated in Part VI of the Civil Code, and there was no independent legislation on Intellectual Property. The new Law addresses almost every aspect of Intellectual Property protection including trademarks. With […]
New IP Law In Vietnam
A new Intellectual Property Law has been enacted and adopted by the National Assembly in Vietnam on the 19th of November 2005. This new law will be effective on the 1st of July 2006. There are 6 parts in this new law, divided in 18 chapters to comprise a total of 226 articles. Part 1, […]
Vietnam Gearing Towards The World Trade Organisation (WTO)
Vietnam filed an application to join the WTO in early 1995 as part of its Doi Moi policy to shift the Vietnam economy from centrally planned economy into a market economy. However, this South East Asian country has yet to be accepted into the WTO. Prior to 1995, the Vietnamese Intellectual Property (IP) protection system […]
Vietnam Joins WTO - Moving Forward
After having been accepted by the Vietnam National Assembly on November 2005, the new Vietnamese Intellectual Property Law came into force on 1 July 2006. The enactment of the Law on Intellectual Property improves the efficiency of intellectual property rights, and contributes to the completion of Vietnamese legal systems. All the Intellectual Property regulations which […]
Vietnam: Ignorance is not a strategy! - Part I
Despite being a success story in economic growth, Vietnam is not a prominent target on radar of most patent applicants. Vietnamese copycat companies are like submarines in stealth mode. They are not showing up on radar yet; but ignoring them may be a recipe for disaster. In this article, we explain the importance of protecting […]
Highlights on Patent and Design Changes in the new Vietnam Intellectual Property Law
Vietnam National Assembly has passed the new Intellectual Property Law, which will officially come into effect on 1 July 2006. This is a significant development as previously, legislation on IP was contained in Part VI of the Civil Code, and did not have its own legislation. Much of the former provisions were not TRIPS-WTO compliant […]
Indonesia - Compulsory generic names to be indicated on medicine packaging
A new regulation from the Indonesian Ministry of Health was issued on 23rd of April 2005, effective since the 23rd of October 2005, implementing the obligation to place the generic name on medicine packaging. This regulation is actually a revision from another regulation of the Ministry of Health of 2004, which had decided of the […]