Pursuing North Korea with IP
In case you did not know,
North Korea is involved in producing and exporting counterfeit cigarettes. I am glad this story as resurfaced (I remember it from a Wall Street Journal article about a year ago), since it allows me to share an idea.
In the past as well I have mentioned the case of Mr Hong Sok Jung, a North Korean writer. A North Korean "Foundation" is trying to enforce his copyrights in South Korea. A rather unique way to obtain hard currency (for all of you who think Mr. Hong will see any of the money, the "short bus" is here to take you home). In the last article about the Foundation's efforts "for" Mr. Hong there was this observation from the foundation's South Korean lawyer:
Chung Yeon-soon, the lawyer of Hankyul who represents Hong, said the writer brought the case through the Foundation of Inter-Korea Cooperation, which North Korea entrusted with copyrights of the North’s writings...[Chung said] Hong is entitled to file the suit, as the Constitution stipulates that the territory of the Republic of Korea is the Korean Peninsula and nearby islands. Thus, the Korean law is effective in the North.
|f that is true for copyright law, it should also be true for laws such as Trademark Law and Unfair Competition Law. Perhaps somebody should find out a little more about the counterfeiting in the North and file a criminal complaint here in the South.
Samsung Life
Who knew Samsung Life's mascots were so cute?
Who knew the Star had blue "equipment"?
Happy holidays everyone!
Korea Times Gains New Cash
Or well thats what
this article should be titled. Here is the opening paragraph:
Who? You ever hear of them? What do you say we start a pool on how much this cost "one of the nation's top education firms."?
Anyway, I bring this up to share an old semi-joke I have. You know what would be the biggest money generator in Korea? English language phone-sex. Seriously, phone-sex makes money, pseudo english instruction by phone makes money. Think what the combination could yield.
Korea top music downloader
According
to an OECD study, 80% of Korean students download music, the highest among OECD nations. How many of those do you think are doing it legally?
The "K"
Apparently the new 5000 won bills do not take to water. You got to love the way the Joongang Ilbo puts this:
I hope he sees a doctor about that. Thats both embarrassing and expensive.
Dispatch from the porn belt
CNN on the plan to show panda porn in Bangkok. As any seasoned traveler in Asia knows, its not finding the porn in Bangkok that is the problem. The problem is making sure your panda is a panda and not something else in fancy make-up.
3M Infrigement
Hey 3M Call your IP counsel in Korea. Found this in a major chain store in Seoul.
Economic Impact of Hwang
A regular Korea Times columnist,
Chang Se-moon, tries to explain the economic impact of the Hwang scandal. I say "tries" since when ever I read his work I am disappointed as it reads as a introduction to economics for 12 year olds. This is not to degrade his work, it is very likely that this is what he is tasked to do considering the average persons unfamiliarity of the subject, and the standard for reading English in Korea is Newsweek which is written at a 6th grade level. Anyway, I could quibble, but I won't. On the whole it does a good introductory survey of the sources of costs resulting from the scandal. However I want to share it for this howler of statement:
"Two members of the Korea's stem cell research group went to Pittsburg [sic] to hand over $10,000 to one Korean researcher and $20,000 to another Korean researcher who were working on the project at the University of Pittsburg [sic]...Since it is highly unlikely that the government funds allow such payment, I am assuming that private funds were used to make such payment."
How the heck is it difficult to believe that government funds were not used? Even more inexplicable, Chang goes on to list possible corruption in the private sector. Why is difficult believe that the government was not also involved? Or for that matter give the fact the Korean government has already been found previously to bribe nefarious people for Public Relations (yes this means you Kim Dae-jung), how is it difficult to believe it is not reverting to type?
Sorry, mini-rant over.
I hope Math Department was not involved
The Dong-A has an interesting round up of the results from the first essay exams used for the college entrance exams. Most of the observations are unsurprising for a seasoned observer, particularly the "sameness" of the essays of those who relied on cramming schools. However I have big problem with this subhead:
This term "Diamond Shaped" is used repeatedly in the article. Now I took a fair amount of statistics for my Economics degree, and I have yet to hear of a "Diamond Shaped" distribution. I sure hope the math department was not involved in the grading.
Finally if you want to test yourself, check out this sample:
Do you think students got extra credit for using "paradigm", "ubiquitous", or "blue ocean strategy"?
Korea's Protest Culture
Doing my part to promote Korea's protest culture I point to this caption:
Click through to see the picture. What exactly is a green dye doing in fish, and why are the farmers protesting not being able to use it?
Ubiquitious Watch
The new Konglish we all love to hate.
Korean Logos
I am still on the fence on what to think of Choe Yong-shik, an advertising critic that writes for the Korea Times. I can agree with his logic, but disagree with his argument.
Recently he had large article talking about the new crops of Cheabol logos and their creation. He aptly points out part of the problem is that these companies want their brand to be everything to everybody.
