Making the Most of It

The protection of intellectual property in china has long been high on the list of concerns for innovative foreign companies looking to do business there. What little legal framework existed around intellectual property rights (IPR) has been difficult and time-consuming to enforce. There are signs, however, that the situation may be improving for companies which use trademarks, logos and branding in the People’s Republic.

In a recent case, newly amended Chinese trademark legislation was put to the test when the American speciality coffee retailer Starbucks accused a local Shanghai company of copying their trading name and logo.

Starbucks opened its first Shanghai outlet on Huaihai Road on May 4, 2000, building on the success of its dozens of stores across Taiwan and the rest of mainland China. Shortly prior to this opening, a local company had registered its own business name - Xingbake Coffee Co. Ltd. - with the Shanghai authorities. By 2003, the Chinese firm had opened two outlets in Shanghai using the trade name ‘Xingbake’.

The legal dispute between Starbucks and their local competitor arose because ‘xing’ translates from Mandarin as ’star’ and ‘ba-ke’ is an approximate phonetic rendition of ‘bucks’. Although Starbucks does not officially use this rough translation in China, the word ‘Xingbake’ has become synonymous with the US firm’s outlets amongst the public.

Starbucks considered that, by trading under a similar name and by the use of a very similar green and white logo, Shanghai Xingbake was competing unfairly. On this basis, Starbucks filed a law suit against Xingbake in Shanghai on December 23, 2003, alleging trademark infringement.

In reply to the accusation, Mao Yibo, General Manager of Xingbake, said that his company has registered its enterprise name with the Shanghai authorities in March 2000, before Starbucks was established in the region. By using the name ‘Xingbake’, he claimed that his company was simply using its legitimate title instead of a trademark.

Mao denied that the name of his company and its logo had been influenced by their Seattle-based rival. “We invented ‘Xingbake’ as our brand when we planned to start a café business in Shanghai and it is just a coincidence that our name is the same with Chinese version of Starbuck [sic]”, he said. “The logo was designed by our own staff. To be frank, I hadn’t heard of Starbucks at the time, so how could I imitate its brand or logo?”

Chen Naiwei, director of the Intellectual Property Research Centre of Shanghai’s Jiaotong University does not accept this, explaining that ‘Xingbake’ has been used as the sole translation of ‘Starbucks’ in Taiwan since 1998. This predates the registration of Xingbake’s enterprise name in Shanghai by two years.

Despite Mao Yibo’s claims and his further assertions that Xingbake’s serving style and target market differ substantially from those of Starbucks, Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court found in favour of the American giant on December 31, 2005 - two years after the law suit was filed.

Shanghai Xingbake was ordered to stop using its name, issue an apology in a local newspaper and pay 500,000 Yuan (US$62,000) in compensation to Starbucks.

The basis of the Court’s decision was the relatively newly amended Trademark Laws of the People’s Republic of China, which came into force on October 27, 2001. The amendments form part of a raft of revised legislation introduced to protect the owners of intellectual property in China. Under the new laws, the Court determined that the name ‘Starbucks’, written in Chinese or English, was sufficiently well known to be deemed a famous trademark and was, therefore, entitled to protection.

This ruling is the first of its kind under the new legislation and may be an indication that China is responding to pressure from the European Union and the United States to crack down on IPR infringements and counterfeiting. China is believed to be the source of around 70% of the world’s pirated goods at a cost of around US$250bn each year to US companies alone.

In a statement released on January 18, Jiang Zian, the attorney for Shanghai Xingbake confirmed that the company had already begun an appeal against the judgement in the Shanghai Higher People’s Court. Jiang explained that Xingbake does not use the English translation ‘Starbucks’ and had no plans to counter claim against their competitor for using the same Chinese name. “The problem is they use Xingbake as the brand name in Chinese and we use it as our company name. We just want to keep our company name and run our own business”, Jiang said. A spokesperson for Starbucks later confirmed that it would be defending itself against the appeal.

