Pearson Files Copyright Infringement Lawsuit against Former Partner Chegg

Pearson Education (a British-owned education publishing company providing assessment services to students, schools, and corporations) has recently filed a Copyright Infringement lawsuit against its former partner, Chegg (an American education technology company). According to Pearson, Chegg infringed upon its copyright only after a few months following the end of the partnership between the two companies by selling answers to the end-of-chapter questions included in Pearson textbooks.

The lawsuit, filed in New Jersey’s District Court, looks forward to seeking unspecified damages, along with a court order that would restrain Chegg from using the answer sets from Pearson materials. Jonathan Band, a lawyer and an expert on the subject matter of Intellectual Property (IP), said in a statement delivered that the case in question could not only weaken Chegg but also have implications for all the study guides that are based on existing texts and stick to the general selection and arrangement of such texts.

As per various reports, over the past year, the subscription base of Chegg grew by 67%. Many students even attended online classes during the pandemic. Currently, the company owns a market capitalization of $11.1 billion and has 6.6 million users.

Pearson’s copyright infringement lawsuit includes 150 of its textbooks – for which Chegg provides many answers by using the language that is copied or paraphrased from the original questions; for instance, Chegg Study provides even more than 700 answers for questions included in a widely-known biology textbook, known as Campbell Biology.

A Chegg spokesperson in response recently said that the company would fight all allegations by Pearson vigorously as it is in full compliance with the Copyright Law. He further mentioned that Chegg has been helping a lot of students in learning and thriving for many years now by creating a transformative digital learning platform that aids in learning more at a lower cost and in a lesser time. He also stated that the partnership between the two companies ended this year on May 31; however, he didn’t specify the type of partnership they shared, neither did the Pearson spokesperson.

According to Band, determining copyright infringement, in this case, could be tricky. He believes that the case is made even more complex as it refers to nonfiction texts, which often face difficulties in getting the tag of copyrighted material. Let us understand this with an example – in a chemistry or history book, there are only a definite number of logical ways to present the material. The individual paragraphs or words are undoubtedly protected; however, if an individual is only presenting the info in some way or the other using his own set of words, the first author wouldn’t have a monopoly over the way to present information.

The lawsuit indeed expresses high levels of tension between the two companies involved. Recently, Pearson came up with a subscription service that provides the students with access to thousands of textbooks at $14.99 per month; thereby, giving tough competition to Chegg. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Australia Supports Waiving Intellectual Property Protection for Covid-19 Vaccines

Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism, and Investment, Dan Tehan, said in a statement delivered that the nation will support an international push to waive the Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) for Covid-19 vaccines. The decision came as the rising infection rate across the globe is prolonging the pandemic and creating new deadly variants of the virus.

Both South Africa and India have led the campaign and put in a lot of effort to change the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and make it convenient for the low and middle-income nations to manufacture and sell affordable generic copies of the COVID-19 vaccines, which are produced by pharmaceutical giants such as Pfizer.

Even the United States threw its weight behind the proposal earlier this year by saying that extraordinary measures were required to boost the global production of Covid-19 vaccines for helping fight the spread of the virus.

Australia’s position, in this scenario, has slightly always been more ambiguous. Although the federal government appreciated the announcement made by Biden’s administration and has time and again expressed its support for negotiations on the matter, it has fallen short of expressing its support for the waiver itself. Various advocacy groups that have been urging the government to back the waiver for quite a while now met Mr. Tehan recently and said that he made a private commitment concerning the nation supporting the proposal. Mr. Tehan seemed to confirm that position publicly when the reporters asked about clarifying Australia’s stance. He said that when it comes to Covid-19, the nation will always support the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver. He further said that Australia would continue working efficiently in Geneva for expanding the global production of vaccines, which would make everyone across the globe have access to the vaccine and keep them safe.

The human rights and advocacy groups campaigning on the issue stated that the government’s position shifted in this case. For instance, this year, in June, Mr. Tehan stated that the Australian government wasn’t opposed to the proposal and was well prepared to look at the vaccine waiver; however, it went no further on the matter.

The Convener of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network, Patricia Ranald, welcomed Mr. Tehan’s change from support on the matter to actually supporting the TRIPS waiver by saying that “actions speak louder than words.”

