Harnessing IP Talk

We are organizing an event called 'Harnessing IP' in Technology Park Malaysia, Bukit Jalil on Thursday, 12 Jan 2017, 2.30 pm. Kindly RSVP.

Industrial Design And Plain Packaging

The government wants to introduce plain packaging for cigarette boxes to curb the habit amongst Malaysians. Are they infringing on any corporate rights? Business FM have a chat with Chew Phye Keat, President of the Malaysian Intellectual Property Association (MIPA) and Joshinae Wong, Partner at Christina Chia Law Chambers (CCLC) to have a better comprehension of what is at stake here.

MRM to Govern Rights to Play Music in Public

Image by MyIPO

Music Rights Malaysia Berhad (MRM) have been formed by Minister of Domestic Trade, Datuk Hamzah Zainudin, as the sole agency to manage rights to play music in public. The announcement was made in a dinner hosted by Perbadanan Harta Intelek Malaysia (MyIPO) on 8 Dec 2016. Veteran lyricist Habsah Hassan has been appointed as Secretariat Chairperson for MRM, according to Berita Harian.

Retail stores or restaurants play music to entertain customers. A license is required by a premise to play music in public (in their store). This license have to paid periodically even though the premise owner is playing music from a radio or personal music collection. Note that music form personal music collection provides right for personal use only. MRM will be the sole body to collect licensing fees from parties that play music in public from 1 Jan 2017 onward.

The amount of licensing fee is not mentioned. The licensing fees collected by MRM will be distributed as royalties to people involved in the music industry. Music creation involves multiple parties including:
- lyricists
- composers
- publishers
- performers (artists and musicians)
- recording companies

Currently, there are four copyright collection agencies namely Music Author's Copyright Protection (MACP), Public Performance Malaysia (PPM); Recording Performers Malaysia (RPM) and Performers Rights and Interest Society of Malaysia (PRISM). Parties that play music in public still need to pay their dues to the respective agency before 2017. These four copyright collection agencies will manage the distribution or royalties among its members, even after the establishment of MRM.

Dennis

Big Mac inventor dies at age 98

The man who invented the Big Mac, considered the quintessential American fast food burger, has died.

Michael “Jim” Delligatti passed away on Nov 28 at his home in a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, suburb. He was 98 years old.

Delligatti, a McDonald’s franchisee, came up with the idea in 1967 because he said customers wanted a bigger sandwich. And so he came up with the chain’s signature burger – two all-beef patties, “special sauce”, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.

According to AP, his invention was almost rejected by McDonald’s because it was happy with its traditional meals of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries and milkshake were selling well.

He got permission to try his new burger in 1967 and sales jumped 12%, the Times said. Within a few years, McDonald’s was advertising the Big Mac nationwide.

“This wasn’t like discovering the light bulb,” he said. “The bulb was already there. All I did was screw it in the socket.”



He said the idea came from rival burger restaurants in the mid-1960s.

After the Big Mac’s invention, the company expanded its menu further, creating an age of new menu items such as the Egg McMuffin (a creation also attributed to Delligatti) and Filet-o-Fish.

But, it was the Big Mac that became a cultural icon. According to MacDonald’s Delligatti never received any royalties for the invention.

Read more at http://www.star2.com/food/food-news/2016/12/02/big-mac-inventor-dies-at-age-98/#S87tHlTSAvxahuCA.99

His Majesty the King as inventor and innovator

"VILLAGERS have said that miracles happen wherever the King treads. Arid land becomes fertile once again."


To the uninitiated, it must be tempting to dismiss this approximate translation of a Thai radio spot as worshipful hyperbole. Yet to Thais, apart from the obvious affection towards their King, the statement contains a very real element of truth. For over half a century, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej has applied his technical ingenuity and resources to improving the lives of his people, in particular farmers otherwise at the mercy of nature. His inventions have helped make droughts more bearable, water less polluted and innovation more widely appreciated.

What the Thai people have long known has again been given due recognition by the outside world.

