June, 2022

article thumbnail

How Romania’s Prime Minister was “Cleared” of Plagiarism

Plagiarism Today

In January 2022, just months after taking the role of Prime Minister in Romania, Nicolae Ciuc? faced a significant plagiarism scandal. According to reporter Emilia ?ercan (link in Romanian), some 42 pages of Ciuc?’s 38-page 2013 dissertation from the National Defense University in Bucharest were plagiarized from outside sources. Ciuc?, for his part, denied the plagiarism and said that his dissertation was legitimate.

article thumbnail

Fear factor: Overcoming human barriers to innovation

McKinsey Operations

Worries about failure, criticism, and career impact hold back many people from embracing innovation. Here’s how to create a culture that accounts for the human side of innovation.

144
144
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Paris Hilton is One of the First Defendants at the ‘Small’ Copyright Claims Board

TorrentFreak

Last Thursday, the US Copyright Claims Board went live. Through this venue, hosted at the Copyright Office, copyright holders can try to recoup alleged damages outside the federal court system. The board aims to make it cheaper for creators to resolve disputes. There’s no attorney required and the filing fee is limited to $100 per claim. Accused parties also benefit as the potential damages are capped at $30,000.

Copyright 145
article thumbnail

The Bill C-11 Effect: “Any Video on TikTok That Uses Music Could be Subject to Regulation”

Michael Geist

TikTok did not appear before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage as part of its Bill C-11 study, but one of the world’s most popular user generated content sites issued a warning that even Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez can’t ignore: if the bill becomes law, “ any video on TikTok that uses music could be subject to regulation under the Broadcasting Act.” TikTok’s analysis picks up where Rodriguez left off at committee as he sought to downplay t

Music 145
article thumbnail

Software Composition Analysis: The New Armor for Your Cybersecurity

Speaker: Blackberry, OSS Consultants, & Revenera

Software is complex, which makes threats to the software supply chain more real every day. 64% of organizations have been impacted by a software supply chain attack and 60% of data breaches are due to unpatched software vulnerabilities. In the U.S. alone, cyber losses totaled $10.3 billion in 2022. All of these stats beg the question, “Do you know what’s in your software?

article thumbnail

UK court discusses copyright protection of fictional characters and defences for parody and pastiche

The IPKat

Derek "Del Boy" Trotter (fictional) Can a fictional character be protected as a self standing copyright work? If so, what is the test to be applied? In a judgment handed down yesterday - Shazam v Only Fools The Dining Experience and Others [2022] EWHC 1379 (IPEC) - the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) answered 'yes' and applied guidance derived from EU law, including the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Cofemel (Katposts here ).

Copyright 145
article thumbnail

Can Tattoos Infringe Copyrights, and If So, What Happens Then?–Sedlik v. Kat Von D

Technology & Marketing Law Blog

Can tattoos infringe copyrights, and if yes, what remedies are appropriate? This is a venerable question–I remember evaluating it as a possible law review note topic 30+ years ago. This opinion is the first I can recall that answers the question squarely, but the most interesting questions get sent to a jury trial. Even so, the court’s almost-banal treatment of this super-interesting topic suggests that there may not be much tattoo exceptionalism in copyright law.

Copyright 145

More Trending

article thumbnail

The next frontier for AI in China could add $600 billion to its economy

McKinsey Operations

By 2030, AI could disrupt transportation and other key sectors in China, adding significant economic value—but only if strategic cooperation and capability building occur across multiple dimensions.

