Topic: Anti-counterfeiting

In <i>Ardath Tobacco Company Limited v Bhai</i>, the Delhi High Court has extended its practice of using John Doe orders in counterfeiting cases. Such orders are particularly efficient as they allow court commissioners to search the premises of the defendant as well as those of any other party suspected of infringement.

06 May 2004

Border measures for Serbia and Montenegro have come into force following last year's enactment of the Law on Customs and the amendment last month of its implementing decree. IP owners may now file applications with customs for the detention of counterfeit goods that are imported, exported or in transit. Counterfeit goods may be destroyed - or at least removed from regular channels of trade.

29 April 2004

Thailand, like many other countries, has experienced an increase in the number of online vendors of unauthorized goods within its territory. However, a series of successful raids against a sophisticated counterfeiting operation has demonstrated that the machinery and willingness to trace and prosecute online IP infringers exists in Thailand.

28 April 2004

The Federal Court of Australia has ordered a family group of traders that dealt in counterfeit PlayStation games to pay Sony for profits made on the sale of the games. The court took a stern view of the defendants' "knowing, deliberate and dishonest infringement" of Sony's trademarks.

23 April 2004

The Korean Intellectual Property Office has announced a new anti-counterfeiting plan, under which local governments will take more initiative. KIPO will provide them with inspectors, and special instructions and information on distribution networks for counterfeit goods. Meanwhile, representatives of luxury goods manufacturers have made demands to make counterfeiting convictions more severe.

19 April 2004

A recent case, in which police seized over 150,000 pairs of counterfeit sunglasses that were being sold in Russia under the famous LANCEL mark and had an estimated retail value of $1.5 million, shows that despite the obstacles to enforcement that exist in Russia, it is still possible to obtain very effective results quickly and efficiently.

16 April 2004

A new Prosecutor's Office for Medical, Pharmaceutical and Hygiene Issues has been established. The creation of the new office is of particular interest to mark owners as it will be responsible for, among other things, the prosecution of parties involved in the counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals.

14 April 2004

The government has reaffirmed its long-running 'No Fakes' campaign, which is designed to encourage retailers to trade only in genuine products. The campaign is one of a variety of measures taken by Hong Kong, some in conjunction with the Guangdong Province, that are intended to combat IP infringement.

05 April 2004

Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization Kamil Idris has stressed the need to raise awareness of the global problem of piracy, particularly the unlawful trade in counterfeit medicine. Idris commented that governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations must work together to combat piracy.

30 March 2004

The new Customs Code of the Russian Federation, which has introduced a register of goods protected by IP rights, has come into force. It is hoped that the register will help customs authorities to detect counterfeit goods.

24 March 2004