May 2020 - Blog | Trademarkmaldives | IP Law Firm in Maldives

Huawei Files Trademark Application for Mate Watch Brand

Despite all the ongoing issues at hand, the Chinese Multinational Technology Company, Huawei, doesn’t seem to stop at all. The company refuses to give up at no cost and has efficiently begun its preparations to expand the Huawei Mate lineup with a brand new category of devices.

The Chinese tech giant has quite recently filed a Trademark Application for a new smartwatch known as “Mate Watch.” The trademark is filed under the international trademark classification 9, which includes PCs and various other electronic gadgets. The trademark application is found in the database of authority for registration of trademarks. At present, the Huawei Mate line consists of flagship smartphones, laptops, and tablets.

This year in January, Huawei also successfully registered the MatePod brand, under which the company can effectively begin its production of wireless headphones. As per various reports and speculations, the Chinese tech giant is very much likely to release its new smartwatches under the Huawei Mate Watch brand name. However, it is still not evident as to how the Huawei Mate Watch shall be different from the Watch GT series’ devices. Many experts believe that it may either be a completely new flagship watch series or a simplified continuation of the Watch GT series.

Last year in April, the company came up with the brand new version of the Watch GT2e in the market; however, its top model, Watch GT 2, was released at a later stage in October 2019 in two different sizes – 42mm and 46mm. Therefore, the upcoming smartwatch has only two aspects associated with it – it will be an entirely new, premium device, which will, in turn, either complement the current versions or replace the already existing Watch GT series.

As of now, Huawei has not officially put forward any comments on this matter. Hence, any specific details of the upcoming smartwatch are way too scarce at the moment. It may be possible that the Chinese tech giant has registered its proposed name “Mate Watch” as a trademark only to prevent the other brands in the market from using the same. Besides, it is very much likely for the new Mate smartwatch to make its debut alongside Huawei’s upcoming Mate 40 series later this year. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Understanding the Crucial Role of Intellectual Property in E-Commerce

In E-Commerce, Intellectual Property (IP), is indeed the most neglected yet the highest value bearing component. The real reason behind the same lies in the fact that the crucial role of IP in E-Commerce is either less understood or not apparent.

The Intellectual Property Laws and practices protect the unique works and creations of the owners from unauthorized use and unfair competition. Therefore, it would be wise enough to admit the fact that IP is an asset with worth way more than the tangible assets. Without adequate IP laws and practices, hard work can easily be stolen and spread around the world, that too, without paying the creator for his or her effort and labor. When it comes to E-Commerce, technical security measures are necessary to deter the less proficient thieves, and strict IP laws are necessary to handle the crimes, which may include cases of Intellectual Property Infringement.

The two primary concerns that should be there in your mind if your business operates in the E-Commerce industry are as follows:

Protecting your IP Assets

A pretty common mistake is disclosing your unique creations and innovations before completing the entire registration process (be it Trademark Registration, Patent Registration, and so on) to obtain protection for them. Hence, it is always highly advisable to consult a legal advisor or get in touch with an Intellectual Property Law Firm before disclosing anything corresponding to your unique assets.

Not Infringing Upon Someone Else’s IP Assets

Your E-Commerce platform must be having a lot of product images and descriptions. In this scenario, you must own all the legal rights corresponding to publishing those images and descriptions. The videos, logos, icons, sound effects, clip art, and background music undoubtedly make your E-Commerce platform way more engaging and visually attractive; however, once again, you must have all the concerned legal rights for using them well in place.

Many people across the globe believe that every single thing available on the internet is free for use. Most of them usually get away with such IP violations as well, which, in turn, makes us believe that we can do the same too. The truth of the situation is that when you run a small business, you might be able to fly under the radar; however, as and when your business grows, your IP violations shall become more visible. Therefore, every individual must take all the IP related issues seriously. All the E-Commerce platform owners must ensure that the content present on their website is in the public domain and covered under fair use. The owners must also have all the required permissions with them.

IP isn’t Limited to the Content Available on the E-Commerce Platform

There may be a few cases where you might think that the fake products on your platform are the headache of the supplier. However, as a retailer, even you can fall into trouble if you fail to take all the adequate measures. You must ensure that the supplier is authorized to supply in the first place, and your platform sells branded and authentic products at all times.

Performing IP Audits and Documenting Legal Agreements

E-commerce platform owners and managers must perform regular audits of all their IP assets and maintain an intellectual property portfolio consisting of website designs, descriptions of unique products, images, videos, artwork, and new processes developed for all the services, to name a few. They should also document all the non-disclosure agreements and other contracts to ensure the utmost protection of their unique works and creations. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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How does Remote Working Increase the Risk of Loss of Intellectual Property Rights?

