Region: Africa & Middle East

The US Department of Commerce has reportedly slapped tough restrictions on telecoms giant ZTE, in a move that could end many of its supplier relationships with US tech companies. Effective today, any company that wants to ship US-made hardware to…

08 March 2016

While the global quarrel over the pricing of patented drugs continues unabated, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has announced that it will offer a number of its medicines at significant discount to developing countries.According to a press…

28 September 2015

Last week the disposal of a range of intangible assets owned by RadioShack was completed, raising around $40 million for the bankrupt business. The sale included a range of trademarks, domain names and a small portfolio of 73 granted and pending…

02 July 2015

IPBC Global in San Francisco is now finished, but only after another compelling day of sessions, networking and discussion. Here, IAM’s editorial team – Joff Wild, Richard Lloyd, Jack Ellis and Sara Jayne Clover – pick out a few of the highlights:…

17 June 2015

Further to an agreement with the US Trade Commission, the 10th amendment to the Patent Law has now come into force. The amendment forms part of the revisions to local IP laws and regulations which removed Israel from the blacklist of countries that fail to protect intellectual property adequately and enabled Israel to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

16 January 2013

The Tel Aviv District Court recently ruled in favour of the Tommy Hilfiger Group after it brought suit against Machsan Hayevuan and its owner Elad Suissa for breach of the rights under the TOMMY HILFIGER trademark. The ruling is a signal to all parallel importers in Israel to review their current practice carefully and to consider whether they are maintaining the proper balance between fair use of their marketed goods and not infringing IP rights.

31 October 2012

Recently published guidelines for examiners with regard to overlapping subject matter have clarified the definition of "overlapping subject matter" and provide an insight into the strategy for drafting and prosecuting divisional and continuation applications before the Israeli Patent and Trademark Office.

13 June 2012

In June 2012 the Israeli Patent Office will start functioning as an international search authority and an international preliminary examining authority under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Since the World Intellectual Property Organisation decided to appoint Israel, the Patent Office has made substantial efforts to meet the necessary PCT requirements.

23 May 2012

Further to a 2010 agreement with the US Trade Commission, the Israeli government is finalising an amendment to the Patent Law. The agreement has resulted in the removal of Israel from the blacklist of countries that fail to protect copyright adequately and enabled Israel to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Under the amendment, Israeli applications will publish 18 months after the filing or priority date, as in most Western countries.

02 May 2012

The Israeli patent registrar has issued new guidelines to determine patentable inventions by clarifying the definition of "technological invention", as defined by Section 3 of the Patent Law. The long-awaited guidelines clarify the Israeli approach regarding software inventions in an attempt to make all Israeli examinations consistent.

21 March 2012