Showing posts with label Intellectual Property Protection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Intellectual Property Protection. Show all posts

Saturday, 9 May 2020

Singaporean Daren Tang Becomes the New Director-General at WIPO


world intellectual property organization (wipo)

Mr. Daren Tang from Singapore has now officially become the Director-General at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Mr. Tang, at present, is the Chief Executive at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS). He will now helm WIPO, which is one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN) for a term of six years starting from 1st October 2020.
It is the first time in history when a person from Singapore is going to lead a UN agency. Moreover, Mr. Tang is now the first Director-General at WIPO from Asia.
The confirmation for the post of the Director-General comes after Mr. Tang had officially won the nomination for the position in Geneva by beating five other candidates.
In their joint release, the Ministry of Law and IPOS stated that with this new appointment, Mr. Tang shall now relinquish his role as the Chief Executive at the IPOS. The two bodies further said that during his time at the IPOS, Mr. Tang successfully and strategically drove the transformation of the statutory board from an IP regulator and registry to an innovative and creative agency for building the future economy of Singapore.
Dr. Stanley Lai, the Chairman of the IPOS board, and Edwin Tong, the Senior Minister of State for Law, congratulated Mr. Tang on becoming the first Singaporean to lead a UN agency as the Director-General at WIPO. They also said that it is indeed a momentous occasion for Singapore.
Mr. Tang, in his acceptance speech, talked about the global challenges faced by people in the present era, which include the deeper forces of parochialism and unilateralism. He urged the member states to respond to the same by working closely together through a mutual and global effort. He outlined his plans for WIPO by expressing the need to build a balanced, inclusive, forward-looking, and vibrant global ecosystem for Intellectual Property (IP), while paying due attention to the countries that require more assistance and guidance. He further said that there is a dire need to work well with the IP offices all around the world for supporting stakeholders, startups, enterprises, creators, and artists within countries. According to Mr. Tang, WIPO must look forward to expanding the global perspective of IP beyond the technical aspects and become a driver of economic growth, a supporter of entrepreneurs, and a promoter of social vibrancy. He also noted that WIPO should leverage its role as a professional, neutral, and global agency so that the IP offices can conveniently come up to discuss their challenges and share the best practices. He mentioned some other priorities as well for making better operational decisions at WIPO and improving the overall international registration system for Intellectual Property Protection.
In the end, he thanked the Government of Singapore, the chair of WIPO’s assembly, the chair of the coordination committee, and all the member states for their immense support, trust, and loyalty. For view source: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com/blog/singaporean-daren-tang-becomes-the-new-director-general-at-wipo/

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Tuesday, 5 November 2019

Facebook Faces Trademark Infringement Lawsuit Over Calibra’s Logo


Trademark Infringement

A mobile banking firm – Current has picked a Trademark Infringement battle against Facebook Inc. over the logo for its new digital wallet Calibra, with which the social media giant’s cryptocurrency project Libra has to deal with yet another issue.
Facebook introduced Calibra as the subsidiary that will oversee its cryptocurrency plans, including the development of a digital wallet.
According to the plaint submitted by Current in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on 10th October 2019, Calibra’s logo is confusingly similar and virtually identical to the mark that the plaintiff began using in August 2016.
Now, where the case turns more interesting is the fact that the designer of both logos is San Francisco branding firm – Character, named as a defendant in the current lawsuit. The complaint revealed ‘the logo designing company hadn’t informed Calibra that the logo it was providing to them appears identical to the logo it had designed for Current to use for banking services.’
It is still unclear how all that happened, but Current has filed an application relating to its logo on June 26th, some days after Facebook unveiled Calibra.
Current’s CEO Stuart Sopp said that the similarities in both logos are since Facebook introduced Calibra. He added that his company had worked with Character for around six months to get the logo. Facebook has all resources and money in the world, and if it has truly wanted to turn banking services more inclusive and fair, it should have come up with its ideas and branding, like his team. 
In its application for an injunction, Current said that all efforts like conversations through emails or over phone calls relating to a mutually acceptable resolution of the infringement matter had been unsuccessful. The plaintiff added that Facebook hadn’t responded to its letters objecting Calibra to use the infringing mark, thus compelling it to knock the door of the court to get preliminary and permanent injunctive and monetary reliefs. Appearing confusingly identical and virtually similar to Current’s logo, Calibra’s mark is resulting in irreparable damages to its reputation, goodwill, and market. Moreover, as the marketing channels that both companies use to advertise, market, and promote their services are the same, the infringed logo is likely to generate remarkable confusion and deception, Current explained. 
Concerning such news, Facebook’s Libra Association, the non-profit foundation formed to oversee the cryptocurrency, has been losing founding members. Following PayPal’s exit earlier this month, Stripe and eBay have decided not to support the Libra project anymore. Visa and Mastercard have also pulled their support out of the project before their first meeting in Geneva on 14th October 2019.
Observing stern resistance from regulators and others, the head of Facebook’s Calibra – David Marcus stressed that the social media giant would not proffer the Libra cryptocurrency until it has fully obtained appropriate approvals and addressed regulatory concerns.  For view source: https://bit.ly/2NfoIwg
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An Overview On Protection Of Industrial Design In India