The WTO meeting is making progress as a critical one for the nations promoting the waiver. The waiver has received immense support from the less wealthy, developing countries; however, many European countries blocked the proposal earlier this year at a WTO meeting as they thought that waiving IP Protection might discourage the pharmaceutical companies from investing money into R&D.

The Australian federal government has also drawn attention to the fact that the waiver might not be sufficient in itself to increase the production of Covid-19 vaccines across the globe, primarily because most nations don’t have production facilities at an advanced level and skilled labor required to produce them.

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Square Inc. Joins Cross-Licensing Platform to Reduce Patent Suits

Square Inc., an American company specializing in providing financial services and facilitating digital payments, has recently joined a cross-licensing platform with other technology companies to lessen Patent Lawsuits over cryptocurrency and encourage the growth of digital currencies. According to the company, it is becoming a part of the Open Innovation Network, wherein all the members agree for royalty-free access to patents for open source technology.

In 2020, Square established the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance, in which all the members are required to agree towards not suing each other over patents. It also provides a shared patent library for access to the underlying technologies.

Max Sills, the Counsel at Square and the General Manager of the Cryptocurrency Alliance, said in a recent statement delivered that the company is looking forward to avoiding long-drawn-out legal battles in the present rapid time of growth. He also stated that the ultimate goal of joining the Open Source Network is to have a non-aggression pact in place that underpins the new digital currencies and tools without which one can’t do business in the market.

The Network includes technologies like Hadoop and Linux kernel that are widely used to store and process large datasets.

Keith Bergelt, the Chief Executive of the Open Innovation Network, said that when it comes to dealing with core functionality, companies or individuals should not sue one another. According to him, the idea should always be to build one’s differentiation around the core, which won’t impair anyone from establishing a business and only safeguard them from being sued on what is fundamentally open.

The Open Innovation Network was created to safeguard the Linux operating system from patent litigation lawsuits. It even has more than 1,000 patents at present of its own that all the members get royalty-free. It was founded in 2005 by companies including Sony Corp., Red Hat Inc., and International Business Machines Corp., and currently, it has more than 3,500 members across the globe, such as Oracle Corp., Microsoft Corp., and Alphabet Inc.’s Google. In the past decade, the Network has grown significantly to include energy, automotive, and medical device fields.

Square isn’t the only company trying to reduce patent suits that have bedeviled other industries, specifically in the field of technology. Litigation disputes over patents, like the ones involving medical devices and smartphones, among other industries, can cost an enormous amount of money in legal fees.

Many other groups have also been set up to address such challenges; however, each of them focuses on a separate issue concerning patent disputes. For instance, the Open Crypto Alliance was formed to identify Patent Applications to challenge or oppose, such as by providing appropriate information to the patent examiners to use as a legal basis for rejecting the applications. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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South Africa Grants World’s First-Ever Patent with AI as Inventor

Inventions created by Artificial Intelligence (AI) are the next big thing in the field of innovation. The question, “To whom can a patent be granted for AI inventions?” has been a part of many debates for a pretty long period now. Surprisingly and interestingly, South Africa has recently become the world’s first-ever nation to grant a patent that names AI as its inventor. It has also named the AI’s owner as the owner of the patent invention.

The patent has been secured by the University of Surrey’s professor, Ryan Abbott, and his team. They faced several issues with the Patent Offices across the globe over the dire need to recognize AI as the inventor of patented inventions for many years.

All this while, Abbott was representing Dr. Stephen Thaler, who is the creator of an artificial neural system known as ‘Dabus.’ According to Thaler, Dabus is the sole inventor of a food container capable of improving heat transfer and grip.

Since 2018, Abbott, along with his team, has filed Patent Applications listing Dabus as the inventor in more than ten jurisdictions worldwide, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. Last year, the High Court in Wales and England supported the decision of the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) by rejecting the patent application. In its final ruling, the Court stated that although Dabus created the inventions, it couldn’t be granted a patent as it wasn’t a natural person. Even the European Patent Office (EPO) and the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) rejected the application on the same grounds.

In a recent statement delivered, the Director of the Institute for People-Centred AI at the University of Surrey, Professor Adrian Hilton, said the world is “moving from an age in which invention was the preserve of people to an era where machines are capable of realizing the inventive step.”

