channelnewsasia.com Sat. reported that >60 Design Centre had been set up by Temasek Polytchnic to help generate ideas to improve the lives of Singapore's ageing population. During the opening of the centre at Temasek Polytechnic, >60 showcased its mobile kidney dialysis vest and congratulated the winners for the >60 International Design Award 2008 where 150 entries were submitted. >60 Design Centre said that some of the entries had commercial potential. However, the centre declined to elaborate further due to intellectual property protection reasons.
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Denver Business Journal Wed reported that Andrew Bojan Mohraz from Denver law firm Holme Roberts & Owen LLC filed a lawsuit on behalf of nine of the world's largest record labels in U.S. District Court against four unnamed Colorado defendants, alleging that they illegally downloaded hundreds of songs and distributed them via online file-sharing networks, namely Gnutella and AresWarez. Mohraz said that although they do not have the names of the four accused, they do have their Internet Protocol addresses.
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ZDNet Asia reported IBM Research and Swiss university, ETH Zurich have announced to build a Nanoscale Exploratory Technology Laboratory(NETL) in a joint partnership at a cost of US$90 million (£46 million) dedicated to nanotechnology research. The NETL will be built on IBM's Zurich campus and is expected to be complete by early 2011. The facility will use geothermal energy for heating and photovoltaics for power. John Kelly, senior vice president and director of IBM Research said that in the next 15 years, nanotechnology will be used to create the electronic components for future computers, be incorperated into many medical devices, and have huge impact on energy and the environment.
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channelnewsasia.com reported that the world's two largest memory chip makers, Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor forged an alliance on Wednesday to develop next-generation semiconductors so that South Korea can stay ahead of foreign rivals. The alliance came after Japan's Toshiba, NEC and Fujitsu joined forces and agreed to spend three billion yen (28.3 million US dollars) from 2006-2010 to develop STT-MRAM devices. As South Korea started late in the memory chip field, its firms currently pay hundreds of millions of dollars every year to companies like Intel and Toshiba that hold patents to DRAMs and NAND flash memory devices.
TODAY (p.27) featured advertisment by IPOS about the job scope of the patent agent and how to become a registered patent agent in Singapore.
The Straits Times (p.H24) SME clinic elaborated on the Technology Enterprise Commercialisation Scheme (TECS) under Spring's Technology Innovation Programme launched in Aug 2006. The article noted that TECS will provide funding to enterprises and entrepreneurs keen to commercialise their R&D concepts and proprietary intellectual property. Applicants can seek funding from two different types of financing: Proof-of-Concept or Proof-of-Value and there will be a call for proposals once every six months.
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The Straits Times (p.12) reported that although China has the world's largest market for cellphones, domestic brands such as Ningbo Bird and Amoi are struggling amid intense price competition from manufacturers that specialise in knock-offs. Mr Fu Jiangang, owner of a website that sells pirated and unregistered mobile phones said that he caters mostly to people that cannot afford a Nokia phone. Mr Fu sells the Hiphone which is a pirated version of Apple Inc's iphone is sold at a fraction of the iphone's cost. Mr Jian Lifeng analyst with Beijing based CCID said that out of the 170 million cellphones sold in China last year, 70 million were pirated or unregistered.
MYPAPER (p.A9) also carried a similar report.
Yahoo! Finance reported that Typhoon Touch Technologies, owner of foundational intellectual property in the area of portable touch-screen computing, announced today that it has significantly expanded its patent infringement suit commenced in December 2007 against Dell by adding Apple and the following additional defendants via amended complaint: Fujitsu , Toshiba , Lenovo , Panasonic ,HTC America, Palm, Samsung, Nokia and LG Electronics.
Yahoo! Finance reported that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IP Philippines) have formulated five strategic moves that the government will implement to curb piracy and counterfeiting in Philippines. DTI Secretary, Peter B. Favila said that a strong intellectual property system would help promote innovation and competitiveness, attract foreign investments and generate employment in the country.
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ZDNet Asia Sat reported an Australian company, Qpay has developed a Mobile Voice Identification (MoVid) platform that claims to help authorities provide timely intervention for fraud. Greg Walter, CEO and founder of Qpay said that MoVid can provide three- to five-factor authentication which is more secure then the current two-factor authentication. MoVid uses a out-of-band or offline technology as their second and third authentication mode and voice biometrics as the fourth or fifth authentication factor. This fraud mitigation technology is currently pending a patent, and is targeted for commercial release in early July.