During the ongoing COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, most of the business firms, organizations, and startups across the globe are working remotely; however, this precaution may increase the risk of loss of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) for such companies.

As professionals and experts are nowadays making the most out of social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and video calling tools such as Zoom and Skype – brands and businesses need to know and understand that these online tools and platforms may not cater to some of the controls that are usually incorporated in traditional in-person meetings. For instance, there may be a few unexpected participants on your Skype group video call. Moreover, a person may even record your online presentations without your knowledge.

It is a matter of fact that yes – online platforms indeed make it a lot more convenient to distribute and share business material with other employees; however, they also increase the potential risk of adverse consequences. For instance, if the details of a unique innovation are shared without restriction or posted online, then the potential Patent Rights associated with the innovation may be lost as well. In the scenario of trade secrets, once the cat is out of the bag, it can never be put inside, no matter what. It becomes exceedingly arduous to maintain the terms of confidentiality if the trade secret somehow becomes known to the public.

A few examples of trade secrets include financial information, customer lists, engineering data, manufacturing processes, chemical compositions, and recipes. As per various recent reports by the Intellectual Property (IP) experts, trade secrets having a worth of billions of dollars are stolen electronically ever year in the United States alone. Hence, without any second thoughts, it has now become more crucial to take all the required steps and mitigate such losses.

Now, there’s a dire need to make ourselves familiar with a few ways using which the business firms and organizations can stay safe and secure in the ongoing situation. One essential strategy lies in making the employees aware of all the risks involved in working remotely. Brands and businesses can proactively take a few simple measures such as creating internal policies, describing the topics appropriate for online meetings well in advance, determining and limiting the online audience, and restricting the dissemination of sensitive and confidential information, along with exploring different platforms for sharing and presenting such information. Additionally, companies can also make the most out of non-disclosure agreements for managing sensitive conversations with third-parties. They can even consider requiring registrations for their streaming presentations and asking all the participants to give their introduction at the beginning of the meeting itself so that they can conveniently identify the people in the room, including the ones off-screen. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Singaporean Daren Tang Becomes the New Director-General at WIPO

Mr. Daren Tang from Singapore has now officially become the Director-General at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Mr. Tang, at present, is the Chief Executive at the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS). He will now helm WIPO, which is one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN) for a term of six years starting from 1st October 2020.

It is the first time in history when a person from Singapore is going to lead a UN agency. Moreover, Mr. Tang is now the first Director-General at WIPO from Asia.

The confirmation for the post of the Director-General comes after Mr. Tang had officially won the nomination for the position in Geneva by beating five other candidates.

In their joint release, the Ministry of Law and IPOS stated that with this new appointment, Mr. Tang shall now relinquish his role as the Chief Executive at the IPOS. The two bodies further said that during his time at the IPOS, Mr. Tang successfully and strategically drove the transformation of the statutory board from an IP regulator and registry to an innovative and creative agency for building the future economy of Singapore.

Dr. Stanley Lai, the Chairman of the IPOS board, and Edwin Tong, the Senior Minister of State for Law, congratulated Mr. Tang on becoming the first Singaporean to lead a UN agency as the Director-General at WIPO. They also said that it is indeed a momentous occasion for Singapore.

Mr. Tang, in his acceptance speech, talked about the global challenges faced by people in the present era, which include the deeper forces of parochialism and unilateralism. He urged the member states to respond to the same by working closely together through a mutual and global effort. He outlined his plans for WIPO by expressing the need to build a balanced, inclusive, forward-looking, and vibrant global ecosystem for Intellectual Property (IP), while paying due attention to the countries that require more assistance and guidance. He further said that there is a dire need to work well with the IP offices all around the world for supporting stakeholders, startups, enterprises, creators, and artists within countries. According to Mr. Tang, WIPO must look forward to expanding the global perspective of IP beyond the technical aspects and become a driver of economic growth, a supporter of entrepreneurs, and a promoter of social vibrancy. He also noted that WIPO should leverage its role as a professional, neutral, and global agency so that the IP offices can conveniently come up to discuss their challenges and share the best practices. He mentioned some other priorities as well for making better operational decisions at WIPO and improving the overall international registration system for Intellectual Property Protection.

In the end, he thanked the Government of Singapore, the chair of WIPO’s assembly, the chair of the coordination committee, and all the member states for their immense support, trust, and loyalty. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com