Archives for June 2012
[MGCC Quarterly] Germany Continues to Rank First Among European Countries Filing Patent Applications in Malaysia
Copy Me Not!
Branding is an important factor in marketing one’s goods and/or services. It is a known tool that could turn one into a popular trendsetter. When it comes to branding, one has to be firm, creative and yes, possessive!
In a recent case, the Plaintiff, P.T. Swakarya Indah Busana, sought to invalidate 15 “Martin” trademarks (“the Challenged Marks”) belonging to the Defendants, Haniffa Pte Ltd and another, on grounds that the marks were registered in bad faith, and that there was fraud in the registrations or the registrations were obtained by misrepresentation.
The Plaintiff succeeded in its former claim but failed in the latter.
Keeping Trade Secrets & Confidential Information
[Business Today] Green Means Go for Patents
[The Petri Dish] The Need to Commercialise Inventions
Calvin Klein and Gioven Kelvin – Separated at Birth?
In today’s increasingly competitive world of business, one method that companies have found advantageous in terms of distinguishing themselves and their products from their competitors is through the establishment and building of their brands via trademarks. How else would consumers recognize and identify a particular product or service and make their preferred choice? An established trademark can be a valuable economic asset to a business when it becomes well-known for its quality and reputation. As such, big companies usually do all they can to protect this asset from being infringed in the course of commercialization.
It should come as no surprise then that when IDM Apparel Pte Ltd (“IDM”) filed an application to protect the trademark “” under Class 24 (for goods ranging from bed linen to textiles) in Singapore, the Calvin Klein Trademark Trust, proprietor of the world famous brand and mark “Calvin Klein”, also known as “CK”, strongly opposed it on the basis of several grounds from the Trademarks Act.
The Philippines Accedes to The Madrid Protocol
The Philippines recently became the 85th country to join the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks, better known as the Madrid Protocol. Local companies looking to enter into the global market can now look forward to reduced cost and time spent on their international trademark filing activities as they need only to file a single trademark application in one language using one currency to obtain protection in several member countries.
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHIL) expects a higher number of trademark applications from local business owners when the Madrid Protocol enters into force and international applications under the Protocol are accepted on 25 July 2012.