Ahmed Al Saidy, director of the Intellectual Property Rights Department of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, remarked his department plans to appoint inspectors to supervise the enforcement of laws around intellectual property rights, according to Zawya.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative recently removed Israel from the Special 301 Report Watch List, where it had been since 2005, according to The Jerusalem Post. The listing was due to the country's patent laws, largely relating to pharmaceuticals. Teva, which is the largest company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, is the world's biggest manufacturer of generic drugs.

China's State Intellectual Property Office rejected Apple's request to invalidate a Shanghai-based company's patent that Apple claimed was too similar to its own voice-driven Siri technology. Apple then sued the State Intellectual Property Office and Zhizhen Network Technology, the firm that owns a voice recognition software called "Xiao i." A Beijing Intermediate People's Court heard the case on Feb. 27. The hearing, which lasted over five hours, didn't lead to a decision by the court, according to ZDNet.

Ford Motors is the defendant in two intellectual property lawsuits, according to Wall St. Cheat Sheet.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the highest proportion of intellectual property cases in its history this year in its nine-month term ending in June, according to Reuters. The justices will hear eight cases on intellectual property issues. Six of them are on patent law, two of which were argued on Feb. 26, and the remaining two are on copyright law.

Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. have joined 17 other companies and associations in drafting a letter to the European Union asking a new court to limit the ability of companies that license technology to win court injunctions against product sales when the validity of the patent being licensed is in dispute.

The U.S. may include India in the "Priority Foreign Country" list for intellectual property rights, according to the Press Trust of India. The U.S. industry and trade lobbies are pushing for India to be added to this list, which compiles those countries that have significant intellectual property protection issues. A Priority Foreign Country is the worst classification under the U.S. Trade Act, and denotes a nation with no adequate protection of intellectual property rights or equitable market access to U.S. companies. Inclusion on this list leads to trade sanctions.

The White House recently announced new measures to improve the patent process and improve intellectual property protection as, despite the Obama administration's urging, Congress has yet to act on these issues. Obama also asked Congress again to pass legislation meant to reduce abusive patent legislation, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Intellectual property issues that originate in China are as infamous as they are difficult to address. However, according to The Financial Post, it is becoming easier for businesses to seek legal remedies for intellectual property violations.

The International Game Developers Association, an advocacy organization based in New Jersey, recently criticized King.com Ltd, the developer of the popular game "Candy Crush Saga," for its application to register the term "Candy" as a trademark in the U.S.