Abbott strongly believes that the current situation in law is no longer fit for purpose and could easily put the investment in AI at huge risk. He also pointed towards the increasing use of AI in research and development (R&D) to come up with new drug compounds and support drug repurposing. In such scenarios, he stated that there could be an invention eligible for securing Patent Protection but not an individual eligible to be an inventor. According to Abbott, if what is written in the previous line means that a patent won’t be granted, then companies like Novartis, Siemens, or DeepMind, all of which are investing in AI, won’t be able to use AI in their respective areas.

Welcoming the decision of South Africa, Abbott said that this outcome indeed showcases an understanding of the utmost importance that lies in motivating people to make, develop, and use AI for generating socially valuable innovations. He further added that this decision would serve as a big example to the rest of the world concerning the use of AI in generating human benefits. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Maldives – What Happens if a TM Cautionary Notice is Published only in English?

TRADEMARK REGISTRATION IN MALDIVES

In Maldives, there is no statutory trademark law dealing with the mechanism of trademark registration; however, the resident companies, nationals of Maldives, and foreign applicants can still get their proposed marks registered as trademarks. A trademark, in Maldives, protects a word, slogan, phrase, logo, or some combination that connects a product or service with the manufacturer of that product or service and prevents the same from being used by someone else. A trademark can take many shapes, as long as the mark that an individual wants to protect is distinctive.

  • LOCAL APPLICANTS – The resident companies and nationals of Maldives can file an in-person trademark application (for their proposed trademarks) before the Ministry of Economic Development to obtain trademark protection.

*Note – Before going ahead with trademark registration, the resident companies and nationals must obtain business name registration.

  • FOREIGN APPLICANTS – Unlike most countries across the globe, the process of trademark registration in Maldives does not include the stages of filing, examination, and advertisement but is merely based on the publication of a Trademark (TM) Cautionary Notice. A trademark cautionary notice is a mere publication of a notice in the newspapers to inform/notify the general public about the mark that is registered as a trademark along with the legal trademark rights of its owner. The cautionary notice should include the details of the proprietor, description of the trademark, and classification of the goods/services according to the Nice Classification. The foreign applicants are required to publish a TM cautionary notice in the local newspaper in both English and in the vernacular, which is Dhivehi, thereby cautioning the public and trade about the ownership of the trademark.

*It is imperative to keep in mind that a TM cautionary notice must be published in the local newspaper in both English and Dhivehi (regional language) as publication only in English won’t have any legal effect. It won’t inform the public at large about the fact that the mark in question belongs to the said proprietor. Also, publication only in English reduces the possibility of any prior owner/user of the mark in question to contact the new owner/user immediately and prevent him or her from using it. 

TRADEMARK RENEWAL IN MALDIVES

Due to no specific trademark law in Maldives, trademark renewal involves the publication of the TM cautionary notice in the local newspaper after every 03 years; however, it is highly advisable to publish the registered trademark every year if the owner wants to establish the use of the mark in Maldives. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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From Idea to Trademark Registration – How can you come up with a Brand Name

If you have a new product, you undoubtedly need a new name. However, this statement is not as straightforward as it appears if you want an effective way of coming up with a brilliant brand name for your business. It may be a result of a reactive approach, wherein you wait until the product is almost ready to get launched before working hard on the same; however, the best practice always lies in being proactive. If you start working on the brand name before the product is realized, you will be able to save a lot of time and achieve the best possible outcome. To be specific, you need to involve with your product teams right from the beginning and ensure that all the legal and marketing functions are performed well.

With a new brand, it is always highly advisable to choose multiple potential names, that too, at the beginning of the process itself. The names should be selected based on a few criteria, including what the brand is for, which jurisdictions it needs to operate in, and how the brand name intends to engage the customers. It is a matter of fact that yes – the different parts of a business will most probably have different priorities for a brand name, and managing all the competing desires is a part of the overall process.

After shortlisting the brand names, you need to undertake multiple checks, which are as follows:

  1. You need to perform a Trademark Search, which can either be done in-house or with the help of an Intellectual Property (IP) It is imperative to check whether the names you want are available or not and whether they can be protected in the jurisdictions you are aiming for in your overall strategy.
  2. It is essential to think about all the countries and regions where you wish to use the brand name and also check for meanings in their local languages. In the past, several companies and organizations have made a lot of errors by launching brands with unintended and offensive meanings in other languages.
  3. In some industries like the pharmaceuticals, there may be regulatory constraints corresponding to the way you can name a product, which you must keep in mind.
  4. Without any doubt, there is a dire need to identify all your key markets and then create a filing strategy to protect the brand name.

