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OHIM is on the search for a new president of its Boards of Appeal after revealing that Paul Maier is to leave the post to oversee the Office's new IP Observatory. Three years ago the European Commission set up a European Observatory on Counterfeiting and Piracy as a platform for coordinating actions to protect IP rights throughout the EU. In March EU member states agreed to rename it the European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property Rights and hand its management to OHIM, the Alicante-based office that grants Community trade marks and designs.

A vote by MEPs yesterday in favour of the unitary patent means that IP owners planning their patent filing strategies could soon have a new way of protecting their rights in Europe

Pharmaceutical companies could find the life of their patents cut short in Australia after the government announced it is rethinking provisions that enable patent rights to be extended for up to five years. Mark Dreyfus, Parliamentary Secretary for Industry and Innovation, (left) said last month that the government has set up a panel to review extension arrangements for pharmaceutical patents. "In certain circumstances, pharmaceutical patents can be extended by up to five years beyond the normal patent term. These provisions were introduced back in 1998, and are due for review," he said.

New appointments at the EU's Luxembourg-based courts have seen two new judges and an advocate general begin work at the Court of Justice, with another judge at the General Court. The Court of Justice clarifies points of European law referred to it by judges in the EU's 27 member states and hears appeals of decisions of the General Court.

Just 16% of internet users would be put off if they received a letter informing them their account had been used to infringe copyright, according to a study commissioned by UK regulator Ofcom. The study was conducted by Kaspar Media and involved online and face-to-face interviews with a representative sample of 4400 people. It was financially supported by the UK IPO. The UK's Digital Economy Act provides for warning letters to be sent to internet subscribers who have downloaded illegal content. But its implementation has been delayed by legal challenges, and the first letters are not expected to be sent out until the middle of 2014 at the earliest.

Inventors of LCDs, USB, nanotechnology, pyrosequencing, furniture doors and train wheels were recognised at the EPO European Inventor Award 2013 held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The Swiss Federal Administrative Court in a recently published decision refused to grant a request for a stay of opposition appeal proceedings, even though the validity of the opposition plaintiff's trade mark had been challenged in a civil court nullity action brought by the opposition defendant.

US politicians have reintroduced a bill that would force patent trolls who sue and lose to cover defendants' legal costs. The SHIELD Act 2013 – an acronym for Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes – was introduced by Representatives Jason Chaffetz of Utah (right) and Peter DeFazio of Oregon. The bipartisan bill, which was originally proposed last year, aims to prevent patent trolls from abusing the court system. In many countries, such as the UK, whichever party loses a case is typically ordered to pay the winner's legal fees. In the US, however, unless a judge decides that an egregious abuse of the system has occurred, each side generally covers its own bills. Since defendants know they will probably have to cover their costs even if they win a case, patent trolls use the high price of litigation as leverage to negotiate settlements.

Mexico has not been a member of the Madrid Protocol for long but Miguel Angel Margáin, director general of the Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial (IMPI), the country’s patent and trademark office, believes it been a big success so far.

Four months in the making, the World IP Survey is this year bigger than ever.