ZDNet Asia Fri reported on a response to a report by the Shanghai Securities News saying the Intellectual Property Office was investigating allegations that large software companies were using their market position to gain favorable pricing, as well as curtail research and development by local Chinese companies. The China's State Intellectual Property Office on Thursday denied reports that Microsoft and other software behemoths were under investigation.
The Straits Times Saturday reported that due to higher operation costs and the need to keep prices competitive to retain consumers, more local minimarts and supermarkets are turning to parallel imports which may be 20 to 50 per cent cheaper than items sold by authorised dealers.
The Business Times Saturday (p.2) reported that Drew & Napier was named the top law firm in five categories - real estate, commercial litigation, insolvency and restructuring deal, Singapore M&A deal and Singapore Deal of the Year. The firm was lauded for its key role in the debt restructuring of Asia Pulp & Paper, and the takeover of STATS ChipPac by Singapore Technologies Semiconductors (STS). Singapore's biggest law firm Allen & Gledhill was ranked second with four wins. Other Singapore law firms named at the awards held at Marina Mandarin last night included Alban Tay Mahtani & de Silva (intellectual property law firm of the year) and Rodyk & Davidson (for best use of legal technology).
The Business Times Saturday reported that US District Judge, Marilyn Huff upheld a jury's ruling that Microsoft owes Alcatel-Lucent a total of US$512 million, which includes interest on the original award for violating patents held by Alcatel-Lucent. Microsoft said that the company plans to appeal the decision and is confident that the damages award will not be sustained on appeal.
weekendToday (p.21) reported that the web is evolving with the presence of blogs, audiocasting, vodcasting and social networking sites such as Facebook. Information can be generated in a flash and shared with the masses.Therefore, instead of taking a hardline stance by banning their employees from blogging, companies should allow their employees to speak freely and confidently, encouraging public discourse while letting them know their responsibilities and out-of-bound markers.
The Straits Times (p.17) featured an adverisment for the Techlicensing Fair 2008 organised by A-STAR Exploit Technologies to be held on 25 June 2008 at 30 Biopolis Street, Level 4 Matrix. This event will showcase a list of emerging technologies availible for licensing. There will also be technology licensing workshops conducted by professionals, such as "Unlocking theValue of IP Honeywell's Experience" by Mr Marcus Phuah, Director Licensing (Asia Pacific), Honeywell Intellectual Property International.
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The Business Times (p.20) reported that the World Trade Organization (WTO) is getting serious about combating bio-piracy by Western firms. Countries such as the United States, Australia, Mexico, Canada and New Zealand are opposed to the inclusion of intellectual property issues in WTO discussions. These countries argue that the inclusion of bio-piracy in talks would pose a risk to the success of trade talks. India and Brazil argued that Geographical Indications should be accorded a higher level of protection, which is at present only given to wines and spirits, under the rules of world trade. For instance, Brazil has accused a US company, Cielo Herbals of stealing a jungle vine, ayahuasca (banisteriopsis caapi) which has been used by generations of Brazil's indigenous people for its healing properties. Cielo is currently cultivating the plant in Hawaii and other places, and marketing the drink.
TODAYonline reported that Spain's leading television channel Telecinco said it had filed a lawsuit against YouTube in a Spanish court, accusing the world's top video-sharing site of violating its intellectual property rights. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said that YouTube had refused to adopt "effective measures" to prevent clips of its programmes from appearing on its site. Last year, media giant Viacom slapped YouTube and its parent company Google with a lawsuit in a New York court for copyright infringement and claims for one billion dollars (645 billion euros) in damages. In the lawsuit Viacom, which owns Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks and a number of cable channels, also asked the court for an injunction to halt the alleged copyright infringement.
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Yahoo! Singapore reported that India's top generics firm Ranbaxy announced the settlement of a legal fight with Pfizer giving the US drug giant longer patent protection for the blockbuster anti-cholesterol medicine Lipitor. Ranbaxy had been arguing Lipitor's patent had been due to expire in March 2010. But Pfizer, for which Lipitor represents 26 percent of sales, was pushing to delay the date to 2016, saying two patents for the process of making the pill did not expire until then.
channelnewsasia.com reported that China has begun an anti-monopoly investigation into US giant Microsoft and several other global software firms. The probe by Chinese regulators focuses on operating systems and other software developed by international companies that cost much more in China than in the US. Shanghai Securities News said that one set of the Windows operating system plus Microsoft Office software can cost up to 7,000 yuan (1,015 dollars) in China, making it more expensive than a personal computer.