145
145
article thumbnail

MANGA Plus Invites Users to Confess Piracy & Name Most-Used Pirate Sites

TorrentFreak

For many years Japanese manga companies had a tendency to ignore the majority of overseas markets, despite the potential for lucrative trade. However, powered by a global Internet and passionate fans with translation abilities, scanned copies of manga titles first trickled and then flooded into the West, creating a massive market and future demand for this Japanese cultural product where none previously existed.

article thumbnail

Design Patent: Invalid as Unduly Functional

Patently-O

by Dennis Crouch. Golden Eye Media USA v. Evo Lifestyle Products ( Fed. Cir. 2022 ) (nonprecedential). Evo’s design patent claims an “ ornamental design for a foldable bag ” as shown in the figures above. This style of bag is known as a “trolly bag” in the UK and is used in shopping carts (trollies) to maintain order in reusable fashion.

article thumbnail

All I Want for Christmas is.Everyone to understand what copyright infringement is (not)

The IPKat

Readers may have seen that the media have picked up on a claim made against Mariah Carey for copyright infringement by her infamous song " All I Want for Christmas is You ". Just in case there was any doubt in readers' minds, here are the reasons why this Kat believes that this claim is nonsense and will likely – or at least, should - be dismissed as such.

article thumbnail

IPO Diversity in Innovation Toolkit

Women and diverse employees have the technical skill and knowledge, yet their contributions are not patented at the same rate as those of their male counterparts.This toolkit can help organizations move the needle on achieving gender parity in innovation.

article thumbnail

“Private” Facebook Groups Aren’t Legally “Private”–Davis v. HDR

Technology & Marketing Law Blog

The plaintiff, Davis, is a member of two Facebook groups: “Ahwatukee411,” with over 32k members as alleged in the complaint (as the screenshot on the right shows, it’s now over 34k members), and “Protecting Arizona’s Resources & Children” (“PARC”), with 900+ members. Both groups are “private” Facebook groups: Both Ahwatukee411 and PARC have “always been” private, closed Facebook groups—meaning only group members can access and see posts made within the Groups.

Privacy 144
article thumbnail

Using the Copyright Small Claims Board to Fight Essay Mills

Plagiarism Today

In December 2020, the United States government passed the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act). The act, to put it simply, created the Copyright Small Claims Board (CCB), a “small claims court” to hear copyright infringement disputes. In the one and a half years since, the U.S. Copyright Office has been working to launch the board.

Copyright 294
article thumbnail

How technology is shaping learning in higher education

McKinsey Operations

New McKinsey research shows that students and faculty are eager to continue using new classroom learning technologies adopted during the pandemic, but institutions could do more to support the shift.

article thumbnail

‘Pirate’ Streaming Apps Beat Netflix and Disney in Brazil’s Play Store

TorrentFreak

Over the past decade, mobile applications have become the standard platform for most people to consume content online. Whether it’s for shopping, news, or entertainment, there is a mobile app available for any type of content. This shift in consumption patterns is not limited to legal content; streaming piracy has gone mobile as well. Pirate streaming apps often have to be sideloaded onto devices but can be occasionally found in official app stores too.

article thumbnail

Strong Statement by India at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference

SpicyIP

In an official statement at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, that was both blunt and sharply worded, India’s Union Minister Piyush Goyal quite openly called out the developed nations on at least three major points: 1) diluting the “TRIPS Waiver” to the extent that its little more than existing compulsory licensing provisions; 2) their delaying tactics over the waiver; and 3) as well as their attempt to portray themselves as caring for the developing world while actually har

Licensing 137
article thumbnail

UK – Samsung liable for trade mark infringement over digital watch faces developed by third parties

The IPKat

A recent judgment that caught this Kat's attention was delivered by the High Court of England & Wales further to a trade mark infringement claim brought by members of the Swatch group of watch makers against Samsung ( Montres Breguet S.A. and others v Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Samsung Electronics (UK) Limited [2022] EWHC 1127 (Ch) ). The claim related to digital watch faces / watch face apps that could be downloaded to Samsung's smartwatches from the Samsung Galaxy App store ("SGA sto

Designs 144
article thumbnail

The Copyright Claims Board Is Opening Next Week. Are You Excited?

Technology & Marketing Law Blog

The Copyright Office has completed its initial rulemaking for the new copyright “small claims” court called the “Copyright Claims Board” (the CCB). It has also launched a website with explanatory material. This post will round up what we know about the CCB after the rulemaking process. Overview. The CCB is intended to provide a quicker and cheaper venue for small-scale copyright disputes.