Industrial Product Design

“A thing of beauty” – the poem that gives a message that beauty of a thing is a joy forever and never turns into nothingness has a great significance in today’s world where the appearance of a product counts more than its quality and utility. In the present age, most people select products, which attract them with the beauty of their designs. Besides, the liberalization and globalization have flooded the Indian markets with a wide variety of products, thus providing the consumers with numerous alternatives for whatever commodity they want. It has ultimately made consumers more selective. Therefore, the producers have to not only prove the reliability of their products but also satisfy the consumers’ aesthetic appetite. That’s why creators nowadays spend large capital on designs that enhance their products’ appearance, which then catches the attention of viewers/consumers. In other words, outer appearance/design plays an imperative role in the market by increasing the competitiveness of the product’s owner and enhancing societal life. Hence, the Industrial Product Design protection is essential to reward the owners’/designers’ creativity, encourage their future contributions, and prevent others from making earnings on their creations.  

Industrial Design Protection: Indian Law Perspective

As per the Intellectual Property Law in India, industrial design protection under Design Act 2000 refers to a type of Intellectual Property Right (IPR) that gives the exclusive rights to make, use, and sell products embodying the protected design to the selected people only. In general, these protection rights have a life span of 10 years, but if needed, the owner can get them renewed for an additional time slot of five (5) years. Industrial design protection is for the shape, color, line, configuration, and surface pattern that either improves the visual appearance or increases the aesthetics of the design.

Requirements to be met for Obtaining Design Protection

To attain the protection under Indian law, a design must:
  • Be non-obvious,
  • Associate with shape, pattern, ornamentation, or configuration of any product
  • Suffice the novelty and originality, that is, before the date of applying for the registration, the design should not be published or used anywhere
  • Be non-contrary, i.e., doesn’t hurt the feelings of anyone.

Procedure to Obtain Industrial Design Protection

In India, almost every design application is filed before the Design registry. It is advisable to proceed to the application filing after recognizing the class/category of the design to be protected. Once identified the class, you can go for either paper filing or online filing. After the application has been filed, it will be examined by the concerned office, which can issue objections following the examination report. You have to respond to the objections within three months. The office, if finds the response satisfactory, will grant the protection, which will rest with you for ten years. 

Designs that Can’t Get Protection

The Industrial Design Protection in India doesn’t protect the designs:
  • Opposing to others moral values
  • Describing the process of construction of an object
  • Related to the appearance of books, calendars, jackets, certificates, forms, dressmaking patterns, greeting cards, leaflets, maps, plan cards, postcards, stamps, and medals.
  • Associated with flags, emblems, or national symbols/signs of any country
  • Of integrated circuits.

