28th August , 2010
Munna Bhai, Circuit to be registered as trademarks
The names of Munna Bhai (played by Sanjay Dutt) and his assistant Circuit (Arshad Warsi) – the two popular movie characters in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s films Munna Bhai MBBS and Lage Raho Munna Bhai, have been used by Vinod Chopra Films, which has filed applications to trademark the two names- Munna Bhai and Circuit.
Vinod Chopra Films Pvt. Ltd, producer of the two films has filed applications to trademark the two names under various product categories—from tobacco, rugs and carpets to automobiles, retailing, leather goods and baby foods. Trademark applications for firearms, ammunition and explosives, medical instruments, promotional materials, cards, carry bags; furniture, kitchen utensils and clothing have also been filed. The company wishes to stop impending misuse of their popular characters and safeguard them as brandnames.
Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi played the two small-time goons who preached the virtues of Gandhigiri (Gandhi’s non-violent ways of protest) in both films. Vinod Chopra Films Pvt. Ltd might be aiming at licensing both the names for businesses purpose in future.
Lexmark sues cartridge makers over patents
The Lexington, Ky.-based printer manufacturer, Lexmark is suing replacement cartridge makers alleging infringement of its patents. Lexmark has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, accusing 24 companies which import replacement or refill cartridges for Lexmark laser printers. The printer manufacturer accuses these companies of violating 15 patents owned by Lexmark.
Lexmark in its ITC complaint seeks a ban of the defendants' products from import and sale in the States and the federal lawsuit asks for an injunction on sales of the disputed products along with financial damages. In 2003 Lexmark had attempted to invoke the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in an effort to hamper a toner refill company from making replacement cartridges for Lexmark products, but finally it lost the case.
Madonna’s Clothing Line Name in trademark dispute
Madonna's trendy Material Girl juniors clothing line, exclusively sold at Macy's is in a legal dispute.
A California-based clothing manufacturer L.A. Triumph has filed a lawsuit against Madonna. L.A. Triumph claims to have been using the registered Material Girl name on its own juniors clothing collection since 1997. The manufacturer has been selling the goods in big retailers such as Nordstrom and Ross, throughout the United States and has spent much on its promotion and advertisement.
Madonna had filed a United States Trademark Application for the “Material Girl” mark in 2009 December. L.A. Triumph alleges that the pop star's brand would obscure L.A. Triumph's label of the same name and that Madonna does not have the right to trade in the same space under this brand.
Renesas Electronics and Acacia Research ink Patent Licensing Alliance
Renesas Electronics Corporation, a supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions and Acacia Research Corporation, a leading patent licensing company, have entered into a strategic patent licensing agreement. According to the deal, patents selected by Acacia and Renesas Electronics from Renesas Electronics' collection of over 40,000 patents and patent applications will be assigned to Acacia for patent licensing.
Headquartered in Japan, Renesas Electronics is the world's number one supplier of microcontrollers and the world's third largest semiconductor company in terms of revenue.
Acacia Research is in an effort to help patent holders worldwide to get fair value from their investment in research and development; licensing success would support future R&D by patent holders for the benefit of their customers. Acacia's subsidiaries associate with inventors and patent owners, license the patents to commercial users, and share the profits.
Apple files for anti-jail-breaking patent
Apple Inc. has filed a patent for technology designed to identify unauthorised users of iPhones, lock the device down and notify the user of its location if stolen. The patent, titled ‘Systems and methods for identifying unauthorized users of an electronic device’ was filed in February this year. It explains a way to identify the hacking, jail-breaking, unlocking or removal of a SIM.
The system for which the patent is sought includes taking photographs of the phone’s location and the unauthorized user without their knowledge, recording that user’s voice and heart beat. The actual user can be alerted via text, instant message, VoIP, social networking sites and other methods.
Labcyte granted US Patent for Real-Time Power Optimization
Labcyte’s Echo® liquid handling platforms which move liquids with sound has been granted its 40th US patent. The granted patent explains how acoustic energy is optimized in real time to transfer a droplet of any fluid, known or unknown. This patented acoustic droplet ejection technology offers touch less transfer of a range of fluids, with major benefits in life science applications including drug discovery, genomics, proteomics and diagnostics.
Labcyte Inc. which specializes in low-volume liquid handling systems at the nano liter scale utilizes sound to move liquids. This eco-friendly technology reduces the use of pipette tips in conventional liquid handlers and allows transfer of liquids for different applications including siRNA screening, qPCR, genotyping and total assay assembly for drug discovery,” said Rich Ellson, Labcyte CTO. Echo liquid handlers offer enhanced precision and accuracy, reduce operating costs and eliminate cross-contamination.
Axis-Shield files patent for vitamin D test
Axis-shield, the in vitro diagnostics company, has filed a patent application for a novel technology for simplified and efficient testing for vitamin D. The new test would possibly be applicable to the numerous instruments presently being used in the clinical laboratory.
The existing testing methods are complicated requiring complex separation technology and denaturing solvents, making them intricate to operate on common clinical testing instruments. The new method covered in the filed application utilizes custom-engineered antibodies to identify specific and relevant vitamin D when complexed with a carrier protein.
Nearly 50% of the world's population is at risk of vitamin D deficiency leading to many bone diseases and increased risk of common cancers, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases and cardiovascular disease. There is an extreme increase in demand for precise methods of identifying the deficiency and the recognition of the need for supplementation of Vit-D. The technology for which a patent is sought could lead to the development of commercial assays to accurately measuring blood Vit-D levels.