Starbucks now has 156 outlets in mainland China and has a presence close to some of the country’s most iconic locations, including the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. At up to US$6 per cup, the company’s coffee costs more than the average Chinese worker makes in a day. Despite this, Starbucks coffee is increasingly popular with China’s emerging urban middle class.

About the author
Thomas Moore is Director of Computer Forensics for TKM Technologies Ltd. - a UK firm providing computer forensics and data recovery services to corporate clients in Europe, South-East Asia and the US.

Thomas is a professionally accredited member of the British Computer Society and the Expert Witness Institute.

Through the firm’s website at http://www.tkmtechnologies.com he helps companies to identify and fulfil the need for computer forensics.

Thomas can be contacted by e-mail to thomas@tkmtechnologies.com or by phone on +44 (0)1773 770 267.

More frequently, many of my clients have been approaching me regarding the topic of patenting their unique business model, i.e. methods of doing business. So can a method of doing business be patentable? Yes. In 1998, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the patent laws did extend to protect any method so long as it produced a “useful, concrete and tangible result.” The case spawned a slew of “business method patents” and “Internet patents.” The most cited example of business method patents has been Amazon’s “One-Click” system, which allows a prior customer to place a new order without having to reenter the customer’s address and credit card data when placing an order online (U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,411). Some other examples of business method patents are: an internet auction system in which a user names the highest prices they are willing to pay and the first seller gets the purchase (U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,207); a method that gives a monetary incentive to citizens to view political messages on the Internet (U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,008).

Business method patents have raised quite a controversy over the years, primarily because many felt that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (”USPTO”) had issued many undeserving business method patents. What may have been a response to the criticism, in 2001 the USTPO required that business method inventions must apply, involve, use or advance the “technological arts.” The requirement essentially meant that it could be met by requiring that the invention be carried out by a computer.

However, in October 2005, the USPTO held that there is no requirement of the “technological arts.” The USPTO reached that conclusion in Ex parte Lundgren, Appeal No. 2003-2088 (BPAI 2005) which focused on a patent application that claimed a “method of compensating a manager.”

So what does all this mean to prospective inventors? The Lundgren case has essentially expanded the scope of business methods patents by giving inventors the opportunity to pursue patent protection for inventions that do not have a technological aspect. Therefore, business method patent applications such as the one in Lundgren, (which claimed a method of steps for determining the salary of an executive so as to foster competition among other executives) which were initially rejected by the USPTO, are now getting allowed and ultimately issued. Now before everyone starts getting trigger happy for business method patents, the USPTO did provide guidelines that should be met. The patent should either transform an article or physical object to a different state or thing, or, the claim method should produce a useful, concrete and tangible result. For now, it appears that the Lundgren case has rekindled some of the optimism of business method patents that has been extinguished for quite some time.

Michael N. Cohen, Esq. is a licensed patent attorney and is the principal of the Law Office of Michael N. Cohen, P.C., located in Beverly Hills, California. Mr. Cohen can be contacted at info@patentlawip.com or 323-556-0648.

© 2006 Michael N. Cohen, Esq.
This article is not intended as a substitute for legal advice. The specific facts that apply to your matter may make the outcome different than would be anticipated by you. You should consult with an attorney familiar with the issues and the laws.

Fingerprints are something most people don’t spend too much time thinking about on a daily basis. In fact, unless someone is trying to remove pesky fingerprints from furniture or mirrors, it’s unlikely an average person thinks about fingerprints at all.

However, for some, fingerprints are a vital part of their work life. Law enforcement officers and forensic specialists spend hours thinking about how fingerprints solve crimes, and trying to find, collect, record and compare these unique identifiers that can connect a specific person to a specific crime. These individuals understand that a basic human feature that most people take for granted, can be one of the most effective tools in crime solving.

Every person is born with their own unique set of fingerprints. No two fingerprints have ever been found to be exactly alike; not on identical twins (although these are extremely similar), not even on a person’s own hand. The unique whorls and lines that make up an individual’s fingerprints are formed in the foetal stage and remain the same throughout the entire life span. This makes for a unique mark that can positively identify one individual against another, particularly useful when a person of interest already has a recorded set of fingerprints on file with police, military or other government institutions.