Importance of Industrial Design Protection

The industrial design used to be the most overlooked pillar of the Intellectual Property Protection, including patents, industrial designs, copyrights, trademarks, etc.  But now, as the present era is the age of creativity, aesthetics, and design, where the visual appeal of products is very significant, industrial design protection has become a crucial need for designers, manufacturers, and vendors. The rapidly turning competitive marketplace, objectives of copycats or infringers, and requisite to maintain a brand’s integrity are some aspects that will help you in understanding the importance of design protection. For instance, the visual appearance of a product is a vital thing that not just attracts the viewers but also helps them in distinguishing one brand from others. Once protected under deign law, the appearance/design will communicate the message that the product is genuine, and thus, attract more and more buyers. In other words, it will create a reputation that makes customers buy from you without hesitating. Besides, protecting the design of any product or packaging gives legal powers to stop the counterfeit products from destroying the relevant brand’s reputation and defaulting on the brand’s promise of efficacy and safety. It can provide many other significant benefits, including ownership of exclusive rights to make, use, and sell the design. Hopefully, you have understood the importance of securing your design under industrial design protection. If yes, then what are you waiting for? File the application now!  For view source: https://bit.ly/2C9DM8n
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Monday, 4 November 2019

How Can Intellectual Property Protection Benefit Virtual Businesses?


Intellectual Property Protection

Due to the continuous technological advancements, virtual businesses have stepped onto the path of tremendous growth. Nowadays, it is common to see people working in a coffee cafe or restaurant; instead of an office as earlier. Well, it is the concept of virtual businesses that makes this happen and lets the people work as freelancers, thus serving them with a new sense of freedom while working. Besides, it enables organizations to get their work done even by the people working in other cities. It is also about letting the employees work remotely. All these facts have made virtual businesses one of the best commerce of the present world.
Undoubtedly, virtual businesses are beneficial in almost every sense, but as the virtual data can be copied, altered, and distributed easily in just a couple of minutes, ensuring the protection of the work associated with the virtual world appears a bit complicated. In these instances, Intellectual Property Protection comes up as the most effective shield to prevent the unlawful copying and use of any material accessible over the internet without seeking the permission of the original creator.

Why Is Intellectual Property Protection Vital for Virtual Businesses?

Virtual businesses often operate on working models focused on their online presence. Hence, the assets like website, app, or other that influence one’s online presence are of great importance. Unfortunately, the Internet and rapidly advancing technology have made the theft and imitation of such online assets just a matter of some clicks, thus generating a crucial need for a robust shield to safeguard them. No doubt that there are several ways to keep the online data secure, but what could be more effective than intellectual property protection. It bestows you with the Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) that are beneficial in not just preventing replication or misuse of your IP but also making the infringer pay for the damages to your business due to the infringement.

Who Can Own the IPRs on a Website?

A website, which acts as a foremost tool to promote the business for sales generation, is the biggest asset of any company. As this imperative tool generally includes several elements provided by different people like designers, content developers, etc., it is not necessary that a site owner owns exclusive rights on every component. Therefore, it is essential to determine what rights a site owner can own, along with how to protect them.
In general, the right to enjoy the exclusivity remains with the employer instead of the employees who are employed to develop the website. However, as the Intellectual Property Law varies from nation to nation, this right may also change as per the country. So whenever you decide to obtain legal ownership over your website, it will be in your best interest to consult an IP Attorney.

What Elements of Your Website Can You Protect?

The intellectual property industry has multiple heads to ensure the protection of various elements of your website. Technical tools and software can be protected by Patent Registration. However, the website’s design, which is the expression behind the idea of creating a site, can be secured under Copyright Protection. Copyrights are applicable also for the security of the website’s content, including images, blog posts, and more. Software that includes text-based HTML codes can obtain the protection under Patent Law or Copyright Act, depending upon the nation where the website is functioning. Trademark Law protects the website’s name, logo, products, and other unique signs visible to the viewer. Computer-generated graphic symbols, user interfaces, displays, & even webpages need to be protected under Industrial Design LawTrade Secrets Law, as the name depicts, is available to safeguard the site’s hidden or confidential aspects, whose disclosure may lead to secrecy violation of the particular firm.

