Friday, December 5, 2014

Proposed Revision of Official Fees for Trade Marks and Patent

MyIPO is proposing a revision of official fees for trade marks and patent. The proposed fee schedule is available in MyIPO official website (www.myipo.gov.my).

The revision is proposed to improve the IT capacity and introduce certain changes, which includes waiver of some fees for online information. Fees for most services in patents and trademarks face an increase of 5% to 50%.

Of interest will be the revision of trade mark application procedure. The request for publication, which is submitted only when a trade mark is approved, will then have to be submitted along with new trade mark application.

MyIPO is also inviting feedback on the proposed fee revision before 31 Dec 2014.

Genting on target to launch 20th Century Fox theme park

Characters from the Ice Age, Rio and Planet of the Apes movies have long captivated us.

In two years’ time, you will get to meet your beloved movie characters on a different level.

Come 2016, Resorts World Genting will open its doors to the much anticipated 20th Century Fox World outdoor theme park, the first such facility to be developed by Genting.

The theme park will feature characters, rides and activities centred around 20th Century Fox’s most popular and loved movies, from Epic and Rio to Planet of the Apes and Alien vs Predator.

Genting Malaysia Bhd president and chief operating officer Datuk Seri Lee Choong Yan said movies that were household names were among the intellectual property rights given to Genting by 20th Century Fox for the theme park.

“We aim to bring the rich storytelling by Fox to a whole new level with an interactive theme park. - The Star

Friday, October 3, 2014

APAA Penang 2014

Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA) 63rd Council Meeting will be held in Penang, Malaysia on 8-11 November 2014. The principal, Dennis, studied in Penang for five years. He is familiar with Penang and he will be happy to receive compatriots in IP. Do send him a message if you are attending APAA Penang 2014 and wish to meet him.

Monday, September 29, 2014

Fatherly love behind the loom band craze

The Rainbow Loom, a kit for making the now hugely popular loom bands, might not have been invented if not for a Malaysian-born engineer’s desire to spend more time with his family.

Cheong Choon Ng went to study in the United States in 1991 and later, having received his master’s degree in mechanical engineering, landed a job in Detroit’s motor industry.

He loved his job but missed being with his two daughters, he says in a recent article he wrote for the British newspaper The Guardian.

“They were nine and 12, and distant towards me,” he writes. “One night after work, I saw them making bracelets from rubber bands and I thought, ‘Hey, I know how to do this. Maybe I can impress you girls.’

“I sat down and showed them how to link the rubber bands together, using the same technique we had used to make jumping ropes back in Malaysia. But the bracelets kept falling apart. I went down to my basement, grabbed a scrapboard and stuck multiple rows of pushpins into it. Then I started linking the bands in a zigzag, like a diamond shape, and it worked really well.

“The next day, my daughters took a bunch of colourful bracelets to school. I became a neighbourhood hero overnight. Children would come up to me and ask me to make them bracelets.

“It was my older daughter, Teresa, who first suggested selling them. I spent six months developing the product and designed 28 different versions. I was still working full-time at Nissan, so I would stay up until three or four o’clock every morning.

“The biggest challenge was to convince my wife. I am the one in the family with all the crazy ideas, and she is my reality check. She always has the final say. One day, I made a ring out of rubber bands and put it on her finger. After that, she was on board.”

The Rainbow Loom became a popular pastime in summer camps and summer clubs in 2013. Children make and swap their rubber-band bracelets in the same way as friendship bracelets, and have posted thousands of their own instructional videos online.

YouTube features scores of how-to videos, receiving millions of hits. Last year it was named one of the three most popular toys by Cyber Monday Awards and was the most-searched toy on Google.

Even Pope Francis and members of the British royal family have been seen wearing loom bands.

“We invested our entire family savings of US$10,000 to order tooling and 91kg of rubber bands from China, and assembled the kits ourselves in our garage,” Choong writes.

“I spent months going round toy stores in Michigan with my daughters, trying to sell the loom band. Nobody was interested. The problem was that people didn’t understand how they worked. So I asked my niece and my daughters to create YouTube videos, explaining how to make rubber-band bracelets. These created a trend.

