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.

Search for patents on your mobile

You can now conduct a patent search in the EPO's databases - the world's largest free collection of technical information - on the move, using your smartphone, as the EPO has added mobile beta versions of Espacenet and the European Patent Register to its small-screen optimised website, m.epo.org.

Launched in 2014, the mobile website concentrates on the services and information that users told us they would need on the move.

The inclusion of patent search fulfils a key user requirement. In a recent online survey almost 70% of users said they would like a mobile version of Espacenet and nearly 60% said they would like the European Patent Register added to the mobile website.

We've made the search experience as similar as possible to the desktop versions, but the mobile version is leaner and more streamlined. We provide basic searches, which work like "Smart search", and advanced searches, where you can combine criteria.

There are some limits. Currently, we can display no more than 100 search results, but we do let you know that there are more so that you can refine your query to find those that are most relevant.

In terms of data, since we use Open Patent Services (OPS) in the background, the collection is large, but not quite as large as in Espacenet. However, all the data available in the desktop European Patent Register is also available via the mobile search. The amount of data you can download daily is subject to the same limits as in the desktop versions.-EPO