What are the novelty or inventiveness requirements for a patent to be granted?

What are the criteria for considering whether an invention is obvious in view of prior art?

What are the different types of patent protection that can be obtained in your country, for example, utility, design? How do these types of patent protection differ?

What is the duration of patent rights protection?

If an invention is conceived in your country, does the first filing have to be made there?

What are the foreign filing licence requirements if an application conceived in your country is filed first in another?

Are business and computer methods patentable? If yes, what are the standards for determining this? If no, are other technological areas that are not eligible for patent protection?

Summarise the current level and nature of patent litigation in your country? Are the pending litigations related to a specific industry such as the pharmaceutical industry?

What remedies are available for patent holders? For example, are monetary damages and injunctive relief available? If monetary damages are available, are such damages based on a reasonable royalty, lost profits or other provisions?

Is your country considering major changes to its patent system?

Does your country recognise the “patent exhaustion” doctrine, and, if so, how does the application of the doctrine compare with those in other jurisdictions?

Is your country a signatory to or likely to join the Madrid Protocol and if so, when? Is it a signatory to the TRIPs agreement?

Do your trademark clients make use of the Andean Community’s or Mercosur’s regional trademark systems and if so, how?

What is the duration of trademark rights protection?

What rules govern the use of the registered trademark symbol, ®, or the unregistered trademark symbol, ™ , in your country?

What are the main problems affecting trademark owners in your country, and what strategies have successfully addressed these problems?

Does a trademark licence have to be recorded in your country to be effective?

What strategies have been successful in combating counterfeiting in your country?

Does a foreign company’s website infringing trademarks constitute use of a trade mark in your country?

Do you recommend that companies register their domain name in your jurisdiction if they do business there?

Briefly highlight any particularities of your trademark law that is not well understood by foreigners doing business in your country.

What are the key legal issues to be considered when registering a trademark in your country?

Can a multi-class trademark application be filed in your country?

Does your country allow trademark opposition proceedings? Can the deadline to file an opposition be extended?

Does your country have a judicial or other governmental process to restrict the importation of counterfeit goods? If so, give details.

What are the key issues to be considered when licensing trademark use rights in your country?

Are there any limits on the scope of licensee indemnification relating to workmanship, material, or design of any products, articles, logos, characters, etc, bearing the licensed trademark?

Under what circumstances may a trademark licence be deemed a franchise arrangement under the laws of your country?

Are there any conditions or limitations on the ability of a trademark licensor to enforce or terminate a trademark license agreement?

Under what circumstances may a trademark be legally deemed “abandoned” under the laws of your country where there is no obvious decision by the trademark owner to abandon the trademark?

Is copyright registration recommended for local packaging and marketing materials?

What is the duration of copyright protection?

Are there any recognised legislative safe harbours that protect internet service providers in your country from liability for the activities of its users? If so, what are the requirements or processes Internet providers must follow to claim safe harbour?

Does your country recognise the “first sale” doctrine for purposes of limiting copyright enforcement?

What is the standard of contributory copyright infringement in your country?

What are the criminal sanctions for intellectual property infringements?

Does your country recognise intellectual or industrial property protection in databases?

Does your country recognise a right of publicity?

Is alternative dispute resolution used in your country to resolve intellectual property disputes? What are the benefits or dangers of using ADR?

Can intellectual property rights be recorded with certain government agencies in your country, like Customs or the Border Control, to help prevent the import or export of counterfeit goods?

Describe any recent major developments or anticipated changes in your intellectual property law.

Describe any significant recent court decisions in your country relating to intellectual property.

Are there any licence agreement formalities for intellectual property that must be observed?

Has your country adopted a national legal framework for the protection of personal information in computerised form? If so, generally describe the scope of the framework, who must comply with its requirements, and the consequences of non-compliance. If not, describe how your country regulates personal data security and privacy.

Does your country’s data protection regime distinguish between sensitive and non-sensitive data?

Do special data protection rules apply to certain industries, such as financial services, health care, telecommunications? Give details.

Are there registration, notice, or official licence requirements with government entities in connection with the collection, use, storage, transfer or sharing of personal data? If so, what are they?

Does your jurisdiction require notice to affected individuals or a governmental authority in the event of personal data compromise? If so, in what circumstances and are there any special notice requirements?

Is there any local law, regulation or guidance on the use of cookies in general or the use of tracking technologies and user data for marketing or commercial purposes?

Are there any data protection safe harbours when data are anonymised?

Does your country require companies doing business there to publish and distribute a statement or policy describing its personal data security and processing practices?

Does your country require that individuals are given notice and consent to the collection, use, sharing or exportation of personal data?

Does your country impose restrictions on the exportation of personal data to another jurisdiction? If so, what are they?

What is the primary regulatory authority responsible for data protection?

Are there any guidelines related to compliance with local data protection laws and regulations?

Briefly describe the tax considerations for intellectual property in your jurisdiction including any incentives.

Briefly describe the intersection between intellectual property and competition law in your jurisdiction.

Briefly explain the implications of a bankruptcy filing under the laws of your jurisdiction on intellectual property licensed rights.