Business Times (p.10) Free Trade Agreements ( FTA ) is a legally binding agreement between tow or more countries to reduce or eliminate barriers to trade and facilitate the cross-border movement of goods and services. Singapore has a global network of 13 FTAs, offering Singapore based exporters and investers many benefit. For example, a Singapore based company venturing into overseas markets in one of Singapore's FTA partner countries enjoy benefits such as preferential access to certain sectors, investment protection and intellectual property protection.
Todayonline reported that the French government has written a bill to set up a new agency for the purpose of tracking down cybersurfers who illegally download music, videos and movies from the web with the help of internet service providers. An e-mail warning would be sent to suspected downloaders followed by a registered letter. After two strikes, offenders would risk losing their Internet subscription for up to a year. Minister for Culture, Christine Albanel said that the warning system is aimed at cutting piracy down by as much as 80 percent. In 2006, French Internet subscribers downloaded one billion pirated copies of music albums, films and other cultural products.
The New Paper (p.16-17) reported that peddlers of pirated games have now moved to the heartlands such as Ang Mo Kio, Yishun and Hougang in a bid to escape the authorities. They sell cartridges that can be used to fool gaming consoles into playing pirated games, and also modify customers' consoles to play games downloaded from the Internet. Mr Cyril Chua, counsel for Entertainment Software Association, said that checking on shops in heartland estates is more difficult as they often sell pirated wares only to regular customers. He also noted that pirated games can now be downloaded from the Internet, then installed on game consoles by the users themselves.
Financial Times Wednesday (p.16) reported that the music industry suffered the sharpest fall in revenues, according to the latest global sales figures for recorded music released by the International Federation of Phonographic Industries. Global sales of CDs and music DVDs fell by 13 per cent in 2007, from $18.3bn to $15.9bn. Digital music, principally downloads from the internet or ringtones for mobile phones leaped by 34 per cent but was nowhere near enough to compensate for the drop in physical sales. John Kennedy, chairman and chief executive of IFPI said "recorded music is today being massively devalued by piracy and by businesses that unfairly profit from it."
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Todayonline reported on British Columbian Ron Ilan, a software-developer and father-of-two, was so eager to share the fun of online video with his young children that he created a tot-friendly version of YouTube where parents can share cute, comic, educational or touching videos with their tech-era progeny. Parents that sign up as members with the website can join an online community that "scouts" Google's popular YouTube service for videos they deem suitable for children ranging from six months to six years old. The website does not store videos on its server, as its videos are still hosted on YouTube's computers. Totlol.com has been receiving thousands of visits daily since its launched in May.
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The New Paper (p.28) reported on the reply given by IPOS in response to Tan Choon Hong's letter to TNP (10 June) "Weakness in patent system?". IPOS explained the several requirements an invention must meet before it is considered patentable. We also explained further that there are ways to challenge a patent's validity. The intention of the reply is to clarify and educate the public so that they gain a basic understanding of the patent system.
A copy of Tan Choon Hong's letter is available here
A scanned copy of IPOS reply is attached here: IPOS3369_000.pdf
Straits Times DigitalLife (p.10) reported on a patent-pending TwinUSB stick which looks like two USB stuck together with one end marked "-" and one end marked "+". One half is left attached to the PC at home while the other end is brought to the office. Creator of TwinUSB, Lakshminarayanan said that a unique 160-bit key is generated between the two USB sticks, thus, allowing the user to copy a file over the internet in a secure way.
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ZDNet Asia Friday reported that Autodesk, a member of the Business Software Alliance (BSA), is putting in place measures to lower the piracy rate of its products, primarily its AutoCAD product. Teddy Tiu, Philippines country manager of Autodesk, said that 70 percent of their products are still sold illegally. Autodesk is working with Philippine schools on providing subsidized schemes for students keen to purchase the company's products. He added that most buyers of its software are students wanting to learn CAD programming, but are choosing to acquire pirated copies sold at a fraction of the original cost.
The Straits Times Friday reported that career councellors at the community development councils are tailoring assistance measures to fit the needs of individual job seekers. A example would be Mdm Aminah Awang. South East CDC career councellor, Noel Ang helped Mdm Aminah find a job as a cleaner earning $900 a month at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore. Previously, Mdm Aminah was earning $240 a month as an odd-job market stall assistant and fainted regularly due to malnutrition.
