14th June , 2011

Vodafone sued for using songs of film `Seeta Aur Geeta`

Vodafone Essar Mobile Services Ltd has been sued by Sippy Films, the producer of `Seeta Aur Geeta` for using songs of the 1972 Bollywood blockbuster as ring tones and caller tunes.

The Delhi High Court today sought a response within four weeks from Vodafone regarding the lawsuit filed by Sippy Films seeking to restrain the telecom service provider from using their songs. Sippy Films claims that it has the copyright over the songs and Vodafone is using them unlawfully without paying royalty to it.

The court has allowed Saregama India Ltd, another music company to be a party to the case, as it claims to be the owner of copyrights of the songs of the film by an agreement with Sippy Films in 1967.

Apple sued over iCloud trademark

iCloud Communications, an Arizona-based remote storage company is suing Apple Inc. in a US District Court in Arizona over its new Internet service called iCloud. In the lawsuit iCloud Communications alleges that Apple's iCloud infringes iCloud Communications trademarks and that Apple has stolen the branding.

The company also claims that the goods and services with which Apple’s 'iCloud' would be functioning are identical to or closely related to the goods and services that have been offered by iCloud Communications under the iCloud Marks since 2005.

Alleging that media exposure to Apple’s 'iCloud'  worldwide and the advertising campaign followed by Apple has associated the mark 'iCloud' with Apple, rather than iCloud Communications, the company has sought compensation for "all profits, gains and advantages" plus "all monetary damages sustained." An injunction against Apple to stop using the iCloud name also has been sought as a settlement. Apple has 30 days to respond to the filing.

PGI applied for ‘Scottish Farmed Salmon Smoked in Scotland’

The Scottish Smoked Salmon Producers’ Group has applied to the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for protected geographical indication (PGI) for ‘Scottish Farmed Salmon Smoked in Scotland’.

The group has sought to protect salmon which is reared and smoked in Scotland.  It is aimed at distinguishing ‘Scottish Farmed Salmon Smoked in Scotland’ from ‘Smoked Salmon’, which can be used to describe wild farmed Atlantic Salmon or Pacific Salmon.

 ‘Scottish Smoked Salmon’ is used to describe wild or farmed Atlantic or Pacific salmon smoked in Scotland and ‘Smoked Scottish Salmon’ is used to describe wild or farmed Atlantic salmon caught or reared in Scotland and smoked anywhere in the world.

’Scottish Farmed Salmon’ was granted PGI status in acknowledgment to its high quality and its relation to the unique nature of the marine production areas on the west coast, western isles and northern isles of Scotland.

A PGI tag would put to rest the existing ambiguity and the confusion of consumers who wish to choose salmon that is farmed and smoked in Scotland over other products with similar names and recognise the benefits of combining high quality Scottish farmed salmon from a unique marine environment with traditional smoking practices developed over centuries.

The Scottish Farmed Salmon Smoked in Scotland is popular world-wide for its excellent quality.

China, ROK sign pact to protect online copyright

China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) have agreed to allow the Copyright Protection Center of China (CPCC) help Korean writers in protecting their copyrights against infringements via the Internet.

An agreement was signed between the CPCC and the Copyright Commission of the ROK in Beijing at the Seventh Sino-ROK Workshop on Copyright. This workshop was co-sponsored by the National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of ROK.

Though online piracy is   a major problem worldwide, China has been successful in setting up a relatively ideal law structure on copyright and is presently making increasingly greater efforts in checking online piracy.

New fund established to help approve and Implement Nagoya Protocol

The UN Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) has established a new fund called the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to help developing countries approve and implement the Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit sharing.

Japan has made an offering of 1 billion yen (about US$12 million) as an initial contribution to the Global Environment Facility fund.  France would provide a financial support of 1 million Euros (about US$ 1.4 million). Norway and Switzerland have also proposed financial support to the new fund.

 The GEF will function as the financial mechanism of the CBD by managing the fund while the World Bank will serve as the trustee of the fund. The fund is designed to support countries approving the protocol in financing projects at the national and regional levels that will promote technology transfer, private sector engagement, and the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources.

Rambus and Freescale Sign Patent License Agreement

Rambus Inc., one of the world’s best technology licensing companies, has signed a patent licensing agreement with Freescale Semiconductor Inc., an Austin, Texas-based company.

This agreement covers the use of patented innovations of California-based Rambus for DRAM memory controllers and serial links by Freescale in its wide range of logic integrated circuit (IC) products. The term of the patent license agreement is five years. The amount of money that Freescale will pay Rambus is not declared. Rambus will receive royalty based on the shipment of these devices during the contract period.

Freescale a pioneer in embedded processing solutions was included along with several other chip makers in a complaint filed by Rambus last year alleging infringement of patents related to certain memory controllers. This licensing agreement however settles all pending litigation between the two companies.