Wrapping Up

As mentioned earlier, the virtual business industry is one of the most rapidly growing sectors. While dealing in such a continually advancing and competitive industry, it is not uncommon for you to find your work violated by someone. Besides, there are possibilities that you may unknowingly infringe others’ IP. IP protection helps you in not just evading such issues but also ensuring safer online transactions in your business. So, if you are planning to come up with a website, make sure to secure it with suitable IPRs. Hopefully, the aforementioned information will prove helpful to you. However, if you are looking for additional information related to the IP industry and virtual businesses, it is better to consult an experienced IP Lawyer or IP Law Firm✅ For View Source: https://bit.ly/36x9bQ7
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Tuesday, 22 October 2019

How To Protect Mobile Apps Against Intellectual Property Theft?


Intellectual Property Rights

The speed with which enterprises across different sectors and industries are undergoing digital transformations has left the majority struggling for the protection of their data and Intellectual Property (IP). The reports showing tremendous losses due to theft and duplication of mobile apps worldwide each year clarifies that only firewalls are no longer sufficient to protect these assets. As more and more companies adopt the use of mobile devices and applications, the threats extend far beyond the traditional concepts. With the estimation that 80% of tasks would be going to take place through mobile apps by 2020, securing them must be the top priority for their developers. Businesses should realize that if a mobile app can make them; it can also break them in case the innovative and valuable source code gets stolen. It is because mobile apps are inherently vulnerable to hacking, copying, and more. To understand this phenomenon and learn how to protect your mobile applications against the growing threat of IP theft, read further.

What is IP Theft in Regards to Mobile Apps?

Intellectual property refers to a category of valuable assets that includes intangible creations of human intellect. In general, types of IP vary from country to country; however, some most common ones are copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and patents. Digital IP encompasses algorithms and source codes, while mobile IP theft involves piracy and cloning of whole or parts of mobile apps.

Why and How Should You Protect your Mobile Apps?

Designed to bring a multitude of services at the users’ fingertips, mobile apps’ flexibilities and portabilities make them attractive to not just users but infringers as well. Hence, it is as imperative to fully preserve your app’s functionality as it is to protect the app itself. Well, mobile application protection software is an excellent tool to safeguard your app. By mutually reinforcing multiple layers of non-stop protection integrated into your app’s code, it can defend your app’s integrity and buzz off security threats while optimizing app performance. Nonetheless, relying on application protection software alone may not be sufficient in many cases, especially when the theft of unique code or app can result in reputational losses. Therefore, in addition to mobile application protection software, you must emphasize protecting your apps with patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other relevant Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). For instance, copyright registration can prevent copycats from copying your app codes or user interface (UI) elements. Besides, if you want to safeguard your apps’ artistic aspects like images, sound, videos, etc., then also Copyright Protection is the best tool.
Filing a Patent Application is another significant way to reinforce the protection of your mobile app. Although, in general, the technological arrangement of mobile apps and the way how they communicate with other mobile apps/devices and servers are patentable, the patentability criteria still vary from country to country. Hence, to avoid any delay or monetary loss due to the rejection of your patent application, you must always proceed after ensuring if your app is eligible to obtain Patent Protection. A knowledgeable Patent Attorney can assist you in checking whether your app suffices the patentability criteria or not, learning How to Apply for a Patent without committing any mistake, and more.
The name and logo that make the viewer identify and distinguish your mobile app from others are crucial assets, and no one except you should make profits from these. Trademarks are the IPRs that have been intended to safeguard one’s identity by preventing others from using the same or similar name or mark, which may create confusion. A Registered Trademark will also increase your mobile apps’ credibility, and thus serve you with more users. Hence, you should never miss out on the opportunity of securing your app’s name and logo under Trademark Protection.  