The Straits Times (p.12) reported according to a study sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in the United States, India has an edge over China to be a new pharmaceutical R&D hub. The findings showed that Indian and Chinese firms were heavily dependent on major multinational corporations for commercial development of new intellectual property. This is because India and China rarely have the capital and the regulatory expertise to develop a drug beyond phase II clinical trials.
The Straits Times Saturday(p.H8) reported that Fox International Channels Asia, in a bid to promote its upcoming TV series, launched a marketing campaign featuring 'wanted' posters that look like those distributed for escaped terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari. Similar to the 'wanted' posters put up by the police, these have two views of the 'fugitive's' face and a logo that at first glance looks like an 'official' crest.
Business Times (p.15) reported that a NUS team emerged top in the 6th International Intellectual Property Moot Competition organised by Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre. They beat 23 teams and entered the fiercely contested finals where they discussed if the look, taste and smell of a blend of wine could be copyrighted. The two-member Singaporean team comprised of two 24-year-old final year law students.
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channelnewsasia.com Thursday reported that a online music provider, 5fad.com had lodged a lawsuit against Nasdaq-listed search engine Baidu in New York for allowing Internet users to directly listen and download copyrighted works from the 5fad.com website without authorisation. 5fad demanded that Baidu stop its alleged infringement and asked for at least 100 million yuan (14.5 million dollars) in damages. Chief Executive, Wu Duanping said that 5fad had earlier filed a suit with the Beijing court but have yet to hear of any ruling, therefore, forcing them to file the lawsuit in United States. Wu Duanping also said that this litigation will be a cornerstone in China's intellectual property protection cases and Baidu could be ordered to stop its MP3 search service if it lost the case.
channelnewsasia.com reported that Invitrogen Corp is. buying over Applera Corp's Applied Biosystems Group in a 6.7 billion dollar deal to create a biotechnology giant. The combined company would have a portfolio of more than 3,600 patents and licenses covering several research sectors. Invitrogen and Applera said the combined company was expected to reap cost savings of 125 million dollars and a 50 million dollar rise in operating profit by the third year of operation. The combined company is expected to be named Applied Biosystems with headquarters in Carlsbad, California with Gregory Lucier, the current chairman, chief executive and president of Invitrogen to serve as the new chairman and CEO.
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The Straits Times (p.H6) reported that Mr Leonard Lau's design for an eco-friendly paper takeaway food boxes won him one of four green awards given out during the Singapore Green Summit. Mr Lau used waterproof paper commonly used in milk cartons and packet drinks to make his patented biodegradable containers that can hold everything from fried chicken to prawn noodle soup. It took him three years to produce the invention. He hopes that his invention will replace the non-biodegradable plastic and foam containers.
MYPAPER (p.B11) reported that River West Brands, a company set up in 2001 and located in Chicago has been buying up the trademark and product recipe of "Dead" brands for repackaging to be resold on the market. The founder of River West Brands, Paul Earl said that River West acquires brands when the products themselves were no longer produced and sold . (This article is based on a New York Times article).
The Straits Times (p.27) reported that online spammers have been raking in money by selling fake drugs and by outwitting computer-security industry. A top researcher at Cisco Systems said that organised crime lords are exploiting software flaws to increase the sales of their wares which range from fake drugs to fake holiday cards. It is estimated that 80 per cent of spam touts fake drugs.
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The Straits Times (p.H18) featured an advertisment on EAP²IC to be held on the 26-27 June 2008. This event will be held at the Engineering Auditorium, National University of Singapore. EAP²IC 2008 will focus on the practices and processes in the strategic application of patents and patent intelligence. EAP²IC 2008 is jointly organised by the European Patent Office and IPOS.
ZDNet Asia Tuesday reported that a group calling itself the Open Patent Alliance (OPA), is trying to gather rights to WiMax patents and license them to makers of consumer electronics devices, networking equipment and computers. This group so far consist of Intel, Cisco Systems, Samsung Electronics, Sprint Nextel, Clearwire, and Alcatel-Lucent and hopes other companies would join the group.OPA is set up to encourage a robust ecosystem primarily by making WiMax-related patents inexpensive and accessible.
