In April 2016 INFARMED started publishing a set of Therapeutic Recommendations (TR) seeking to contribute to rationalize and increase the quality of medical prescription. The TRs will be published on a regular basis and shall focus on particular areas such as those where new scientific evidence arise or specific treatment trends that could be improved. The first TR covers the prescription of statins. Statins are indicated for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol), for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases associated to atherosclerosis. The ability to reduce total cholesterol and LDL-c differs between the various statins and…

The primary tobacco prevention and control law for Macau is Law 5/2011 which governs, among other things, smoking free environments, tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and tobacco packaging and labeling. Macau, as Special Administrative Region of China, is bound by China’s ratification of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control China became a Party to said treaty on January 9, 2006. Between January 1 and March 31 2016, according to the Health Service authorities, 89249 tobacco control inspections were carried out in establishments making up an average of 981 inspections per day. During this period,…

The Government of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, has deposited the instrument of accession to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of September 9, 1886, as revised at Paris on July 24, 1971, and amended on September 28, 1979. The Berne Convention will enter into force, in Sao Tome and Principe, on June 14, 2016.

The final decision regarding the conflict between earlier trademarks   and ,on one hand, and the following trademark seeking registration, on the other, was recently published in the Portuguese Industrial Property Bulletin. The Portuguese Industrial Property Office (INPI) had granted the requested registration, rejecting the opposition filed by the holder of the earlier rights, and the Intellectual Property Court had confirmed said decision. Indeed, although admitting the existence of a certain degree of conceptual similarity between the signs, the court of first instance had considered that the device elements did not prevail over the totally distinct…

Sandra Martins Pinto was interviewed by James Nurton for the Alicante News about her work at Simões Garcia Corte-Real & Associados and the present and future of IP! You may read the interview here.