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, ensuring comprehensive protection of your mobile application against IP theft is not only arduous but appears impossible in some cases. However, if used together, the above-mentioned mobile application protection software and Intellectual Property Protection tools will never let you down due to the theft or misuse of your app. So, whether you are coming up with a new app or revamping an already existing one, it is always advisable to devise an appropriate strategy by combining these two protection shields. Don’t forget that it is the aptest way to make benefits from your mobile app without any concern in today’s era, where such applications are a part of continuously changing and fast-moving technology.
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4 Simple Steps To Secure Website’s Content With Copyright

Copyright Registration

Your website content that represents your business online is one of the most considerable aspects distinguishing you and your competitors. It is what makes customers find you and buy from you. As a content creator, you put hours into creating unique and eye-catchy content that helps you in attracting your potential consumers and search engines like Google, Bing, etc. Google and many other search engines frown on duplicate content and thus, push the related site to lower rankings. The lower your website ranks within the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), the less traffic you get. Therefore, to list your website amongst high rankers on SERPs and make expected earnings as well as brand equity, it is crucial to prevent your content from being stolen or used by unauthorized users. In today’s continuously turning digital world, Copyright Registration is an excellent approach to prohibit others from violating your original content, which is your Intellectual Property (IP). 
Here, you will discover four simple steps to register a copyright for your website content according to the U.S. Copyright Law. The law states that your content is copyrighted as soon as it gets published and you need not necessarily register a copyright for the same. However, several IP Lawyers believe that doing so will help the original owner to prove his ownership if he/she comes across lawsuits like Copyright Infringement. The below step-wise process will aid you in obtaining the copyright protection that not just legally safeguard your website’s content but also enhance your business’s integrity.

The Process to Register Copyright for Website’s Content

  1. Make Use of Copyright Symbol
However, adding a copyright symbol to your content doesn’t fall under the registration process, but it is beneficial as doing so will result in the fast processing of your application. Besides, having a copyright symbol will help you in preventing unauthorized users from stealing your content by making them comprehend that the specific content is your IP, and they need to seek your permission for using it.
  1. Gather and List Materials To be Copyrighted
Undoubtedly, all of us want to protect our websites completely, but for full protection, we have to register copyrights for individual blogs, images, and any other media. It is because the U.S. Copyright Office considers all these to be separate entities, and therefore, single copyright for a site may not fully protect all posts, media files, etc. Luckily, it is possible to register collections of content, which means we won’t need to apply for individual copyright for every post and image. In other words, we can prevent the content on our websites by categorizing it under separate lists and then, filing a copyright application for each list. Hence, going through the website carefully to compile lists of content to be registered is a vital step while registering copyright.
  1. Submit Copyright Registration Application
If you are done with the task of compiling lists of content to be registered, then the next step is to file a copyright registration application. Nonetheless, before filling any form, it is imperative to produce hard copies of your content and understand that registration of the copyright is possible in two ways: online or via mail. To register online, you have to access an online application by creating an account with the copyright office. After that, you need to find a form that suits your content followed by filling it with the required details and ultimately submitting it. On the other side, if you want to carry out the submission through the mail, then there is a need to find out the suitable form, fill it, and finally mail it along with the set amount of filing fee. Your work doesn’t limit to just submission of the copyright application; instead, you have to keep an eye on its status until it gets processed.
  1. Create Schedule to Copyright New Material On Regular Basis 
Once your application gets approved, you will never have to renew the registration. However, note that the new content added to your website in the future will not automatically get protected by the registered copyright. Submitting a new registration application whenever you come up with additional content will be advantageous in maintaining robust and up-to-date protection. It will also appear efficient in preventing payment of complete filing fee for every new content and assuring that all your posts, images, or other content are safe. Therefore, you are always suggested to set reminders or add dates for registration updates to your calendar.

Importance of Copyrighting Your Website’s Content

A copyright is an Intellectual Property Right (IPR) that empowers you to control how your creative works, including books, movies, content, etc., can be accessed or used by others. Registered copyright provides rights that prohibit others from infringing on your IP assets. In short, registering a copyright is the most efficient approach to obtain Intellectual Property Protection that not only keeps you away from infringement losses, encompassing low website rankings on SERPs, less traffic, or more, but also creates integrity, which will result in noteworthy profits. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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