“A patent, trademark, or design registrationcan only be declared void by Federal courts”. Under this statement, theSuperior Court of Justice of Brazil has reaffirmed unanimously that defendantscannot argue unenforceability of a trademark registration as a defense argumentin an infringement lawsuit ...
What is CEPA? The Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement ("CEPA") is a free trade agreement between Mainland China and Hong Kong that offers Hong Kong products, companies and residents preferential access to the Mainland market. Many of the preferences go beyond China's WTO concessions. CEPA is not a closed agreement and both sides hold regular meetings on further concessions and the details for implementation ...
The Supreme Court has struck down the core provisions of the Trade Minister Regulation which allowed producers to import finished goods (No. 39/M-DAG/PER/10/2010). The regulation will cease to have legal effect as of 8 May 2012. The Ministry of Trade is reported to be currently considering an amendment which aims to accommodate the interests of both producers and traders but may have to draw it more narrowly than the original version. Decision No ...
In the history of the Eurozone crisis, Spain has been a special case. It was always the "teachers pet" when it came to sovereign debt, that is, until recently. On 9 June 2012, Spain received an offer of up to EUR 100 bn in financial support from the EU for its ailing banking sector. What does that mean for Spain and the rest of the Eurozone and how did Europe’s fourth-largest economy find itself in this state? BACKGROUND Spain has been unlucky in many respects ...
On 20 June 2012, the Court of First Instance (in proceedings brought by the Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC")) ordered Hontex International Holdings Company Ltd ("Hontex") to make a repurchase offer to about 7,700 investors who had subscribed for Hontex shares in the initial public offering in December 2009 or purchased them in the secondary market during the 3 months after its shares were listed (by then the present action was taken by the SFC) ...
China has traditionally restricted foreign investment in the retail and wholesale sectors with the aim of nurturing strong domestic players before their foreign counterparts would be allowed to enter the country. Since becoming a member of the World Trade Organisation, China has gradually opened up its distribution sector to foreign investment ...
Between 22 May 2012 and 4 June 2012, staff teams from the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund (“IMF”) visited Lisbon to conduct the fourth review (the “Review”) of Portugal’s economic programme (the “Programme”). A copy of the initial statement can be downloaded here:http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/articles/financial_operations/2012-06-04-portugal_en.htm And a copy of the full report can be downloaded here: http://ec.europa ...
In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story Silver Blaze, Sherlock Holmes noticed that the guard dog for a famous racehorse did not bark on the night that the horse disappeared and its trainer was found murdered on the moor. 1. Holmes correctly deduced from this that the dog must have known the killer. 2 Inspector Gregory of Scotland Yard overlooked the same clue when he earlier accused a stranger of the murder ...
The Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement ("CEPA") is a free trade agreement between Mainland China and Hong Kong that offers Hong Kong products, companies and residents preferential access to the Mainland market. Many of the preferences go beyond China's WTO concessions. CEPA is not a closed agreement and both sides hold regular meetings on further concessions and the details for implementation ...
While arbitration offers an excellent means for parties to get their disputes settled faster than in traditional courts, how you draft the arbitration clause in a document is critically important for a positive outcome – should a dispute arise. Legal agreements often have a clause indicating that parties agree to settle any disputes arising from the arrangement in arbitration ...
Long gone are the days when discussions about customs and foreign trade in Mexico was always in reference to opening borders and policies to promote the development of local industries in a global economy. Today we find that the focus is more on new topics concerning security of the supply chain and compliance with customs regulations, as the key elements that determine the success of a business ...
This article will discuss a type of international audit intended on verifying compliance with international trade rules that indicate when a good is made in a specific country or region. These rules are called “Rules of Origin” and the type of audit is generally called “Origin Verification” ...
The much anticipated Trade Marks Bill (“the Bill”) was recently circulated to the industry for comments. The Bill, which when enacted will be known as the Trade Marks Act, 2012, promises to introduce much needed change to the trademark industry in the British Virgin Islands and place the jurisdiction in line with other modern jurisdictions ...
Over the course of 2012, on at least three occasions the Federal Circuit has found anticipation in a situation in which previously the invention would have merely been viewed as obvious:(1) where the prior art merely proposes the steps of the method, without knowledge of whether those method steps will achieve any result, much less the result claimed in the therapeutic method; (2) where the prior art discloses a broader range without providing a “pattern of preference” for a later-claimed narrow
On Aug. 31, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued its decision in In re Charter Communications Inc., (2d Cir. Aug. 31, 2012), expressly adopting an abuse of discretion standard for reviewing equitable mootness determinations ...
The law holds trustees, like any other fiduciary, to a particularly stringent standard of care. As the famed Judge Benjamin Cardozo wrote in 1928, “A trustee is held to something stricter than the morals of the market place. Not honestly alone, but the punctilio of an honor the most sensitive . . ...
Traditionally investors have looked towards developed countries for investment opportunities and, more often than not, investment decisions have been based on the economic development and growth of such countries. However, recently investment strategies have shifted towards emerging markets rather than established markets and for this reason an ever increasing number of investors are turning their attention to the African market ...
On 14 August 2012, the Minister of Industry of the Republic of Indonesia issued Ministerial Regulation Number 81/M-IND/PER/8/2012 of 2012 on The Registration of Cellular Phones and Handheld Computers (“Regulation 81/2012”) ...
Importers are likely to welcome the Minister of Trade’s (MOT) latest move in the import license saga which commenced with a Supreme Court decision of June 2011 striking down MOT Regulation No. 39 of 2010 regarding the import of finished goods by producers. Following the issuance of MOT Regulation 27/2012 (“Reg 27”), and in response to the several concerns which ensued, the MOT recently issued MOT Regulation No. 59/2012 (“Reg 59”) ...
On 24 August 2012, the Minister of Trade (“MOT”) issued Regulation No. 53/M-DAG/PER/8/2012 on Organizing a Franchise Business (“Regulation 53”). Regulation 53 revokes Regulation No. 31/M-DAG/PER/2008 (“Regulation 31”). Direct or Indirect control of Franchise Regulation 53 prohibits franchisors to appoint franchisees with which they have a direct or indirect control relationship ...
FAQ on the Belgian Pre-Contractual Information in the Framework of Commercial Co-operation Agreements Act of 19 December 2005.Belgium has a specific legal regime protecting the economically weaker party in certain commercial partnership agreements (i.e. the Pre-Contractual Information in the Framework of Commercial Co-operation Agreements Act of 19 December 2005 – “the Act”) ...
Burma’s Union Parliament has finally passed a much awaited foreign investment law, which has now been signed into law by President Thein Sein (the “MFI Law”) and published in local newspapers on November 3, 2012. The review of the MFI Law by parliament has drawn to the fore a number of issues in particular in respect of the share in a venture that can be held by foreigners ...
A Polish company enters into a contract with a German company. Which country’s law will govern the contract? Monika Hartung: To start with, under Art. 3 of the Rome I Regulation (Regulation 593/2008 of 17 June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations), the parties themselves may select the law governing the contract. The previous version of Poland’s Private International Law required the existence of a link, e.g ...
