7th October, 2011

Villianur Teracotta Works and Tirukanur Papier Mache Craft get GI status along with French Cognac

The Indian Geographical Indications Registry office in Chennai has granted the coveted GI status to Villianur Teracotta Works and Tirukanur Papier Mache Craft along with the French Cognac.

Villianur Teracotta Works and Tirukanur Papier Mache Craft are popular handicrafts locally available in villages in and around Puducherry. Tirukanur Papier Mache Craft is a cottage industry manufacturing colorful dolls and paper sculptures which are mostly used in Navaratri and Dussera as a custom.

Cognac originating from the town of Cognac, France, and its six surrounding viticulture areas is a distilled spirit made from fermented white grapes and aged for at least two years. It is created in extremely controlled conditions which were formulated years ago. The grapes used in the production come from the white wine varieties – particularly, the Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche, and Colombard.

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Microsoft and Samsung sign patent authorization agreement

Microsoft Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s second largest smartphone manufacturer have signed a patent authorization agreement through which the two companies would share some patent rights. Microsoft is seeking to confront Apple Inc. and Google Inc.’s dominance in the smartphone market, with this set of patents.

According to the deal, royalties from Samsung’s smartphones, which use Google’s Android operating system would be sent to Microsoft and Samsung would develop and market Windows mobile sets in cooperation with Microsoft. Smartphones with Microsoft’s revamped Windows Phone 7 software are competing with Apple’s iPhone and Android-based devices.

Any smartphone maker cooperating with Microsoft on the Windows Phone7 will lose the chance to work on the iPhone and other Android smartphones now. Microsoft has also declared that it will work with Nokia in February, further improving upon its intentions in make a mark in the smartphone market.

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Timelines.com sues Facebook over 'Timelines' trademark

Social networking giant Facebook has been accused of trademark infringement over its new Facebook Timeline profile feature.

A Chicago based online social-scrapbooking company, Timelines.com has filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for Chicago, claiming that Facebook's latest platform product could affect its livelihood and cause confusion that the company is associated with Facebook.

Facebook’s Timeline feature turns its user profile into a scrapbook that displays a user’s digital history. It allows users to convey their lives through photos, videos, and music, and share the content with friends. On the contrary, Timelines.com, which creates timelines for different sports teams, lets users view and create multimedia timelines for historical events like the American Civil War.

Timelines.com which owns the US trademarks for “Timelines," “Timelines.com" and “Timelines&design" has sought damages and an immediate injunction to prevent being ruined by the unlawful act by Facebook.

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Baroda Dealer Arrested under Copyright Act

A dealer from Baroda, Gujarat accused of copyright violation has been arrested as officers from the Enforcers of Intellectual Property Rights and Baroda Police seized large amounts of Toner powder from his premises. Toner powder is used in laser printers and photocopiers to form the printed text and images on the paper.

The dealer was identified as the owner of Baroda-based Maxwell Electronics and was booked under section 51 and 63 of the Copyrights Act 1957. The seized raw materials used to manufacture the fakes accounts total up to Rs 2 lakh, according to police records.

Brother International (India) Private Limited, a Mumbai based company dealing with printing and imaging solutions, communication and fashion was responsible for the raid by the police. Brother International (India) is a subsidiary of a Japanese multinational company, Brother Industries LTD.

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Canada reinforces Online Copyright Law

The Government of Canada has brought in some changes to its copyright law in an attempt to reform its existing laws. These amendments would give rights-holders more control over how their works are circulated online. The Canadian Copyright Act had undergone some changes in 1997.

Under the new legislation, copyright owners will have exclusive control over how works are made available on the Internet and they will be able to apply “technological protection measures,” generally known as digital locks, to prevent illegal access of copyrighted material. Canadians copy legally acquired music and movies to their iPods after this updating.

It is anticipated that this bill would make Canada’s copyright laws futuristic that protect and also help in creating jobs, encouraging innovation and drawing investment into Canada. The proposed law will put into practice the treaties, signed by Canada in 1997, that establish rights and protections recommended by the World Intellectual Property Organization.

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Lady Gaga sues company’s attempt to trademark her name

Lady Gaga, the Grammy Award-winning pop star has filed a lawsuit against Excite Worldwide, a Nevada-based company for trying to commercially exploit her fame to market a line cosmetics and jewelry.

Lady Gaga sued Excite Worldwide in Manhattan Supreme Court in New York alleging that the company applied to trademark the names "Lady Gaga" and "Lady Gaga LG" for makeup and baubles, without her permission. She has sought a court order barring Excite from filing Gaga related applications and unspecified damages.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is yet to approve the Excite’s Worldwide trademark applications. However the singer alleges that these trademark attempts would jeopardize her efforts to add to her own suite of trademarks surrounding her name and also confuse customers to associate her with Excite Worldwide's products.

Lady Gaga’s real name is Stefani Germanotta and she has already registered her stage name for clothes, ring tones, her website and chat rooms, and has pending trademark applications for hair, body and nail products, cell phone accessories among other fashion accessories.