Fingerprints are made up of a collection of swirling lines. The way these lines form and pattern themselves is what makes each fingerprint unique. Despite the incredible number of different fingerprints, there are only seven different types of lines that make up fingerprints. These lines may start, stop or split at any place within the print. The formations, angles, lengths, heights and widths make billions and billions of different prints.

With their unique qualities, it becomes easy to see how fingerprints can help solve crimes. Leaving a fingerprint is like leaving a calling card at the crime scene. There are a few different ways fingerprints get left behind by careless crooks. The most common way is from fat or oil that is transferred from the finger to an object like a doorframe or table. Amino acids from the finger may also leave a discernable mark. Fingerprints can also be detected as an impression in a soft substance such as putty. Finally, they can be made by a substance on the finger such as blood or paint.

Uncovering fingerprints to help solve a crime can be done in a few ways. Adhering powders to fresh fingerprints will cause the powder to stick to the grease and make the fingerprint visible. Another method is by using a few drops of cyano-acrylate or superglue. When these drops are heated, they vaporized and the smoke attaches to the fingerprint leaving a clear white print. Specialised crime scene laboratory equipment can also find fingerprints, but not all authorities have access to all equipment.

Fingerprints can be saved for further investigation in a number of ways, including:

• take a photograph of the print
• store it on a rubber lifter or tape
• keep the original ground the print is on
• copy the print using digital technology

Ideally, from a crime-solving perspective, it is hoped the interconnected nature of our society will eventually lead to having all fingerprint databases linked for easy cross-reference. However, there are several issues to be dealt with, such as funding, jurisdictional bickering, security and privacy to consider before such a fingerprint system can exist. For more information on finger printing please feel free to visit our site at http://www.justfingerprints.com/

Fingerprints are something most people don’t spend too much time thinking about on a daily basis. In fact, unless someone is trying to remove pesky fingerprints from furniture or mirrors,go to our site at http://www.justfingerprints.com

Many years after forming a new business, your company may receive a letter telling you that your company’s name is infringing upon another company’s name. This could lead to either your company being forced to change its name or undergo litigation. In Illinois, a corporation or a limited liability company registered with the Secretary of State can have a name similar to a company located outside the state. This then leads the prevention of trademark infringement up to the company itself or a corporate attorney.

You will need to obtain a trademark in one of two ways. First, your company name can be registered in the Federal Trademark System. By doing this, you would have exclusive control over that name for usually a 10-year period, which can be renewed every 10 years. If anyone uses a “confusingly similar” name, this is trademark infringement. Second, you can enforce your mark, within your territory, based on common law. Your territory could be considered a geographical area where your name has become familiar with your particular goods or services. However, a company in Washington State could have the same name as a company in Illinois.

When you organize your company, a thorough search is needed to be sure your new company name is not already taken. First, Federal trademarks can be searched. Also, a TESS (Trademark Electronic Search System) search on the internet is needed. Visiting a Patent Library in Illinois can be done as well. Finally, a private firm can be hired to do a search for you. To search for a case law trademark, look at the Secretary of State’s website, phone directories, or other legal databases. You may also consider registering an internet domain name to both protect your company’s name and use it for marketing purposes.

Nicolosi & Associates - Attorneys at Law Since 1948. Skilled in the law. Experienced in business. http://www.nicolosilaw.com

Most of our attention is spent focused on the creation and maintenance of our revocable living trust.

But what happens after we die? How does the trust carry out its terms and end?

Basically, the process of terminating a revocable living trust upon a death is the reverse of the creation of the revocable living trust.

First, the trustee will collect and value the assets held in the trust (or put into the trust after the death occurs, such as life insurance).

This is called the “inventory and appraisement.” This is done to determine if an estate tax is due. It is also done to make sure all assets have been located and all bills (creditor’s claims) have been paid.

While this is happening, the trustee will also send notice of the death to the beneficiaries and to potential creditors (medical providers, funeral homes, etc.). This starts a statutory time period that creditors can make claim against the trust for payment.