On January 14, 2009, Dr Francis Gurry, director-general of the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) presented the WIPO Global Leaders Award to His Majesty the King.

WIPO, a United Nations specialised agency with 184 member states, announced in January 2007 that His Majesty would be the first recipient of this award - its most prestigious recognition of outstanding contributions by world leaders to the cause of intellectual property to promote development.

In its press release, WIPO acknowledged His Majesty's "remarkable contribution to intellectual property both as an inventor and as an active proponent of intellectual property as a tool for development", also noting him as an artist who has "created over 1,000 works including paintings, photos, musical and literary works such as songs and novels".

Some of His Majesty's best-known projects relate to artificial rain. Rain-making techniques invented by His Majesty, with such memorable names as "sandwich" and "super sandwich", have brought welcome moisture to land parched by drought, and relief to thousands of farmers.

The Royal Rain Project, as it is called, is one of the more than 4,000 royally-initiated development projects to date. Others include those pertaining to irrigation, farming, drought and flood alleviation, crop substitution, public health, distance learning and employment promotion. - Government of Thailand

Budget 2017 Wish

Individual inventors have great ideas. Tax rebates should be given for invention investment and promotion activities including patent fillings. #Bajet2017 #Myipo

Read More : http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/09/171075/najib-invites-public-contribute-ideas-2017-budget

APAA Bali 2016

Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA) 66th Council Meeting will be held in Bali, Indonesia on 8-11 October 2016. The principal, Dennis, will be attending the event. Do send him a message if you are attending APAA Bali 2016 and wish to meet him.

Patent of 2016 National IP Award goes to 'Wind Turbine'

Dr Chong Wen Tong explaining to Hamzah Zainudin, Minister of Domestic Trade

The gold medal for patent of Anugerah Harta Intelek Negara award goes to 'Cross Axis Wind Turbine', a novel wind turbine by Dr Chong Wen Tong's green energy research group from Universiti Malaya. There is only one gold medal provided by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), for Anugerah Harta Intelek Negara 2016 or National Intellectual Property Award 2016, organized by Perbadanan Harta Intelek Malaysia (MyIPO) on 2 Aug 2016. The medal for patent is a form of recognition for outstanding innovators.

The wind turbine patent application was prepared by our firm. Malaysia have relative low wind. A new rotor was invented to generate electricity from low wind energy.

What if UK exits EU? An IP Perspective

Despite the referendum, United Kingdom (UK) is still a member of European Union (EU). As a member of EU, UK still enjoys unified IP laws and protection throughout EU. If UK exits EU, UK would most likely lose the benefits of EU established IP protection.

1) Trademarks, Designs and Plant Variety
Community trademark (now known as EU trademark as of 23 March 2016), community design and community plant variety can be filed and enforced throughout EU member states. If UK leaves EU, the geographical scope of EU granted protection will be reduced to EU member states minus UK.

2) Patents
UK is a member of European Patent Convention (EPC) which is independent of EU. Norway, Switzerland and Turkey which are not members of EU are also members of EPC. UK will most likely remain as EPC member. However, UK may not be part of unitary patent implementation as EU membership is prerequisite for unitary patent.

3) English as official language of EU
EU free trade agreements with US and Asian countries are conducted in English. Currently, English is one of the official language for European patent. Will English be maintained as one of the official language of EU? English may have less influence in Europe due to widespread influence of French and German language. We hope that EU would not reduce the usage of English language as the rest of the world communicates in English.

Unitary (European) Patent

On 11 December 2012 the European Parliament voted positively in a first reading on the EU Council's compromise proposals for two draft EU regulations on a unitary patent for Europe. The draft regulations were accepted under the EU's legislative procedure of "enhanced co-operation": With the exception of Croatia and Spain, 26 EU member states have embarked on enhanced co-operation with a view to creating unitary patent protection for their territories.

The regulations entered into force on 20 January 2013. However, they will only apply from the date of entry into force of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court.

