28th January , 2012
GI sought for Agra marble inlay work
Agra craftsmen involved with the marble inlay work have sought the coveted Geographical Indication status for their product. Agra's Marble Udyog Vikas Samiti, representing 4,000 craftsman involved in this craft, has applied to the Geographical Indications Registry.
The marble inlay work found in the architecture of the famous Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri is a long established art form of marble inlay that was brought to India in the 17th century by the Mughals. The crafted marble inlay work, also known as "Parchin kari" and pietre dure, has beautiful floral and geometric patterns created using semi-precious stones and is used in building material, monuments, and as decorative items. These are exported to countries such as Saudi Arabia, US and Japan.
Once the GI is approved, only artisans from Agra can make and sell the product.
Megaupload.com charged with Online Copyright Infringement
Megaupload.com, a file-sharing website, and people and companies associated with it have been accused of running an international criminal activity causing a loss of more than $500 million to copyright owners. The internet content hosting website is accused of worldwide online piracy of numerous types of copyrighted works.
Charges were made against seven individuals, Megaupload Ltd. and Vestor Ltd. in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Four of them were arrested in Auckland, New Zealand. This is one of the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the US and directly targets the exploitation of a public content storage and distribution site to commit and aid IP theft. The individuals face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the charge of conspiracy to commit racketeering and five years in prison on the charge of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement.
Search warrants were carried out in the U.S. and eight other countries and seized about $50 million in assets. A federal court in Virginia ordered 18 domain names associated with the group to be seized.Kim Dotcom, the founder of Megaupload.com, has been arrested in New Zealand on charges of copyright infringement under a U.S. request for a formal extradition.
US seeks injunction on Ranbaxy
US officials (US Food and Drug Administration) have sought a new kind of injunction against Ranbaxy Laboratories, the Indian drug firm, alleging that the firm which is the maker of the first generic version of cholesterol-lowering Lipitor (Atorvastatin), failed to meet US safety guidelines.
The USFDA wants to block the company from carrying out business in the US because of manufacturing and data integrity faults. It mentions "many of Ranbaxy's drugs adulterated, potentially unsafe and illegal to sell in the United States." Ranbaxy may be ordered to stop selling drugs made at four of its manufacturing plants after this accusation.
Last November the USFDA had allowed the Indian firm to make a generic version of Lipitor, the best-selling drug of all time. Pfizer's patent on Lipitor -- atorvastatin calcium -- expired at the end of November.
The Justice Department listed several problems, including "inadequate testing of drugs to ensure that they kept their strength and effectiveness until their expiration date." Ranbaxy which is accused of violating current good manufacturing practice regulations, will have to hire a third party expert to conduct an in-house evaluation at the facilities; implement procedures and controls to ensure data integrity; and withdraw any applications found to contain untrue statements.
Samsung files trademarks for “Samsung Joy” and “Samsung Fresh”
The Korean electronics giant has filed for two new trademarks “Samsung Joy” and “Samsung Fresh”. These were both registered with the USPTO this January under the category of “Telephones; smart phones; mobile phones; computer software for mobile phones, portable media players and handheld computers”.
It is anticipated that two new devices will be announced next month at the Barcelona Mobile World Congress.
Poland signs international copyright treaty
Poland has signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Poland’s ambassador to Japan signed the international copyright agreement in Tokyo.
Polish internet activists protested against the copyright agreement anticipating that it could lead to online censorship. Several other developed countries, including the United States, Canada and South Korea, have already signed the agreement last year.
ACTA is a comprehensive agreement with an aim to harmonize international standards on protecting the rights of those who produce music, movies, pharmaceuticals, fashion, and other products whose intellectual property can be pilfered. ACTA aims to fight the online piracy of movies and music, and those opposed to it fear that it will also lead authorities to block content on the Internet.
Irish potato granted PGI under EU law
The Irish potato, Comber Early has been conferred with special status of Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) by European Union law.
The new season potatoes from Northern Ireland, known for being harvested early in the season can be called New Season Comber Potatoes or Comber Earlies. Comber Earlies are the second product from Northern Ireland to get the PGI recognition, following the Lough Neagh Eels.
PGI registration for Comber Earlies would help local growers to market New Season Combers locally and protect against imitation. PGI protection does not protect a product against imitation, and potato breeders around Europe can produce potatoes with similar or even identical properties but cannot call them Comber Earlies.