After the inventory and appraisement is complete, the trustee will determine if an estate tax is due and payable. If so, the necessary forms will be prepared, filed, and the tax paid.

Once the creditors claim period has expired and the estate tax return has been accepted, then the trustee is ready to make distribution according to the directions contained in the revocable living trust.

The whole process of winding up and terminating a revocable living trust is very similar to the probate process. The main difference is that the trust administration is handled privately by the trustee, while the probate administration is done under the supervision of the probate court.

Good luck and until next time,

Phil Craig

P.S. Feel free to forward this on to any friends.

Phil Craig is a licensed attorney and entreprenuer.
He started practicing law at age 25 in 1979.
He does not take on any more clients, but is
advisor to some of the biggest names in the internet
world. He shares his knowledge gained over the
last 25 years at his Living Trust Secrets newsletter site:
click here=========>http://www.LivingTrustSecrets.com

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Sarbanes Oxley compliance is not a one-day, a one-month, or even a one-year project; instead, Sarbanes Oxley compliance should be built into your corporate infrastructure as early as possible when you begin making changes. The more quickly you transition your business into long-term strategy change, the better you’re going to be able to control Sarbanes Oxley compliance issues.

There are a number of issues you can expect to impede this process:

Project mindset - Your managers will probably look at Sarbanes Oxley compliance as a project with a clearly definable endpoint. This is not at all the case. The more quickly you can move to change their attitude, the more likely you’ll have a clear and simple transition into the new way of doing business. You can use such items as continual education and newsletter updates as ways to show your managers that you expect Sarbanes Oxley to change the way they do business forever.

Manpower issues - Sarbanes Oxley compliance is not friendly to businesses who are trying to streamline their workforce. Though you may have to increase the size of your employee pool at the beginning of your Sarbanes Oxley compliance process, you can expect this pool to decrease as you gradually fold Sarbanes Oxley compliance methodologies into your normal way of doing business.

Poorly-defined roles in internal control - if you don’t clearly lay out responsibilities such as auditing, accountability, and project management, your Sarbanes Oxley compliance]tasks are going to be needlessly complicated. You should also make it very clear whose roles it will be to see to the Sarbanes Oxley rollout and to whom these people will be ultimately answerable.

Improvisational approaches - Jumping into Sarbanes Oxley compliance will simply not work. You need to step back and plan how you’re going to be incorporating the structures and requirements of Sarbanes Oxley into your daily work routines. And once a plan has been defined, you must follow the plan, and ensure everyone else is also following it.

Underestimating the Impact to Technology - Sarbanes Oxley would simply not have been possible twenty years ago. Technology is critical for your compliance with this act. You can expect to make significant technology investments as you procede to implement Sarbanes Oxley compliance. Investments will cover such things as sustainable compliance with repository, work flow, and audit trail functionality. In addition, your internal control monitoring and reporting will depend heavily on technology. At some large corporations, it might be worth looking into hiring another full-time IT person who has been specifically trained in implementing and maintaining Sarbanes Oxley technological infrastructure.

Ignored Risks - Risk assessment is vital in Sarbanes Oxley compliance. One of the first meetings you should have as you implement Sarbanes Oxley compliance is one on risk management. Inadequately assessing risk can lead to serious financial reporting errors that can render your investment in training and compliance useless.

Successful Sarbanes Oxley compliance

Your framework for sustained Sarbanes Oxley compliance should include the following:

* Effective, efficent evaluation of testing, remediating, monitoring, and reporting controls * Integration of financial and internal control processes * Proper use of technology to comply with Sarbanes Oxley requirements * Clear roles and responsibilities, a solid chain of command, and assigned accountability * Continual education and training in Sarbanes Oxley compliance * Adaptability and flexibility to respond to Sarbanes Oxley compliance-induced changes

If you are looking for names of attorneys, you can look for it from many resources. You can ask the advice of your friends or a health professional or even your family doctor. The Yellow Pages can be a good search or the online lawyer directory. If you still cannot find one that is best for you, you can get in touch with a State Bar lawyer referral service.