The European patent with unitary effect ("unitary patent") will be an another option for users besides already-existing national patents and classical European patents. A unitary patent will be a European patent granted by the EPO under the provisions of the European Patent Convention to which unitary effect for the territory of the 26 participating states is given after grant, at the patentee's request. The unitary patent will thus not affect the EPO's day-to-day search, examination and granting work.
However, the EPO will take on a number of additional tasks. For example, it will administer patentees' requests for unitary effect. It will also be responsible for collecting, administering and remitting renewal fees for unitary patents and for keeping a register of unitary patents which will include legal-status information such as licences, transfers, limitation, revocation or lapse.

As regards the translation arrangements for the unitary patent, it was decided to use the EPO's tried and tested language regime based on three official languages, namely English, German or French. After grant of the European patent, no further human translations will be required if the patent holder opts for a unitary patent; high-quality machine translation will be available for the purpose of informing on the content of patents. -EPO

The unitary (European) patent is targeted to go into effect in early 2017. After going into effect there are four ways to gain patent in Europe:

(1) Filling national patent applications and maintaining granted patents in selected national patent office;

(2) Filling single European patent application in EPO; and maintaining granted patents in selected national patent office (current practice);

(3) Filling single European patent application and maintaining granted European patent in EPO (proposed future practice);

(4) Filling single European patent application in EPO; and maintaining granted patent in EPO and selected national patent office (proposed future practice).

Gucci apologises after warning Hong Kong funeral shops not to sell fakes

Luxury fashion brand Gucci apologised on Friday (April 6) after warning Hong Kong's funeral shops not to sell paper fakes of its products, traditionally burned as tributes to the dead.

Burning paper replicas of everything a loved one could ever want in the afterlife is an enduring tradition in Hong Kong - from mundane daily life items, including pairs of socks and false teeth to high-end status symbols like cars, smartphones and designer handbags.

Gucci sent letters to store owners last month asking them not to sell paper replicas bearing Gucci-like logos, saying it was an infringement of their trademark.

That led to criticism from some shops and customers who said the brand was interfering in an age-old custom they felt was harmless.

"We regret any misunderstandings that may have been caused and sincerely apologise to anyone we may have offended through our action," Gucci said on Friday.

The company said its letters were sent out as part of efforts to protect its global intellectual property and said it held the funeral traditions "in utmost respect".

"We trust that the funeral store owners did not have the intention to infringe Gucci's trademark. Accordingly, we did not suggest any legal action or compensation," the statement added.

It did not say whether Gucci would continue to ask shops to take the replicas off the shelves.

But a source close to the matter said most of the six stores that received the letters had agreed to stop selling the products. - AFP

Samsung wins appeal in patent dispute with Apple

A U.S. appeals court on Friday (Feb 26, 2016) overturned a $120 million jury verdict against Samsung, finally handing the South Korean smartphone maker a significant win in its longstanding patent feud with top rival Apple.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., said Samsung Electronics Co Ltd did not infringe Apple's "quick links" patent, and that two other patents covering the iPhone's slide-to-unlock and auto-correct features were invalid. The court also said Apple was liable for infringing one of Samsung's patents.

In a statement, a Samsung spokeswoman said: "Today's decision is a win for consumer choice and puts competition back where it belongs - in the marketplace, not in the courtroom.”


Apple and Samsung have been battling over mobile device technology patents for years. Apple has mostly prevailed, and in December, Samsung paid Apple $548.2 million stemming from a separate patent case, which Samsung has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Friday's ruling was issued by a unanimous three-judge panel of the Federal Circuit, the country's top court specializing in patent issues.

The ruling reverses a May 2014 verdict from a federal court in San Jose, California ordering Samsung to pay $119.6 million for using Apple's patented technology without permission.

Infringement of the quick links feature, which allows the device to recognise data on the touchscreen, such as a phone number, and link to it to make a call, accounted for nearly $99 million of the damages.

