Mr. Amjad Husseini and Mr. Ali H. Hijazi from Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP) visited our firm today. They were kind enough to answer our inquiries regarding wire transactions. They also explained about the cost-saving features of the “single POA system” effective in many Middle Eastern countries, as well as explaining the detailed plusses and minuses of Madrid-protocol filing vs. direct-national filing of applications in the UAE.

Mr. Nick Holmes from Davies Collison Cave visited our firm. He presented several points of interest regarding the trademark laws and practices in Australia and New Zealand. Of particular interest was the strategy and system of filing defensive mark applications in Australia (similar to the Japanese system), as well as the fact that the burden of proof of use in New Zealand oppositions falls squarely on the applicant instead of the opposer. Another point of interest was the potential benefit and cost-saving aspects of conducting official searches through the search/advice programs provided directly by the Intellectual Property Offices of both countries.

Today we had the pleasure of a visit from the law firm FAIRSKY LAW OFFICE (China). Mr. Yue and Mr. Yuan were kind enough to update us on the current situation in China including immigration and entry protocols, how the courts and the Postal Services are functioning during teleworking and other restrictions. They also provided us with valuable information about the changes to Chinese Design Law and other hints regarding China’s joining the Hague System.

We had the pleasure of holding a web meeting with our colleagues Mr. Kohji Suzuki and Mrs. Jamie Lynn Kraft at Smart & Biggar in Canada. Along with providing updates of the current conditions in each country, we learned of methods to potentially expedite examinations in Canada (which have been lagging) as well as how to better use and even have specifications of goods/services added to the pre-approved Specification Manual utilized by the CIPO.

We held a virtual meeting with our colleagues at the local branches of Rouse Group in Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand. They informed us of the latest information about current and new examination practices and the change of the examination guidelines in Indonesia and Thailand, and provided a forecast of the grand opening of the IP department in Myanmar.