“In July 2012, I received an order from a toy store in Alpharetta, Georgia, for 12 loom-band kits. Less than two weeks later, the same store placed an order for $10,000.

“After that, our sales climbed every month until, in December 2012, we reached US$200,000 wholesale sales a month. I took a three-month sabbatical from Nissan, but never returned to my old job.”

He says he sold more than US$40m worth of rubber-band bracelets last year. “I expect to double that this year,” he adds. - Free Malaysia Today

PPH and PCT-PPH between MyIPO - JPO

The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is an initiative which provides a means of significantly accelerating examination of your patent application if examination work has already been conducted at another patent office.

Under the PPH program, if the claims of your application have been found to be acceptable by a first patent office, you may request accelerated examination of a corresponding application at a second office. The PPH is a procedure whereby patent offices can make use of relevant work already conducted by another office when conducting the patent examination.

With effect from 1 October 2014, MyIPO starts a pilot PPH/PCT-PPH programs with the Japan Patent Office (JPO):

i). MyIPO-JPO PPH pilot program

ii). JPO-MyIPO PPH pilot program

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Warning About Requests for Payment of Fees

It has come to the attention of the International Bureau that PCT applicants and agents are receiving invitations to pay fees that do not come from the International Bureau of WIPO and are unrelated to the processing of international applications under the PCT. Whatever registration services might be offered in such invitations, they bear no connection to WIPO or to any of its official publications.

The invitations often identify a particular PCT application by its international publication number (eg: WO 02 xxxxxx), publication date, title of the invention, international application number, priority information and IPC symbols. A number of new invitations have been identified originating from the following:

IPTG – International Patent and Trademark Guide

WOPD – Worldwide Online Patent Database

UPTS – Universal Patents and Trademarks Service

Commercial Center for Industry and Trade

Euro IP Register

WIPD – World Intellectual Property Database

WPTI – World Patent and Trademark Index

UPTS - Universal Patents and Trademarks Service

IPT PATENTS - Register of International Patents

FOIP - Federated Organization for Intellectual Property

IPTS - International Patent and Trademark Service

IPTR - International Patent and Trademark Register

IP DATA - Register of International Patents

WBIP - World Bureau for Intellectual Property

TPS - Trademark and Patent Service

European Register of Brands and Patents (REGIPAT)

Novislink limited

PCT applicants and agents should note that it is the International Bureau of WIPO alone which publishes all PCT applications promptly after the expiration of 18 months from the priority date (see PCT Article 21(2)(a)); there is no separate fee for such international publication, and the legal effects of international publication are set out in PCT Article 29.

If they have not already done so, PCT applicants and agents are advised to bring this information to the attention of the people responsible for handling payments of fees within their organizations, as well as to the attention of inventors who might also receive such requests. - WIPO

Monday, July 14, 2014

Free kick ‘vanishing spray’ inventor not interested in commercial gain

One of the great World Cup success stories has been the “magic spray” used by referees to keep a defensive wall 9.15 metres (10 yards) from the ball at free kicks but its inventor says he is more concerned with the good of the game than making millions.

Heine Allemagne, 43, who has given FIFA free use of his invention at the finals, says he is driven by a love of the game and helping referees keep discipline rather than becoming a multi-millionaire.

And his invention could hardly be more simple. The referee sprays a line of biodegradable foam derived from vegetable oil in a line on the pitch indicating where the players must stand at a freekick, and that line disappears within a minute or two.

“I had no commercial ambition, I wanted to develop the product. Perhaps there will be some financial side but that can come later, I wanted to get the product perfect for football.

“I wanted to help the referees keep discipline. The time now taken at free-kick has dropped from 48 seconds to around 20 seconds. There are less yellow and red cards and more goals from free-kicks, and the players respect the line.”

Although the spray cans are not yet widely available, Allemagne said the retail price would be around US$5 (RM16). FIFA took delivery of 320 cans for the 64 World Cup matches and Allemagne has absorbed the hypothetical cost of US$1,600 himself.

Sceptical Sepp

One of the more intriguing aspects of his story is the time it took for such a simple concept to become accepted.

Although local football authorities welcomed it in the early stages, he said FIFA president Sepp Blatter and secretary general Jerome Valcke needed some convincing when they reached a more advanced stage.