ZDNet Asia Tuesday reported that Hewlett-Packard announced on Sunday that it had settled its patent-infringement lawsuits against rival PC maker Acer. This confidential settlement agreement resolved three federal court lawsuits, as well as two U.S. International Trade Commission investigations between the two parties. HP sued Taiwan-based Acer in October 2007, alleging seven patent violations. The suits covered patents regarding technologies such as read/write optical drives, power management in notebooks, digital bus arrangement, thermal management and video control.
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Business Times (p.9) reported that 56 teams from 17 countries will do battle in a next-generation multimedia search technology contest. The team with the best-designed search engine for trawling through multimedia data will earn US$100,000 cash prize from organiser A*Star. The article said that the teams will keep all intellectual property rights to their research.
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ZDNet Asia Friday reported that according to recently released data, China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) received 694,000 patent applications in 2007, which puts it far ahead of both the U.S., with 484,955 applications, and Japan, with 443,150. An intellectual-property analytics company, Evaluserve estimates that China is paced to overtake the United States by 2012. This explosion in patent applications patent also creates a challenge for companies pursuing patents in the United States or other countries, with applicants having to inform patent examiners about "prior art". A patent attorney and professor in Washington, D.C., Harold Wegner, wrote an e-mail bulletin that huge numbers of Chinese patent applications are becoming prior art upon their publication and appear only in their Chinese versions.
A letter in The Sunday Times (p.30) felt that there were problems with the parallel import regime of pharmaceutical products here - arising from Singapore's FTA with the United States in 2002. The writer pointed out that prior to the FTA, parallel imports of foreign pharmaceutical products here were allowed under the exception created by Section 66(2)(g) of the Patents Act. However, this section was amended via the addition of Section 66(3) after the signing of the trade pact, and as a result one can no longer parallel import genuine products into Singapore unless the patent holder in Singapore has exercised the 'first mover' right. The effect of this amendment is that if the first mover right is not exercised by the patent holder, then patients here will not be able to get a cheaper version of the medicine. This amendment was supposedly mitigated by the enactment of Section 66(2)(i) of the Patents Act, which relates to 'specific patent' use. However, the writer felt that this legislation amendment basically caters only to a select group of patients who are wealthy enough to pay for such a drug, and that Section 66(2)(i) is unable to restore what Section 66(2)(g) was able to give to local patients previously. He also commented that although Singapore has gained many benefits from signing the FTA, the resultant amendments to our patent legislation have not been necessarily for the good of public health.
A letter in The New Paper (p.26) on Vuestar Technologies said that this sudden appearance of a "foreign patent troll" is making a mockery of Singapore's nascent patent system and points to weaknesses that need fixing. It also puts Singapore on the world map for the wrong reasons.
The Straits Times (p.1) reported that a dog trained to sniff out pirated discs, from a Malaysian unit which criminals have made threats against, has been found dead. The one-year-old labrador died about a week ago in the undisclosed location where it was kept. The authorities are trying to determine the cause of death.
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S'pore followed global process for 'patent troll'
ZDNet Asia reported that IPOS said that the patent was granted in Singapore, not to VueStar, on the basis of the search and examination conducted via the PCT route. IPOS explained that patent applicants who choose to "rely" on the International Preliminary Examination Report (IPER) issued under the PCT, can inform the IPOS of their intention and "no further action will be taken by the IPOS to examine the patentability" of their application. IPOS also said that the validity of a patent can be challenged if it infringes on existing patents and that a request for the search and examination report can also be requested, upon payment of a prescribed fee, in respect of any claims pertaining to the patent. IPOS has not received any application or request to revoke Vuestar's patent.
TODAYonline reported that Japan's top film rental chain, Tsutaya unveiled a high-definition download-on-demand broadband service. This service caters to the growing market for high-definition television and the 27.2 million members at its 1,330 branches across Japan. Customers now can download a movie title and watch it over a 48-hour period using Actvila, a portal set for interactive services launched by Japan's major television makers. Renting a full-length movie through the service would cost 735 yen seven dollars), with a lesser price for shorter films. Tsutaya plans to raise its catalogue of downloadable titles to 2,000 by the end of the year via agreements with four major Hollywood studios -- Paramount, Warner Brothers, Walt Disney and NBC Universal. Japan plans to end analogue broadcasts entirely in 2011.
