Emami Raises Objections to HUL Rebranding Men's Skincare Range as 'Glow & Handsome'

Emami Limited, an Indian conglomerate company headquartered in Kolkata, has quite recently raised objections to industry peer Hindustan Unilever Limited – rebranding its skin products in the men’s range as ‘Glow & Handsome’ – by claiming Trademark Rights over the name. The home-grown FMCG has also hinted at initiating legal proceedings as it has already changed the name of its men’s fairness cream to ‘Emami Glow & Handsome.’

In a recent statement delivered, Emami, the maker of ‘Fair and Handsome’  brand of men’s grooming range,  mentioned that the company is indeed shocked to know about HUL’s decision of renaming its men’s skincare range from ‘Fair & Lovely’ to ‘Glow & Handsome.’ According to Emami, it is, at present, the market leader in the field of men’s fairness cream by having legal ownership of all the trademarks in place.

The Kolkata-based FMCG Company also said that it is only shocked and not surprised to observe HUL’s unfair business practice as HUL has been prevalent time and again to damage Emami’s brand image and reputation in the market. The company further added that it would soon be getting in touch with its legal experts to address this issue and related concerns.

The Indian subsidiary of Unilever PLC (a British-Dutch multinational company), HUL, recently stated that it is now rebranding its widely known skincare brand ‘Fair & Lovely’ as ‘Glow & Lovely’ after giving up on the word ‘Fair’ in the name. It also mentioned that its men’s skincare range would be called ‘Glow & Handsome.’

As per various reports, HUL had approached the Controller General of Patents, Trademarks, and Designs, a while ago, to get the name ‘Glow & Lovely’ registered.

Multiple cosmetic brands have been under the scanner for quite a while now over their products that promote skin fairness for stereotyping racial types. Moreover, the same has been intensified further in the wake of the ongoing ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests in the West.

Quite recently, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), the US FMCG and healthcare giant, has also stopped the sales of its skin whitening creams worldwide, including India.

The French personal care company, L’Oréal Group, has mentioned in a recent statement delivered that it shall remove words, like fair, fairness, white, whitening, and so on, from all its range of skincare products.

As of now, HUL has not delivered any comments on the entire matter. For view source: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com/blog/twitter-takes-down-image-tweeted-by-president-trump-over-copyright-claim/

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Twitter Takes Down Image Tweeted By President Trump Over Copyright Claim

The widely known American microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, has quite recently taken down an image shared by the US President Donald Trump from its platform after receiving a complaint of Copyright Infringement from The New York Times (an American newspaper based in the New York City with worldwide readership and influence).

The original tweet by President Trump shared on 30th June 2020, showed a meme with caption – In reality, they are not after me, they are after you, I am just in the way – along with Trump’s image in the background. The background picture was taken by a photographer at The New York Times, to accompany a feature article in September 2015 on then-presidential candidate Trump.

In place of the tweet, Twitter now displays the message that this image has been removed in response to a report from the copyright owner. This step by the well known social media platform, Twitter, is the latest instance of content posted by President Trump, which is, in turn, being removed or flagged, due to what Twitter believes is copyright infringement, violation of its policies, rules, and regulations, on threatening violence, amongst many others. Twitter removed the image shared after it received a complaint from The New York Times concerning the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). As per a notice posted on the Lumen Database, The New York Times owns the rights to the image in question. The database efficiently collects and evaluates the legal requests and complaints corresponding to the removal of online materials.

It was in May this year that Twitter began challenging Trump’s tweets and has clashed with him repeatedly since then. The president, on the other hand, has threatened the platform to change its laws after it labeled one of his tweets as inappropriate and hid a tweet about looting, which according to Twitter, fomented violence.

Due to copyright complaints, social media platforms, including Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, also recently disabled a campaign tribute video to George Floyd, a Black man who died in Minneapolis police custody. For view source: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com/blog/twitter-takes-down-image-tweeted-by-president-trump-over-copyright-claim/

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No More 'Fair & Lovely' - HUL Seeks Trademark Registration for 'Glow & Lovely'

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) might soon greet all its customers with ‘Glow & Lovely’ from its shelves. The FMCJ major has decided to drop the word ‘Fair’ from its widely known fairness cream ‘Fair & Lovely’ and is now seeking the Trademark Registration for the new name ‘Glow & Lovely.’

Although HUL (the Indian subsidiary (headquartered in Mumbai) of Unilever PLC, which is a British-Dutch multinational company) hasn’t yet disclosed the new name for its ‘Fair & Lovely’ brand; however, the company, on 17th June 2020, did approach the Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks to get the name ‘Glow & Lovely’ registered. As per various recent reports, the company’s Trademark Application, at present, has been sent for Vienna Codification, which helps to classify the figurative elements forming a part of the proposed trademark.

A spokesperson for HUL mentioned in a recent statement that Trademark Protection is a significant aspect for every other brand out there, and considering the same, the company has indeed applied for several trademarks. According to the spokesperson, some of the trademark applications have received the registration while some are pending. The company is looking forward to registering other brand names as well; however, at the same time, it also wants to manage the unveiling of the new brand name carefully. By doing the same, the company wishes to make sure that the market doesn’t become full of counterfeit and unsafe products.