Copyright 140
article thumbnail

A $500,000 Plagiarism Scandal

Plagiarism Today

Jean McCorquodale is the wife of former California state senator Dan McCorquodale. Between 2009 and 2019, she held a very lucrative position at the Santa Clara County government. According to The Mercury News , In 2009, she was awarded a no-bid contract to be the sole grant writer for the county. In 2014 she was offered a five-year extension on that deal.

article thumbnail

The importance of purpose: An interview with Acha Leke

McKinsey Operations

A senior partner in McKinsey’s Johannesburg office and chairman of the firm’s Africa region shares his views on purpose, untraditional paths, and why people must be not only good mentors but also good protégés.

141
141
article thumbnail

Digital Trails: How Bungie Identified a Mass Sender of Fake DMCA Notices

TorrentFreak

Earlier this year, Bungie and its enthusiastic Destiny fan community were plunged into chaos. Using the DMCA’s takedown process as a weapon, persons unknown sent copyright notices to YouTube, claiming that the targeted videos should be taken down for infringing Bungie’s rights. YouTube began removing videos, including some uploaded by high-profile Destiny content creators.

IP 145
article thumbnail

Thaler Pursues Copyright Challenge Over Denial of AI-Generated Work Registration

IP Watchdog

On June 2, Dr. Stephen Thaler filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. naming as defendants both the United States Copyright Office (USCO) and Shira Perlmutter, in her official capacity as Register of Copyrights and Director of the USCO. The complaint marks the start of a new phase of Thaler’s attempts at obtaining a copyright registration for “A Recent Entrance to Paradise,” an AI-generated work that is the output of Thaler’s AI system known as Creativity Machine.

article thumbnail

Ten things to know about NFTs

The IPKat

Recently, I spoke in the PRS London Members' Day panel about NFTs, alongside Cliff Fluet (Lewis Silkin) and Mike Walsh (Serenade). There has obviously been a considerable amount of excitement around non-fungible tokens (NFTs) over the last few years and some interesting developments in the last few months. Here is a roundup of the key things to know and keep an eye on.

article thumbnail

Supreme Court Restores Injunction Against Texas HB 20!–NetChoice v. Paxton

Technology & Marketing Law Blog

Yesterday, the Supreme Court granted the emergency application to restore the injunction against HB 20, Texas’ social media censorship law. The vote was 5-4, with Barrett, Breyer, Kavanaugh, Roberts, and Sotomayor voting to reinstate the injunction, and Alito, Gorsuch, Kagan, and Thomas voting to drop the injunction. Justice Alito wrote a dissent joined by Gorsuch and Thomas but not Kagan.

article thumbnail

Amicus Brief filed in Vans v. MSCHF

Likelihood of Confusion

This is an important trademarks / free speech case. I got in on an edge of it! The post Amicus Brief filed in Vans v. MSCHF appeared first on LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION™.

Trademark 138
article thumbnail

Sustainable and inclusive growth: A weekly briefing

McKinsey Operations

A new era is possible—one that sees growth and societal benefits as complementary goals that reinforce each other. Our weekly digest of McKinsey insights explores the topic.

140
140
article thumbnail

Court Orders For All US ISPs to Block Pirate Sites Have Been Suspended

TorrentFreak

In dozens of countries around the world, copyright holders have the ability to take legal action to compel ISPs to block the domains of pirate sites. These domain blocking mechanisms were pioneered by mostly US companies seeking to enforce their rights overseas. They sought something broadly similar through the SOPA legislation in the United States but when that failed, no effort was made to test a blocking request in court under existing law.