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channelnewsasia.com reported that Online auction giant, eBay was convicted by the French court on Wednesday for the sale of counterfeit goods. The French court ordered eBay to pay 20,000 euros (30,000 dollars) in damages jointly with the women who put the bags up for sale to the French luxury group, Hermes. The court ruling, which marks a first in France, found eBay directly responsible for the sale on its website of three Hermes bags including two fakes, for a total of 3,000 euros. Luxury fashion houses Louis Vuitton and Dior Couture have also taken legal action against eBay before the Paris commercial court, respectively seeking 20 million and 17 million euros in damages. Both brands accuse eBay of complicity in the sale of counterfeit goods by allowing buyers and sellers to transact without imposing any controls.
TODAYonline Tuesday reported that chinese music industry representatives warned the nation's top search engine Baidu that it risked losing advertising contracts over allegations that it allowed the pirating of music files. NASDAQ-listed Baidu is already embroiled in a series of lawsuits lodged this year by Music Copyright Society of China (MCSC) and top music labels Universal Music, Warner Music and Sony BMG for providing music links that infringe their copyright. The China chief representative of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry,Guo Biao said that around 56 percent of Internet music piracy in China was committed via search engines, of which Baidu was accountable for about three quarters. Warner-Chappell Music's regional general manager for Asia Pacific, Monica Lee, said that the industry loses an estimated 90 percent of its potential annual revenue due to piracy.
channelnewsasia.com also carried similar reports.
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The Straits Times (p.H28) featured an advertisment for the Europe-Asia Patent and Patent Information Conference (EAP2IC) which will be held on the 26-27 June 2008 at the Engineering Auditorium, National University of Singapore.This event is jointly organised by IPOS and Eurpoean Patent Office.
The Straits Times (p.H22) SME Clinic reported that a government-funded initiative called the Exploit-IP programme was launched recently. The purpose of this programme is to encourage local enterprises to harness and license new technologies to develop innovative products and services to compete in the global market. Technologies are classified in distinct categories such as infocomm, media, materials, chemicals, food processing, energy, environment, manufacturing, logistics, electronics and health care, among others. The programme is managed by a team of technology and licensing professionals who have experience in technology licensing and commercialisation. Singapore-registered company wishing to join the programme can do so at www.exploit-IP.com.
The Straits Times (p.H9) reported that a graduate student has started a blog to protest against VueStar which was reported to be threatening legal action against website operators who were allegedly using its patented technology. Ms Cheong Lee Sing started the blog with hope of gathering legal and financial backing and made a call for all website owners who have received VueStar’s letters to ‘fall in’. Through the blog, she hopes to raise the $500 needed to file an application with IPOS to ask it to strike down VueStar’s patent.
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The New Paper (p.10) wrote that a ‘netizen’ has set up a website to encourage website owners who have received invoices from local company Vuestar for allegedly using its technology to challenge the company. A major shareholder of Vuestar recently sent invoices to owners of small online businesses in Singapore asking them to pay for the use if it’s patented technology. The article was accompanied by a box-story on the key criteria that need to be met for an invention to be patentable.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Straits Times Saturday(p.S39) reported that Meiban Mold Manufacture, a unit of The Meiban Group was raided on Monday for alleged software infringement. The raid involved over a dozen police officers, as well as representatives of American software firm Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC). A total of 11 desktops, a laptop and nine CDs were seized by the police. PTC's lawyer, Mr Koh Chia Ling, alleged that Meiban had infringed the high-end Pro/Engineer software used for 3D designs. Each copy of the software costs US$150,000 (S$204,990). A rough estimate based on the number of computers seized puts the value of the software allegedly being used illegally at US$1.8 million. A Meiban spokesman acknowledged infringing software had been found. He said the firm was conducting an internal investigation, including interviews with employees using the pirated software, to find out how the breach had occurred.
The Straits Times Saturday(p.46) reported that STARBUCKS now has a new, more revealing logo of its trademark mermaid. The new logo, which offers a more revealing look at the coffee chain's mermaid symbol and goes with brown instead of green as its colour is getting mixed reviews from marketing and public relations experts.
The Straits Times Saturday(p.48) reported that the familiar curvaceous shape of the Coca-Cola bottle is now officially registered as a trademark in Japan - the country's first such recognition of a three-dimensional bottle form devoid of any lettering. The Japanese Patent Office had previously rejected the demand, although other shapes, including Kentuky Fried Chicken's Colonel Sanders, have won such registration in Japan.