Newsletter April 2008

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Japan faces Record Number of Counterfeit Designer Brand Goods

Mar 05, 2008, 18:00 | The Sankei Shinbun & Sankei Digital

The Japanese Ministry of Finance (MoF) has revealed that the number of cases of banned counterfeit designer brand goods and goods found to be infringing copyright for the past year was around 23,000 - a 15.7% increase from 2006’s figures and the highest number ever recorded. According to MoF, import methods such as making purchases on the Internet and getting the goods delivered into the country in small numbers by post are increasingly being used. Taking up as much as 70% of the total figure, China was where most of these counterfeit designer brand goods originate. Bags and the like were the counterfeit goods most often seized. Among the seized goods also was a mahjong tile set (one of the most popular games in Japan, see picture) printed with the Louis Vuitton trademark.

 

Major Electric Companies Collaborate for Joint Control of Digital CATV Technology Patents to Boost Sales and Development

Mar 20, 2008 |Nikkei (Nihon Keizai Shimbun)

Seven major electric companies such as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. will commence in August the joint licensing of patents relating to digital CATV (cable television). They are seeking other corporations holding relevant patents in order to sell their licenses collectively to equipment manufacturers and CATV Digital Station at a low price. This brings the total cost of the licensing the patents - estimated to be 10 billion Yen a year when acquired individually? down to lower than one fifth of the figure. This is believed to make the licenses more affordable and accessible, which would give a boost to the popularization of the equipment and also the development of related technology. The patents involve technology used in consumer “set top box” in households as well as the equipment installed at CATV Digital Station.

 

Agreement between the Apple and the Japanese “Aiphone Corporation”

March 24, 2008, 16:49 | Impress Group company

In Japan for the question whether two trademarks are considered to be confusingly similar as far as phonetics is concerned depends only on their pronunciations when written in Japanese Kana characters. As the pronunciations of the marks ‘‘iPhone’’ and “Aiphone” are, when written in Kana phonetically and appearance-wise completely identical Aiphone Co. claimed that the Apple`s ‘‘iPhone’’ could infringe it`s rights on the trademark ‘‘Aiphone’’. After seven months of negotiations Aiphone Co. declared that it has settled its trademark dispute with Apple amicably.

 

U.S. International Trade Commission to Investigate Sony, Matsushita on Alleged LED Patent Infringement

Mar 20, 2008 | Nikkei (Nihon Keizai Shimbun)

The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) has released news that it is instituting an investigation on some 30 Japanese, American and European companies, among which Sony and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. are also on the list. The probe concerns possible patent infringement on short-wavelength LEDs and laser diodes used in hand-held mobile devices and next-generation DVD “Blu-ray disc” players, among other products.

Professor Emeritus Gertrude Neumark Rothschild of Columbia University had filed a complaint with USITC in February 2008, alleging that the aforementioned products infringe on a patent she owns for blue and white LEDs as well as laser diodes. She is requesting a prohibition on the importation of the relevant goods into the U.S.

The target companies in this investigation include Hitachi Ltd and Toshiba Corporation of Japan, as well as Nokia of Finland, Samsung of Korea, and Motorola of the United States. USITC will set a target completion date for the investigation within 45 days after commencement of the investigation.

 

?Mystery of laughter “solved”

March 29, 2008 | The Daily Yomiuri (Real Laughter)

A Japanese Professor at the Suita University developed an instrument that can distinguish between a fake and a real laugh. The instrument receives signals via sensors placed around the diaphragm and analyses the electrical potential created when people laugh. The professor explained that he was motivated to solve the mystery of laughter by an accident that happened to him when he was 30. One day he cooked and ate mushrooms which he had picked on a mountain side, and felt a while later the constant urge to laugh that lasted for hours. This accident happened to him at a time of deep depression, and it changed his attitude toward life for good. He compares this situation to the rebooting of a PC. Further projects of the professor are the development of a portable version of his instrument and searching for a link between laugh of chimpanzees and humans.

 

News selected from official sites in English
China

Netac ? PNY: Chinese flash-memory producer reaches settlement in U.S. patent case

March 26, 2008 | Chinaview

Dramatic Increase of PCT overseas filings in China in 2007

March 11, 2008 | SIPO

By the end of 2007 China has 16.9 percent more valid patents than by the end of 2006.

March 17, 2008 | SIPO

China declares IP Rights Protection Action Plan

March 26, 2008 | SIPO

Japan

Eisai is Granted Favourable Preliminary Injunction Ruling in Aricept(R) Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Teva Pharmaceuticals

March 28, 2008 | PRNewswire