IP in the news

Hundreds of millions of adults around the world can expect to be vaccinated against Covid over the next few months. It will be delivered by hypodermic syringe - but who invented it?

Juliette Gordon Low founded the Girl Scouts of the USA and patented the organization’s iconic trefoil badge in 1914. A three-leafed clover design adapted from the Boy Scouts’ similar badge, Low’s trefoil suggested a fundamental equality between girls and boys on the eve of women’s suffrage and continues to signal girls’ invaluable contributions to American life and culture.
 

News that holograms could be ‘printed’ on food shows how innovation continues to push the technology’s boundaries, says the International Hologram Manufacturers Association.

The move follows reports from the USA that scientists have moulded edible holograms onto chocolate. Although it’s early days, and the process only works for certain types of confection, the development could open-up a host of exciting future possibilities around the control and labelling of food, says the IHMA.

After an accusation from Evermore Park that Swift infringed their trademark with her new album and song “Evermore” (by calling her latest album “Evermore” and by selling merchandise that infringed the park’s trademark rights), Taylor Swift is striking back with a copyright infringement claim.

Apparently, the company that just sued Swift for trademark infringement had for years been infringing Swift’s own intellectual property rights (copyright) by performing her songs at its park without a proper license.

Chanel considers that taking its buttons and refashioning them into jewellery amounts to trademark infringement. Indeed, Chanel considers that accessory company Shiver + Duke is misappropriating its registered interlocking “C” monogram trademark and its Chanel wordmark in order to create and market jewellery that draws and relies on the selling power and fame of the Chanel marks. 

Test your knowledge with the Win or Learn IP in Games Quiz!

It is the innate feature of the human species to play, which has given the start of the human societal development. Games are forms of social interaction that make people go beyond their imagination. The oldest known game is believed to date back to 6000 B.C. and it is the ancestor of the game "Mancala".

The European Commission aims to ramp up production of COVID-19 vaccines through “voluntary” sharing of know-how among pharma companies, EU sources said, emphasising that patents are not an obstacle to do that.

“What is most needed now, beyond developing vaccines, is the ramping up of manufacturing of vaccines,” said a source at the European Commission, which coordinates the joint purchase of vaccines at EU level.

Minaj was initially unaware of her song's debt to Chapman's composition

Valentine’s Day is here, again and, in case you have been living under a rock, it is pretty hard to miss the perfume and flower ads, the aisles of heart-shaped chocolate boxes and flowers.  By now, everyone knows that Valentine’s Day is a big business.

Whether you embrace the holiday or run away from it, we can all get some enjoyment from the various intellectual property rights that protect some of the goods associated to this day.

Spotify has patented technology that will allow it to analyse your voice and suggest songs based on your "emotional state, gender, age, or accent".

The patent, which was filed in 2018 and granted on 12 January, would allow the streaming giant to "make observations" about a user's environment and emotions using speech recognition technology.

Spotify could then play music reflecting their mood or even their social setting - "e.g. alone, small group, party," according to the patent.