In 2018 as well, HUL had applied for a trademark under the name ‘Glow & Lovely;’ it was, however, rejected.

In the “Goods and Service Description” in its recent trademark application, HUL has specified that the intended use of ‘Glow and Lovely’ will revolve around oils, soaps, lotions, creams, facial masks, beauty packs, to name a few. It will also cover shaving preparations, skincare preparations, pre-shave, and aftershave preparations, depilatory preparations, cologne, and sun tanning and sun protection preparations.

HUL has recently mentioned that it will remove the word ‘Fair’ from its widely known ‘Fair & Lovely’ brand as part of its parent Unilever’s global rebranding exercise. Although the move has come at a time where there are massive voices against racial stereotyping; however, HUL has insisted that its step has nothing do with the ongoing anti-racism movement in West. According to HUL, it has been efficiently working on the global evolution of the Rs 2000-crore brand for many years. The company has also mentioned that its other skincare portfolio shall adopt a holistic vision towards beauty, too, by celebrating all skin colors and caring for everyone.

For view source: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com/blog/no-more-fair-lovely-hul-seeks-trademark-registration-for-glow-lovely/

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ProStar Wins Patent For Method That Prevents Damages While Excavating

ProStar, a Grand Junction-based company specializing in the development of precision mapping solutions, has quite recently received a patent for its computer-implemented method, which avoids damages in an excavation area. To be specific, the company has successfully secured a patent for a method, which helps significantly in preventing damages to the environment and utilities during maintenance, construction, and groundbreaking activities along with the damages caused by severe conditions, such as earthquakes, fires, and weather.

The Chief Executive Officer and President of ProStar, Page Tucker, is the co-inventor of the newly-granted patent. In a recent statement delivered, he said that the company is indeed pleased to add another exclusive patent to its Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio. He further mentioned that ProStar’s mobile and cloud precision mapping solutions are recognized as the world’s most advanced utility mapping solutions, and the issuance of another patent in this scenario proves the fact that the company is leading the industry across the globe in terms of research, development, and innovation.

Raymond Tabandeh, who is a partner with the Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie law firm (specializing in providing an enhanced and expanded range of services in IP, litigation, business transactions, to name a few), prepared and prosecuted ProStar’s newly granted patent. Quite recently, he stated that it is always gratifying to play a crucial role in the issuance of a patent for a client. He further said that the damages to buried utilities during excavation lead to a critical problem in both the United States and Canada, and in every other scenario where excavation is involved – the damage is primarily caused by the lack of availability of qualified data. According to Tabandeh, ProStar’s newly granted patent efficiently addresses all these concerns and issues.

ProStar combines mobile and cloud technologies with patented processes for creating geospatial intelligence software, which helps the government agencies, companies, and organizations in managing underground infrastructure.

For view source: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com/blog/prostar-wins-patent-for-method-that-prevents-damages-while-excavating/

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Arcadia Wins Foundational Australian Patent for Herbicide Tolerance in Wheat

The Australian Patent Office has quite recently granted a foundational patent covering herbicide tolerance in wheat to Arcadia Biosciences Inc., a consumer-driven agricultural technology company, headquartered in Davis, California. The company focuses on the development of traits for enhancing the nutritional value and quality of crops and food ingredients.

In a recent statement delivered, the company has mentioned that the newly granted patent provides Intellectual Property (IP) protection for mutations to the wheat genome that make it herbicide-tolerant. Furthermore, Arcadia has stated that it has also received a US Notice of Allowance from the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the same technology.

All these announcements make both the United States and Australia the first major wheat-producing countries across the globe to approve the patents. According to Arcadia, additional Patent Applications are at present pending in several other prime markets worldwide.

The Chief Technology Officer at Arcadia Biosciences, Randy Shultz, has said that this patented technology shall serve as the foundation for innovations and inventions in herbicide tolerance in wheat in the coming future. He has further mentioned that with the help of additional research, this patented technology can even develop an exceedingly efficient hybrid wheat production system, which shall transform the entire wheat industry.

Currently, Arcadia is seeking potential licensing partners for its herbicide-tolerant wheat technology.

The Chief Commercial Officer at Arcadia, Sarah Reiter, has stated that this patented technology can indeed prove to an essential tool in the hybrid breeding toolkit for the right wheat innovators and inventors out there.

The USPTO has granted four patents to Arcadia earlier this year. Two of those patents correspond to extending the shelf life of whole wheat by reducing the oxidative and hydrolytic rancidity. Besides, the company has also received notices of allowance for two other patents that extend the earlier mentioned claims corresponding to the extended shelf life of wheat and reduced gluten grains. For view source: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com/blog/digimedia-tech-llc-sues-nikon-alleging-patent-infringement/

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Digimedia Tech LLC Sues Nikon Alleging Patent Infringement

Digimedia Tech LLC has quite recently filed a Patent Infringement lawsuit against Nikon Americas Inc. and Nikon Inc. by alleging that they have appropriated three of the company’s patents concerning digital camera technology. The patent infringement lawsuit is filed in the Eastern District of New York before Nicholas G. Garaufis (judge). Digimedia Tech is represented by Kent & Risley (a specialty litigation firm dealing with Intellectual Property (IP) and complicated civil cases).