In some industries, in particular, companies face challenges with brand names, specifically when we talk about name creation. In the fashion industry, for instance, the life span of a brand can be pretty short, and there is indeed no way of knowing how successful a particular brand can become. Consequently, you may require a high volume of brand names while operating in this industry. Another thing to notice in the fashion industry is that the companies need to develop the brands very quickly as they have to launch new ones every season. The same can put a lot of stress on a fashion company as the volume of search required in this process becomes high. Nevertheless, with the help of correct resources and a robust strategy, the companies can achieve success in this aspect as well.

If you can navigate well all the potential difficulties of coming up with a brand name, then it becomes a pretty straightforward process. By pooling ideas from the relevant stakeholders before the launch, you will get a lot of time and options for creating an efficient Trademark Registration strategy. However, there are a few pitfalls as well, which you need to be aware of, especially if you operate in a highly competitive environment. It is imperative not to fall into the registration gap, where you own protection in some jurisdictions and not in others. Hence, it is always worth coordinating all your filing efforts to make sure that you file in all your key jurisdictions at the same time. For doing the same, you need to work with the local agents or hire an external partner who will manage the process on your behalf.

Coming up with a new brand name can, at times, seem to be daunting, specifically; if we consider the fact that the brand is the root of a product’s value. But, with the help of the right approach, the process can always be productive and stress-free. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Glow & Handsome – HUL Seeks Injunction against Emami over Trademark Allegations

Hindustan Unilever Ltd’s (HUL) recent move to rename and rebrand its widely known skincare products – ‘Fair & Lovely’ to ‘Glow & Lovely’ and ‘Men’s Fair & Lovely’ to ‘Glow & Handsome’ – has now landed in the Bombay High Court.

The FMCG major, HUL, has quite recently moved for an injunction against Emami Ltd’s decision to initiate legal proceedings against it for Trademark Infringement. In its petition filed, HUL had sought that it should receive a legal notice at least seven days before Emami takes legal action. The court has now granted the interim relief to HUL.

According to HUL, Emami’s threats of legal proceedings are completely baseless as HUL applied for the trademark in question well before Emami. However, Emami has now been threatening HUL after launching ‘Glow & Handsome’ name change digitally and announcing the same one week before HUL.

In its petition filed, HUL claimed that it had applied for the Trademark Registration of the names of women’s and men’s skincare products with the Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks, two years ago in September and October, respectively. However, both the trademarks were denied on 26th July 2019.

This year, HUL again decided to rename and rebrand its skincare products for projecting a way more inclusive idea of beauty. The company reapplied for the same names on 17th June and 25th June 2020, respectively. According to HUL, the announcement for the name change was made on 2nd July 2020, and the permission to sell the products under the new name came on 3rd July 2020. In a recent statement delivered, HUL stated that Emami is yet to launch a product under these two names.

After hearing all the preliminary arguments, the court noted that HUL is indeed the prior adopter of the mark as it did file the corresponding Trademark Applications first in September 2018 and then this year on 25th June. The court believes that the statements made by Emami do amount to a threat; however, after hearing both the sides, the court shall soon determine whether they are unlawful or groundless. The court has also directed Emami to give seven days prior written notice to HUL before taking any legal action against it. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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No More ‘Fair & Lovely’ – HUL Seeks Trademark Registration for ‘Glow & Lovely’

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) might soon greet all its customers with ‘Glow & Lovely’ from its shelves. The FMCJ major has decided to drop the word ‘Fair’ from its widely known fairness cream ‘Fair & Lovely’ and is now seeking the Trademark Registration for the new name ‘Glow & Lovely.’

Although HUL (the Indian subsidiary (headquartered in Mumbai) of Unilever PLC, which is a British-Dutch multinational company) hasn’t yet disclosed the new name for its ‘Fair & Lovely’ brand; however, the company, on 17th June 2020, did approach the Controller General of Patents, Designs, and Trademarks to get the name ‘Glow & Lovely’ registered. As per various recent reports, the company’s Trademark Application, at present, has been sent for Vienna Codification, which helps to classify the figurative elements forming a part of the proposed trademark.

