By Hoh Jerick
Since its launch in 2004, Facebook has become the world leading social network service provider with its easily accessible functions which attracted the old and the new generations to come. As such, who doesn’t know Facebook?
Intellectual Property
by KASS
By Hoh Jerick
Since its launch in 2004, Facebook has become the world leading social network service provider with its easily accessible functions which attracted the old and the new generations to come. As such, who doesn’t know Facebook?
by KASS
By Jagannathan Arumugam
In general, patents are territorial, as a patent is a set of exclusive rights by a Government body granted to an inventor over an invention for a limited time period in return for disclosing the invention to the public. Even though each country follows a different procedure for granting a patent, all of them have agreed to implement a common set of requirements for granting a patent, which is novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability.
Novelty has a peculiar quality when compared to inventive step and industrial applicability. In order to kill the inventive step of an invention, information disclosed in any part of the world by any person can be used. On the other hand, the novelty of an invention can be destroyed using the information disclosed by the inventor before filing a patent application for the invention. In layman’s words, an invention is considered to be ‘Novel’ or to satisfy the ‘Novelty’ requirement, if it has not been known to the public before a patent application is filed by the inventor at a patent office.
by KASS
By Alisa Rajamalar
Have you ever wondered if your registered trademark is absolutely safe? Is registration of your trademark sufficient enough to fortify your rights on that trademark?
Though registration of a trademark gifts the proprietor exclusive rights, this does not provide them with absolute rights under all circumstances to secure their registered trademark. A trademark may be subjected to the grounds of revocation based on non-use or suspended use for 3 years or more, depending on the jurisdiction where the trademark is registered. By non-use or suspended use, it means that the trademark has not been genuinely used for a specific period of time.
by KASS
By Daniella Fiocco
The recent Malaysia High Court case of Doretti Resources Sdn Bhd v Fitters Marketing Sdn Bhd & Ors (2015) has been the subject of discussion in IP circles because of its controversial decision that permits manufacturing companies to get away with infringement of a trademark provided they don’t sell the product directly to members of the public. While this is an interesting aspect of the decision that does warrant further comment, my reading of the case brought to mind another interesting question;
What happens to the assignment of a trademark when it was originally acquired through fraud?
It is with the intention of finding an answer to this question that I turn to examine the facts of the case.
by KASS
Most of our clients who meet us for the first meeting ask us this question: What should they do first- file a patent application or develop a prototype before filing a patent application? There is no correct answer to the question as there can be arguments in favour of both options.
Let us now look at the point of filing a patent application before prototyping.
Generally, a prototype is fabricated by third party companies. There are inventors who have the capabilities to fabricate the prototype in their premise. The inventor could ask the third party company to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before disclosing the inventor’s idea to the third party. Having said that, not all the third party companies would agree to sign the NDA since they might be involved in similar technology. Therefore to avoid such circumstances it would advisable to file the patent application to obtain protection before embarking in the manufacturing of the prototype.
by KASS
By Geetha Kandiah
Why should I register my trademark?
This is a question that we are often faced with, and a valid one too.
(i) Protection
Think of insurance. Why does one take various types of insurance? For protection. Against fire, against burglary, against critical illnesses, against accidents and so on.
Akin to insurance, trademark registration affords the brand owner better protection against a third party that copies their trademark on identical or similar goods/services. It affords protection against anyone that tries to steal their market share.
If you do not register your mark, you still have rights in that unregistered mark. This means you need not rush to the IP office to register your mark.
Having said that, that unregistered right that you have is a weaker right.
by KASS
By P. Kandiah
The inconvenience of fitting and using a dust bag in a vacuum cleaner inspired Sir James Dyson (as he is referred to now) to develop a bag-less vacuum cleaner which innovation has brought much comfort to those tasked with vacuuming floors. Dyson’s bag-less vacuum cleaner has taken the world by surprise.
Pharmaceutical firms do realise the inconvenience of requiring patients to take a pharma drug, three times a day after meals. Many patients do not strictly follow these requirements. So pharma companies started working on alternative solutions. Hence the birth of once a day drug or slow release drugs. Such innovations has made the lives of patient easier.
by KASS
By Rebecca Chong
Since the win in the US Presidential election to the inauguration of President Trump, the new leader has been put under the microscope by the media, with endless coverage of the daily affairs of the new President. Even celebrities are talking about President Trump! Why break the trend? Relax. There is no politics here, just CAKES!
by KASS
#What #How #CanYou #ShouldYou
“[Twitter] told me flat out, ‘These things are for nerds. They’re never going to catch on.’”
– Chris Messina on Twitter’s rejection to his idea of hashtag.
#WhatIsAHashTag
In 2007, Chris Messina, the inventor of the hashtag, first suggested in a tweet, that Twitter users utilise the hash symbol to create group topics. The hashtag – born on 25 August 2007 – did catch on and was officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2014, defined as “n. (on social media web sites and applications) a word or phrase preceded by a hash and used to identify messages relating to a specific topic; (also) the hash symbol itself, when used in this way.” A hashtag is also a type of label or metadata (data that provides information about other data).
by KASS
By Ilangkumanan Kashaban
When the clock ticks to 12 o’clock to welcome New Year, it is the most anticipated moment in everyone’s life or at least majority of us to watch, feel, hear and smell the sparkles of fireworks that beautify the sky in every part of the world. With that, I came across an article, the world’s best New Year’s Eve firework displays, and realized that concept and patterns of fireworks ignition varies across countries. As mentioned above, fireworks attract most of us, but I wonder if we have acknowledged the person who created them or at least if the efforts contributed by some of the individuals cross over our mind? Let me share a few inventions that “sparked” my attention with all of you.