The patents specified in the lawsuit filed are as follows:

• US Patent No. 6,914,635 (the ‘635 patent), titled – Microminiature Zoom System for Digital Camera
• US Patent Nos. 6,545,706 (the ‘706 patent) and 7,715,476 (the ‘476 patent), both titled – System, Method, and Article of Manufacture for Tracking a Head of a Camera-Generated Image of a Person

As per the patent infringement lawsuit filed, the claims of the US Patent No. 6,914,635 (the ‘635 patent) are directed towards the technical solutions for the technical problem corresponding to providing autofocus, zoom, and several other features in the exceedingly compact digital cameras. Another feature claimed by the said patent is image stabilization. The claims of the US Patent Nos. 6,545,706 (the ‘706 patent) and 7,715,476 (the ‘476 patent) are directed towards the technical solutions for the technical problem corresponding to identifying a head in an image.

According to Digimedia Tech, Nikon’s Coolpix P900RM and A1000 digital cameras have infringed upon the patents mentioned above. Among multiple other things and aspects, the A1000 camera has allegedly appropriated the US Patent No. 6,914,635 (the ‘635 patent) by making use of a similar Micro-Electromechanical System (MEMS) support mechanism for offering minimum two positions of movement to a supporting element. Nikon’s Coolpix P900RM has allegedly infringed upon the US Patent Nos. 6,545,706 (the ‘706 patent) and 7,715,476 (the ‘476 patent) as it features a system to process the images for identifying a head portion of a subject in them and a computer program for tracking the head portion of a person in video images.

As a consequence of Nikon’s alleged patent infringement, Digimedia Tech is now looking forward to seeking an award for damages, which according to the company, cannot be less than a reasonable royalty.

For view source: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com/blog/digimedia-tech-llc-sues-nikon-alleging-patent-infringement/

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Understanding the Importance of Trademarks for Small Businesses

Unless you own a Registered Trademark, your idea, concept, and unique branding can freely be stolen by your competitors in the present fast-paced society, which is indeed something you would never want to happen. After you spend all the time, effort, and money on your unique and creative branding, it becomes convenient for other businesses to copy what initially belongs to you. Therefore, without any second thoughts, small businesses do need to have a registered trademark like any other type and size of business out there.

Small businesses and startups with tight profit margins quite often overlook the utmost importance of protecting their most valuable asset, i.e., trademarks. Small business owners must know and understand well the following aspects:

1.     What is a trademark?

2.     Why is trademark a valuable form of Intellectual Property (IP)?

3.     What is the difference between a registered and unregistered trademark?

4.     Why is there a need to go ahead with Trademark Registration?

What exactly is a Trademark?

A trademark refers to any word, phrase, symbol, logo, or their combination that enables the customers in the market to know about the source of a product or service. A trademark is a company, product, or brand name. For instance, Coca Cola is a widely known trademark for cola products.

Trademarks are different from a patent and copyright, which are the other exclusive forms of IP.  When it comes to copyright, it prevents the artistic and creative works, like music recordings, novels, etc. from being used, copied, stolen, or distributed without the permission of the owner.  A patent protects the novel, useful, and non-obvious inventions, like a hybrid engine, a new microprocessor, etc. from being used by the competitors.

There are undoubtedly many good reasons explaining why every small business needs to have a registered trademark; let’s have a look at them:

1.     Official Trademark Registration

Keeping aside the size and type of your business, you need to make sure that you have a registered trademark in place for your small business, which shall help you significantly in preventing and facing critical issues in the future. It is a matter of fact that yes – trademark litigation lawsuits are both complicated and expensive, which can further deplete resources, effort, and time. Hence, if you are not willing to go through the hassle and stress down the road, you need to start considering the scope of getting a registered trademark for your small business.

2.     Brand Identity Protection

If you wish to protect your brand identity, you must own a trademark for your small business as you can then use the same on any concept or packaging solely or exclusively that you create for your brand. Following are a few points explaining the benefits of having a registered trademark for brand identity protection:

• A trademark helps a business in gaining instant brand recognition.
• A trademark becomes the core foundation and image of a business.
• A trademark offers a massive degree of protection against reputation-damaging copycats.
• A trademark stops the arch-competitors from making unauthorized use of a brand’s identity.

3.     Trademark Designation

The registered trademark designation helps in notifying the other businesses out there about the Trademark Rights associated with a small business’ brand name, logo, or symbol. If you own a small business and have a registered trademark for the same, it implies that your competitors can’t steal your brand identity, which is a result of your sheer hard work and brand building.

For view source: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com/blog/understanding-the-importance-of-trademarks-for-small-businesses/

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