If you ever wanted to litigate a patent in Damascus, good news

From the TAG-Legal newsletter comes news that Syria -- so long an outsider in the world of international IP protection -- has started to take the steps necessary to enable the country to sign international protection and trade agreements. The current draft Syrian Patent Law is part of this process.

One of the topics covered by the draft is the mechanics of patent litigation: a special section of the First Instance Civil Court, Damascus, will be designated to settle all the industrial property disputes, from which appeal will lie to a specially-assigned Civil Court of Appeal. Disputants who don't fancy their chances in the courts will have a statutory entitlement to resort to national or international arbitration.