While the appeals court said that Samsung did not use the same technology to detect and link to specific data, it also said Apple's other patents were obvious compared to previously known inventions and should never have been granted.- Reuters

U.S. Judge Rules Copyright for 'Happy Birthday to You' Invalid

A U.S. judge on Tuesday ruled that Warner/Chappell Music does not own a valid copyright to one of the world's most recognizable songs, "Happy Birthday to You," a decision that brings the song into the public domain.

The highly-anticipated ruling comes in a putative class-action lawsuit filed by several artists against Warner/Chappell, the music publishing arm of Warner Music Group, over the song in 2013 seeking a return of the millions of dollars in fees the company has collected over the years.

In order to make his ruling, U.S. District Judge George H. King had to delve into the song's long and complicated history, which began in 1893 with the publication of a melody called "Good Morning to All" in a kindergarten songbook, written by a Kentucky woman named Mildred Hill and her sister, Patty.

That melody eventually came to be sung with the familiar Happy Birthday lyrics, which Patty also claimed to have written, according to court records.

Warner's copyright originated with the Hill sisters' publisher, the Clayton F. Summy Co, later known as Birch Tree and acquired by Warner in 1988. Summy had obtained registrations to "Happy Birthday" in 1935, according to court papers.

"Defendants ask us to find that the Hill sisters eventually gave Summy Co. the rights in the lyrics to exploit and protect, but this assertion has no support in the record," King wrote in his 43-page opinion.

"The Hill sisters gave Summy Co. the rights to the melody, and the rights to piano arrangements based on the melody, but never any rights to the lyrics," he added.

Warner could not be immediately reached for comment.

"'Happy Birthday' is finally free after 80 years," Randall Newman, an attorney for the artists including filmmakers working on a documentary about the song, told the Los Angeles Times. "Finally, the charade is over. It's unbelievable."

The case garnered attention from around the world not only because the tune is so commonly performed, but because many were not aware it was still under copyright, let alone purportedly owned by a major corporation.

People who sing Happy Birthday in their homes or at private gatherings have typically never been at risk of a lawsuit. But when the song has been used for commercial purposes, such as in films, Warner has enforced its rights, and takes in an estimated $2 million in royalties for such uses each year. -Reuters

Conferment of Dato on Director General of Myipo

According to MyIPO official portal, Shamsiah Kamaruddin, the director general of MyIPO have been bestowed the award of Darjah Indera Mahkota Pahang (DIMP) which carries the title 'Dato', an honorific title bestowed to individuals that contribute to the development of the nation.

Dato' Shamsiah is the first woman and the first internally promoted staff from the position of deputy director general to hold the position of director general. She has worked as a civil servant for more than 30 years and never thought that the minister would appoint her to hold such an important position. Dato' Shamsiah is recognized for her effort in making intellectual property application as business friendly as possible. When she was the deputy director general, she manage to reduce the trademark application pending period from two years to less than a year for straight forward cases.

"I would avoid gaps between management staff and officers when we perform our work. Every task shall be performed smoothly and perfectly" she said in her interview with Sinar Harian. After holding the position as director general, she find out that time is gold. Being a mother of 5 children have thought her great patience to handle 425 staff.

Lesson on Trademark by Pororo

The public wanted to distinguish Pororo's sled over other traders sled. Pororo have to come out with a trademark for the public to identify his work.

What are the criteria for selecting a mark? Watch the video to learn lesson of trademark by Pororo. The video is jointly developed by Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and Korea Invention Promotion Association (KIPA), with assistance from World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) under the WIPO Funds-in-Trust arrangement of the Republic of Korea.

Lesson on Invention by Pororo

Pororo and his friends wonder how to improve their sled. They discuss various options including the use of sail and fan.

They add a mechanism and proved that the mechanism can drive the sled. Hypothetically, the sled combination is new, hence, the sled is an invention. They submit the sled in an invention competition. However, another contestant show up with a similar sled. What, then, is the fate of Pororo's invention?

Watch the video to learn lesson of invention by Pororo. The video is jointly developed by Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and Korea Invention Promotion Association (KIPA), with assistance from World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) under the WIPO Funds-in-Trust arrangement of the Republic of Korea.