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.