President Barak Obama and INTA

January 29, 2009

The International Trademark Association (INTA) has sent President Obama a written request asking him to strengthen the United States legislation regarding the protection of intellectual property rights. The letter points out the importance of fighting against counterfeiting, as it jeopardizes the health and safety of consumers, as well as the companies whose products are being counterfeited.

INTA has emphasized the necessity of improving the funding in this area and providing better enforcement instruments for the Department of Justice. Besides that, INTA has requested the amendment of the current customs statutes in order to facilitate the detention and seizure of counterfeit products at ports of entry in the United States.

Showcase Your Creativity and Express Your Notion on Piracy Today

January 23, 2009

In the context of an anti piracy campaign, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) is organizing the first anti piracy trailer contest.

As a key initiative to promote anti piracy messages to the public, since 2004 anti piracy trailers have been screened in cinemas by the HIP (Honour Intellectual Property) Alliance.

Due to the fact that this action has proven to be an effective channel for the public to receive a clear anti piracy message as in further surveys 60% of the respondents recalled seeing these anti piracy trailers at the cinemas.

The contest is directed to students studying in Singaporean Polytechnics and Institutes of Technical Education who are aspiring to be film makers. Supported by the Motion Picture Association International (MPA), the contest will allow participants to pick up useful tips in a workshop on making short video clips. Giving special attention to the theme of Perils of piracy, partakers will have their creative works evaluated by film industry and IP professionals.

For details of the contest, log on to www.ipos.gov.sg/antipiracytrailer. Registration closes on 30 Jan 2009.

King of Thailand Receives WIPO Award for Contribution to Intellectual Property

January 23, 2009

Last January 14, the King of Thailand, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was granted with the WIPO Global Leader Award in recognition of his outstanding commitment to promoting intellectual property and his important contribution to society as a creative inventor. The ceremony presided by Mr. Francis Gurry, WIPO Director General, and was held at the Klai Kangwon Palace in Hua Hin, Thailand.

During the event Mr. Gurry had the opportunity of pointing out some of the Kings achievements: In sharing the fruits of your creativity in the form of invention and musical and artistic works, Your Majesty has not only demonstrated the power of intellectual property to enrich and enhance the quality of daily life and work but has also encouraged people everywhere to create, respect and protect it.

In order to understand the origin of this award, it is important to have in mind that the King of Thailand is a highly praised artist with a portfolio of over 1,000 works, including paintings, photos, musical and literary works. He is also a gifted inventor holding over 20 patents and 19 trademarks. Many of the Kings inventions have generated concrete and practical benefits for rural communities in Thailand.

Orthographic Agreement Affects Company Names

January 19, 2009

While the Brazilians were just trying to adapt to new rules of the Portuguese language, the spelling of public agencies and private companies is highlighted in the facades of buildings, shops and products sold to the population.

Under the agreement spelling, in force since the beginning of the month, some brands and names of institutions are achieved. This is the case of Pompia Stores, with more than 50 establishments across the Rio Grande do Sul. Founded in 1953 in the municipality of Camaqu the company was registered with acute accent, as the agreement spelling in force at the time. For the new rule, the diphthong ‘i’ and ‘i’ do not use accent anymore.

But the unification of the language in countries that have Portuguese as official language will not make that the company change the spelling. “We have a visual identity between our brand and the public, so we decided not remove the accent”, explains the superintendent of Marketing and Sales of Stores Pompia, Carmem Ferro. According to her, the change in spelling of the brand would involve a very high cost in the shops and visual material.

In the same situation is one of the largest industries in the world of shoes, the Azaleia. Established in the 50s, in the municipality of Parob, the company now exports to over 80 countries. The directors of the company have not yet decided whether the product sold for several Brazilian regions of Brazil and out of the country will adopt the change.

The National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) has remained silent on the issue of brands. The official position should be announced only after the publication of the Spelling Vocabulary Portuguese Language (Volpe) by the Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL).

1st-to-File System Often a Test of Patience

January 16, 2009

Almost every country grants trademark rights on a first come first served basis.

Under this first to file system, the applicant who is the quickest at registering a trademark is exclusively allowed to own and use it. Except in the United States, where the first to actually use a trademark in business is given priority.

In most countries that have opted for the first to file system, including Japan and China, an objection can be filed in court against a person or company whose trademark application has not yet been officially granted.

Still after the finalization of trademark registration, a complaint can be presented, for up to a fixed period, to request the annulment of the trademark right.

Nevertheless, it is important to mention that a claimant in search of somebody else’s trademark right cancellation is required to prove that the trademark at issue has in fact been extensively used by the claimant and already has achieved a high degree of name recognition. The argument can be extended if the accused objects to the court decision.

In Japanese a sake brewer, whose brand name had been registered in China by a Chinese man without the brewer’s knowledge, acquired the trademark right by paying 15 million yen to the man so it could export sake to China his Japanese trademark. Apparently this measure is less time consuming than having to go through a Chinese court.

The Japan External Trade Organization has stated that there are numerous Chinese individuals and companies registering trademarks that could be sold to Japanese firms.

An official of the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (Zenno) said, “Should Japanese companies be so loose in negotiating with the Chinese that hold Japanese related trademark rights, it would only encourage the dubious businesses surrounding trademark disputes.”

Under the TRIPS Agreement (Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, 1995), member states are required to take legal actions for protecting the appellations of origin regarding items such as wine and distilled liquor. Trademark registration of these place names by people who have no direct connection with these regions should be rejected.

UK Businesses not Protecting Intellectual Property Rights

December 18, 2008

According to a new government research in the UK, 40% of businesses take no action to ensure their intellectual property is protected, despite an understanding of the need to protect it.
The research revealed that:

  1. 40% of businesses investigated took no practical action, such as trade mark registration, to guarantee their and third parties Intellectual Property rights are protected.
  2. 33% of businesses studied were not informed about the legitimacy of the goods sold on their premises by external traders.
  3. A fifth of the businessman, who knew that employees were selling DVDs at work, was aware of the fact that these were counterfeit and did not ban such illegal activity.
  4. Likewise, over 25% of respondents took no action in respect of the fact that the staff downloads illegal content at work.

Regarding these results, the director of copyright and IP enforcement at the Intellectual Property Office, Ed Quilty, commented:
Intellectual property is central to the UK economy and therefore businesses of all sizes cannot afford to be complacent in respecting its value ensuring effective measures are in place to prevent workplace IP crime are an important part of this. I am pleased that the IP Crime Group will take a leading role in highlighting this problem as part of their work.

Four OHIM National Offices Opt out of National Searches

December 18, 2008

National searches which may be requested at the moment of filing a Community trademark have become optional since March 2008. These searches are carried out in all participating offices for a single fee.

Since these searches are optional the number of member states taking part in them is falling to 12 due to the decision of four national offices to stop participating.

Ireland, Portugal, Sweden and the UK have decided to withdraw from the system of national search requests with effect from 1 January 2009. The 12 national offices continuing to participate are: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Lithuania, Hungary, Austria, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Finland.