Finding a personal injury lawyer is not a hard task but finding the best lawyer can be one in a million. If you refer to a lawyer who has not been in the service for quite a long time or a beginner, it will be like gambling your case. A lawyer who is new in the service is not yet stable and handling tough cases is unmanageable.

To find the best personal injury lawyer, you can seek advice from an attorney that you trust. If you have no idea of where to find one, you can ask your friends for the names of the attorneys that they have worked with and trust. The name of the lawyer is not that important. What is important is the service that he can offer to handle your case. He should also be well-positioned so that you will be confident enough that he can handle your case as expected. Try to find out an attorney in your community who contain the skills to handle cases such as yours. If the attorney rejects your case, he will most probably refer you to a good lawyer who is good in handling your case.

You need to understand that the attorneys often receive what they call “referral fees” when they are sending personal injury cases to other law firms or other lawyers. This fee amounts to be significant because it is usually from about a quarter to a third of the fee that you pay to the lawyer who will be handling your case. This will give the attorney motivation to pass on to you some information about a good personal injury lawyer. If you are quite uncomfortable with the referral fee, you can mind to ask the lawyer if he is going to ask for a referral fee. Of course, you will be the one paying the attorney he recommends so it will be just right that you know. Finding a good lawyer is not that hard at all. You just need to be decisive and eager to find one just by asking.

For more related articles, you may visit http://www.attorneyservicesetc.com

By now you have probably heard about a little drug known as BEXTRA. Just in case you have been out of the loop, it is a medicine that treats the pain and inflammation of arthritis. On April 7, the Food and Drug Administration requested that Pfizer suspend sales of BEXTRA in the United States in light of the FDA’s position that there is an increased cardiovascular risk for all prescription non-steroidal anti-inflammatory arthritis medicines, as well as the increased rate of rare, serious skin reactions.

The Bad news.

The bad news is this. If you have been taking Bextra, you have been unknowingly increasing your risk of having cardiovascular complications.

The Good News.

The good news is, not only can you get a refund, in most cases, from your local pharmacy, but you may also have a strong case if you decide to contact a lawyer that specializes in Dangerous Drugs.

If you have taken any kind of dangourous drug, you should never feel guilty about finding out more about your legal options. Research not only the medicine in question, but also alternative medicines so you don’t end up in a similar situation. When you feel comfortable talking about the situation, find a Lawyer specialized in the drug in question. Which in this case would be a Bextra Lawyer.

Until next time, Have a great day!

Contact an Experienced
Bextra Lawyer today.

Find a Bextra Product
Liability lawyer today at hugesettlements.

For more information on Dangourous drugs, visit our
Dangerous Drugs Lawyer page.

If you have been denied Social Security disability or SSI benefits and are appealing the decision at a hearing, there are steps you can take to ensure a favorable decision. You can win your Social Security appeal without hiring an attorney.

When Social Security denies your application for disability or SSI benefits you have 60 days to file an appeal. In most states you will first file for reconsideration and your State’s Disability Determination Service will re-evaluate your case. If this reconsideration is denied again you will have another 60 days to request a hearing before an administrative law judge.

Hearings are held in Social Security’s Office of Hearings and Appeals. When this office schedules a hearing for you they will set up a time for you to appear before an administrative law judge to argue your case. At this hearing you will be able to present any new medical evidence you have to support your claim. You may also bring witnesses to speak on your behalf. This could include an attorney or disability representative. You are not required to hire an attorney or representative; however, if you choose to have representation this individual will receive 25% of your back pay should you win.

Instead of having an attorney represent you, bring other qualified individuals to speak on your behalf. This can include your doctor, social worker, and family members. Your family members know the most about your disability. They know how it affects you on a daily basis. This testimony could be extremely valuable if you rely on your family members for daily activities such as bathing, dressing, and using the facilities.

Organize your case before attending the hearing. You should know what you want to say and how you are going to say it. Don’t be afraid to use notes or an outline. Present your case in a logical manner with witnesses and medical evidence to support your argument and you will be well on your way to winning your Social Security Disability or SSI appeal. For more information on Social Security appeals visit Social Security Laid Bare using the link below.