A spokesperson for HUL mentioned in a recent statement that Trademark Protection is a significant aspect for every other brand out there, and considering the same, the company has indeed applied for several trademarks. According to the spokesperson, some of the trademark applications have received the registration while some are pending. The company is looking forward to registering other brand names as well; however, at the same time, it also wants to manage the unveiling of the new brand name carefully. By doing the same, the company wishes to make sure that the market doesn’t become full of counterfeit and unsafe products.

In 2018 as well, HUL had applied for a trademark under the name ‘Glow & Lovely;’ it was, however, rejected.

In the “Goods and Service Description” in its recent trademark application, HUL has specified that the intended use of ‘Glow and Lovely’ will revolve around oils, soaps, lotions, creams, facial masks, beauty packs, to name a few. It will also cover shaving preparations, skincare preparations, pre-shave, and aftershave preparations, depilatory preparations, cologne, and sun tanning and sun protection preparations.

HUL has recently mentioned that it will remove the word ‘Fair’ from its widely known ‘Fair & Lovely’ brand as part of its parent Unilever’s global rebranding exercise. Although the move has come at a time where there are massive voices against racial stereotyping; however, HUL has insisted that its step has nothing do with the ongoing anti-racism movement in West. According to HUL, it has been efficiently working on the global evolution of the Rs 2000-crore brand for many years. The company has also mentioned that its other skincare portfolio shall adopt a holistic vision towards beauty, too, by celebrating all skin colors and caring for everyone. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com

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Understanding the Importance of Trademarks for Small Businesses

Unless you own a Registered Trademark, your idea, concept, and unique branding can freely be stolen by your competitors in the present fast-paced society, which is indeed something you would never want to happen. After you spend all the time, effort, and money on your unique and creative branding, it becomes convenient for other businesses to copy what initially belongs to you. Therefore, without any second thoughts, small businesses do need to have a registered trademark like any other type and size of business out there.

Small businesses and startups with tight profit margins quite often overlook the utmost importance of protecting their most valuable asset, i.e., trademarks. Small business owners must know and understand well the following aspects:

  1. What is a trademark?
  2. Why is trademark a valuable form of Intellectual Property (IP)?
  3. What is the difference between a registered and unregistered trademark?
  4. Why is there a need to go ahead with Trademark Registration?

What exactly is a Trademark?

A trademark refers to any word, phrase, symbol, logo, or their combination that enables the customers in the market to know about the source of a product or service. A trademark is a company, product, or brand name. For instance, Coca Cola is a widely known trademark for cola products.

Trademarks are different from a patent and copyright, which are the other exclusive forms of IP.  When it comes to copyright, it prevents the artistic and creative works, like music recordings, novels, etc. from being used, copied, stolen, or distributed without the permission of the owner.  A patent protects the novel, useful, and non-obvious inventions, like a hybrid engine, a new microprocessor, etc. from being used by the competitors.

There are undoubtedly many good reasons explaining why every small business needs to have a registered trademark; let’s have a look at them:

  1. Official Trademark Registration

Keeping aside the size and type of your business, you need to make sure that you have a registered trademark in place for your small business, which shall help you significantly in preventing and facing critical issues in the future. It is a matter of fact that yes – trademark litigation lawsuits are both complicated and expensive, which can further deplete resources, effort, and time. Hence, if you are not willing to go through the hassle and stress down the road, you need to start considering the scope of getting a registered trademark for your small business.

  1. Brand Identity Protection

If you wish to protect your brand identity, you must own a trademark for your small business as you can then use the same on any concept or packaging solely or exclusively that you create for your brand. Following are a few points explaining the benefits of having a registered trademark for brand identity protection:

  • A trademark helps a business in gaining instant brand recognition.
  • A trademark becomes the core foundation and image of a business.
  • A trademark offers a massive degree of protection against reputation-damaging copycats.
  • A trademark stops the arch-competitors from making unauthorized use of a brand’s identity.
  1. Trademark Designation

The registered trademark designation helps in notifying the other businesses out there about the Trademark Rights associated with a small business’ brand name, logo, or symbol. If you own a small business and have a registered trademark for the same, it implies that your competitors can’t steal your brand identity, which is a result of your sheer hard work and brand building. 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:

  1. 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.

  1. 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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