Copyright 145
article thumbnail

Note to Senators: U.S. Patent Office Remains Under a Permanent Injunction

IP Watchdog

On June 8, 2022, Senators Leahy, Blumenthal, Klobuchar, Cornyn, Collins and Braun sent a letter to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Kathi Vidal expressing concern about so-called “patent thickets” and requesting that she consider changes to the USPTO regulations and practices to address perceived problems with patent examination. The senators asked the USPTO to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (which presumably must include new draft regulations) or at a minimum, a public r

Patent 136
article thumbnail

UK Government will introduce a new text and data mining copyright exception in response to AI and IP consultation

The IPKat

The UK government has published its response to its consultation on Intellectual Property and Artificial Intelligence. Back in 2021, the UK IPO undertook a consultation on AI and IP covering: copyright in works made by AI; text and data mining using copyright material; and patents for inventions devised by AI. The consultation ran from 29 October 2021 to 7 January 2022.

article thumbnail

Book Release: The Finished Article: Essays on Indian Designs Law

SpicyIP

We’re pleased to bring to you a guest post by Eashan Ghosh on his second book, recently released titled “The Finished Article: Essays on Indian Designs Law” Eashan has been practicing as an intellectual property advocate and consultant in New Delhi since 2011, and teaches a seminar on intellectual property law at National Law University, Delhi.

Design 133
article thumbnail

Content Moderators’ Lawsuit Over Traumatic Work Fails Again–Aguilo v. Cognizant

Technology & Marketing Law Blog

This case involves Cognizant, a business process outsourcer (BPO) that performed content moderation work for Facebook. (Cognizant has since exited the field). In 2021, a federal court dismissed a putative class action lawsuit against Cognizant for trauma experienced by the content moderators. See Garrett-Alfred v. Facebook. Some of the content moderators in that case filed a new lawsuit in state court, which Cognizant removed back to federal court, where the court dismisses it again.

Contracts 126
article thumbnail

Transforming advanced manufacturing through Industry 4.0

McKinsey Operations

Manufacturers in industries such as automotive and electronics, nearing the tipping point of digital adoption, are achieving even faster and more sustainable change through Industry 4.0.

137
137
article thumbnail

YouTube and Uploaded Could be Liable For Pirating Users, Court Rules

TorrentFreak

YouTube users upload millions of hours of videos a week. As with any user-generated content site, this also includes copyright-infringing content. The file-hosting platform Uploaded faces similar issues. While it can be used to share legal files, some people use it to share pirated content. This is a thorn in the side of several rightsholders, who argue that YouTube and Uploaded are liable for the infringing activities of their users.

article thumbnail

Vidal to Review Institution of Cases Against VLSI Under Interim Director Review Process

IP Watchdog

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Kathi Vidal has intervened in two Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) cases that have caused much controversy in the patent world. Vidal yesterday granted Director Review in both OpenSky Industries, LLC v. VLSI Technology LLC, IPR2021-01064 and Patent Quality Assurance, LLC v. VLSI Technology LLC, IPR2021-01229, both of which have been the subject of scrutiny by members of Congress and patent practitioners, since the petitioners involve

article thumbnail

[Guest post] BAYC sues Ryder Ripps over unauthorized minting of NFTs

The IPKat

The IPKat is pleased to host the guest contribution below by Katfriend Paolo Maria Gangi (Studio Gangi) on a very recent development concerning NFTs and IP. Here's what Paolo Maria writes: BAYC sues Ryder Ripps over unauthorized minting of NFTs by Paolo Maria Gangi Ryder Ripps The Bored Apes Yacht Club (BAYC) is one of the world’s most prominent and well-known NFT projects by Yuga Labs.

article thumbnail

TRIPS Waiver: Is There Anything To Gain?

SpicyIP

We’re pleased to bring you a guest post with an update with the Covid-19 TRIPS waiver from Sreenath Namboodiri. You can read the previous posts we’ve had on the TRIPS Waiver here. Sreenath is Assistant Professor at School of Law, Christ (Deemed to be University) Delhi NCR. His research focuses on intellectual property rights in relation to health systems, sustainable development and innovation, pharmaceutical patents, knowledge governance, and technology and law.

Licensing 133