“Some people needed convincing like them. Blatter was sceptical in the beginning but then realised this solved a football problem.

“Some people did not think it was necessary or would act as enough deterrent to keep people behind the line. But they changed their minds.”

Allemagne, who was born and raised in the state of Minas Gerais where tomorrow’s semi-final between Brazil and Germany is being played in Belo Horizonte’s Mineirao stadium, was working in TV and graphic design when he came up with idea 14 years ago.

A keen amateur footballer, he was increasingly irritated by the time-wasting that surrounded every free kick at every level of the game with players encroaching towards the ball.

The prototype was first used in the minor Copa Belo Horizonte in 2000.

It was gradually used in higher levels and two years later the Brazilian FA (CBF) sanctioned its use after it received a 100 per cent approval rating by the referees who had it.

In 2006 Allemagne joined forces with Argentinian Pablo Silva who was independently working on a similar product and since then they been working together on the spray they called the 9.15 Fair Play spray — the metric distance players need to be from the ball at free kicks.

By 2012 the spray, with many technical modifications along the way, had been tested in 18,000 professional games and was authorised by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) who approved its use at all levels in 2012.

FIFA tested it at the Under-17 and Under-20 world championships in 2013 and it was also used at the Club World Cup before being used for the first time at the World Cup.

“I am just a face in the crowd, someone from Minas Gerais who tackled a century-old problem,” says Allemagne.

Although he holds an international patent for the product and is protective of it and could become a very wealthy man out of it, that does not appear to be his goal.

“There are ethical values involved. Multinational companies absorb the work of others and make their profits, but my journey is not about that,” he says. — Reuters

Monday, June 9, 2014

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

National Intellectual Property Convention 2014



HARNESSING IP TOWARDS HIGH INCOME NATION

The four-day Convention, organized by MIPA and supported by MyIPO, themed ‘Harnessing IP towards High Income Nation' comprises of a one-day National Conference, a half-day SME IP Forum and two Master Classes conducted over two days.

The one-day National Conference will feature eminent speakers who are practitioners and thought leaders in their respective industries. They will be sharing their invaluable knowledge and experience and speaking on a wide range of topics.

The half-day SME IP Forum is an event where services and products, from many organisations of different sectors, are provided free of charge to the public. Plenty of networking opportunities are readily available and delegates are able to obtain information and advise freely.

The two Master Classes will be focused on Patent Drafting: Answering Adverse Reports; and Commercialisation and Licensing. Industry leaders will be conducting the Master Classes and each Master Class will delve into its respective topics in great detail.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Recruitment for Patent Writer

We have an opening for patent writer. Patent writer assist inventors to prepare patent application and protect their invention.
Role:
- search and read relevant scientific papers
- perform technical analysis
- write technical paper
Requirement:
- degree in science or engineering
- good technical comprehension
- fluent in writing report
If you are interested, please send your cv to "idea@boon.com.my". Only short listed candidate will be notified.

Friday, March 7, 2014

WIPO’s Coordination Committee Nominates Francis Gurry for Second Term as Director General

The Coordination Committee of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) nominated by consensus Mr. Francis Gurry for a second term as Director General of WIPO.

The WIPO General Assembly will meet in an extraordinary session on May 8-9, 2014 to confirm the nomination. Mr. Gurry’s first term as Director General expires on September 30, 2014.

To applause from delegates, Committee Chair Ambassador Fode Seck declared Mr. Gurry the consensus nominee. Mr. Gurry offered his “heartfelt and profound thanks” to member states from all regional groups for the support given to him.

“I think that the world of intellectual property is a challenging one, but one with great opportunities,” Mr. Gurry told delegates. He said a main goal is to “maximize opportunities for all member states.”

Mr. Gurry is the fourth Director General of WIPO, following Dr. Kamil Idris of Sudan (1997-2008), Mr. Arpad Bogsch of the United States (1973-1997) and Mr. Georg Bodenhausen of the Netherlands (1970-1973). The WIPO Director General serves a six-year term. - WIPO

Mr. Gurry visited KL in 2011. MIPA welcomed him along with MyIPO officials.