EPO Boards of Appeal further restrict the valid filing of grandchild divisional applications

An extraordinary European Patent Office decision of September2004 stated that a grandchild divisional application may onlybe filed in respect of subject matter that was not merely disclosedbut actually claimed in the parent divisional application.     

MPs' Pay 1911–1996: Myths and Realities

The controversial 26 per cent salary increase voted for by MPs in July 1996 re-ignited the vexed issue of politicians and pay. This paper firstly develops a framework to review the history of MPs' pay. Secondly, an empirical examination is undertaken with regard to its value relative to prices and earnings, the ruling political party and the overall period disaggregated by decade. This suggests that MPs have been more successful insulating themselves against the ravages of inflation than changes in earnings and that the party in power appears to be influential.     

Self-Regulation Versus Command and Control? Beyond False Dichotomies

The search for regulatory alternatives to command and control has led many commentators to promote, or at least contemplate, the use of self-regulation to improve the environmental performance of industry. However, much of the current debate has been characterized by a choice between two mutually exclusive policy options: "strict" command and control on one hand, and "pure" self-regulation on the other. In fact, there is a much richer range of policy options, with most falling somewhere between theoretically polar extremes. This article demonstrates that there are a number of "regulatory variables" which policymakers can use to "fine-tune" regulatory options to suit the specific circumstances of particular environmental issues. In the vast majority of circumstances, a combination of self-regulation and command and control will provide the ideal regulatory outcome.     

Native rhythms in the city: embodied refusal among Uyghur male migrants in Ürümchi

Over the past two decades, state-directed Han settlement and capitalist development in the Uyghur homeland in Chinese Central Asia have uprooted thousands of Uyghurs, causing them to move to the city. In this article, I explore how low-income male Uyghur migrants and Uyghur culture producers build a durable existence despite these challenges. Based on analysis of migrant responses to the Uyghur-language urban fiction and indigenous music as well as ethnographic observations of Uyghur migrants from Southern Xinjiang, I argue that indigenous knowledge provides underemployed male Uyghurs a means to refuse the alienating effects of settler colonialism and economic development. By broadening the scope of what counts as ‘resistance’ to Chinese attempts to eliminate aspects of Uyghur society, I show that ‘refusal’ can be a generative way of embodying sovereignty, particularly when confronted by structural violence.     

Commercial Lobbying in Australia: Exploring the Australian Lobby Register

Politicians and policy makers routinely engage with lobbyists and see them as crucial agents in the political process. But how much do we really know about the Australian lobby system? Although there are a range of reviews of lobby regulation schemes and discussions about the work of lobbyists, a comprehensive contemporary picture of the commercial lobbying system in Australia is missing. Using data from the ‘federal lobby register’, this article sets out to map the commercial lobbying scene at the national level. Using this as a backdrop, the article goes on to discuss what questions this raises and how we might develop a deeper understanding of the commercial lobbying system in Australia.     

It may look or smell like a 'free ride' but it is not 'unfair competition'

‘Free-riding’ on another product's reputation andbenefiting from the efforts put into promoting it can amountto trade mark infringement, even without much apparent damageto that product, but the law of passing off does not supportclaims of unfair competition where no deception or misrepresentationis involved.