However, what I think is notable, all these slogans would not be as damaging as long as the companies' butts can cash the checks their brands write. Perhaps the real problem is not only a lack of focus in the branding, but also a lack of business focus. If they had a more properly defined product set, the brand takes care of itself. Much can be said in this regard for the McDonand's logo. By itself it does not mean much, nor does the company invent over-wrought fantasy explanations like SK does. However, everyone knows what the arches mean with their limited product set.
Then again, you have a very focused company in KT&G with the puzzling tragic branding campaign of "Korea Tomorrow and Global". Like I said I am on the fence.
If life gives you lemons...
An inadvertently hilarious press release was made by a auto parts seller trying to promote its Hyundai replacement grilles. Well worth the full read here so you can see what goes into Hyundai's corporate identity, including the classic Korean over-wrought explanation of their logo. What I love its this line trying to put the best face on the situation:
"Hyundai Enthusiasts"?
KDU - Konglish Disasters and You!
A while ago the Taehan Sugar Corp changed its retail arm (franchise owner of Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robins as well as owner of Paris Baguette and others). While I could not understand it at the time, they change the name to the inexplicable letters SPC. Well in
a Korea Times article recently the beans were spilled. SPC means "Superb company with Passionate & Creative people"...HAB! "Head needs Aspirin to make it feel Better!"
Can somebody explain this to me?
From the Chosun Ilbo:
A. How many people have a fax? Seriously. I have yet to see one outside of an office or the rare corner stationary shop in Korea.
B. How does fact you have to fill out the same burdensome paper work routine and fax it make it more simple?
Tax Service to Forgeiners "Give Us More, You Spend Too Much"
In a sure sign that will promote Korea as the foreigner friendly Hub of Northeast Fantasyland the Tax Service is auditing firms for puzzling reasons:
So let me get this straight, in one of the most expensive places in the world for a foreigner to do business, known for a complicated costly distribution system, known for excessive red tape, and anecdotally known for overcharging foreigners the National Tax Service is surprised to find companies with high operating costs?
Woori At It Again
For some time Woori Bank has been under fire for its name. "Woori" means "our", and "our bank", especially considering Korean social and linguistic habits, can create much confusion.
Well now the bank is selling its self as a "Native Bank", and as you can tell selling patriotism. The bank's president froths with nationalistic fervor unseen since the first signs of the Hwang disaster:
One could say this is a publicity stunt, what bothers me however is Woori is the last large bank owned by the Korean government. Is this a position held by the government? What kind of sign does this send as they encourage finance companies to buy into the "hub" idea? We also have to point out the obvious, the only reason why Woori is a "native bank" is its management balance sheet is so bad that its was the ugly girl at the foreign acquisition ball. I mean who could forget a few years ago when Woori was giddy as a school girl when HSBC looked at her?
KT&G Investment Thoughts
A big story was in the Korea Times recently on the fact that Carl Icahn is has bought a small stake in the company, and because of Icahn's history takeover rumors are swirling. There is this odd quote from Cho Sung-ok of Korea Investment and Securities:
I would like to propose that is indeed the fact WHY a takeover of the company could be considered. Unlike most Korean companies management is not distracted by various business units, and further because of its lack of expansion into other areas it likely has a much better debt portfolio than other Korean companies. Oh and as the article says, the fact it is undervalued and has a 75% share of the local market makes it a pretty good target as well.
What makes Arirang TV so HAPPY!
In a post I just wrote I noted Arirang TV, a satellite TV channel funded by the Korean Government to promote Korean culture and tourism worldwide. For some of us who live over here it is a source of derision. However if you keep the premise in mind, its a 24 hour long Korea infomercial, it is actually well done in my opinion. That said I do not watch it for the sole reason I can not take its contiguously upbeat attitude. Even when the nightly news comes one, the reporters seem to be ghoulishly cheerful in reporting rare bad news they have on Korea.
Apparently we find out why Mr. Happy makes such a large presence at Arirang TV. The President of the station, Samuel Koo, has been controlled by Mr. Happy according to the Korea Times:
Man, imagine the pick-up lines the head of Arirang TV uses "You know that 12 part 36 hour long series on Korean pottery? That was my idea!", "Whata say we go back to my place for some wonderful traditional Korean culture?", or "Hey baby you want to kiss my little Admiral Yi?"
Another Apologist Makes Me Queasy
Why are there so many violent protests in Korea? Is it because protesters, like the "Hong Kong 11" find nothing wrong with attacking police with steel pipes, slingshots, and improvised firearms? Is it because of lax enforcement? Is it because elaborate protests and rallies are an excepted main stream form of political dialogue?
Why of course not silly! Its all the media's fault:
EU Chamber Cites IP
At another "We keep telling you this 'Hub' idea ain't going to work." conference, this one sponsored by the Korean Federation of Industry,
EU Chamber of Commerce VP cites IP infringement as one of the hurdles to foreign investment in Korea.
What is he smoking? Where can I get some?
At a seminar in Seoul held by the Korea Institute of Industrial Economics and Trade (which some how is represented KIET):
Takashi Omori from Japan’s Cabinet Office...insisted that the two countries team up with each other to market Asian values and their own cultures to the world.
I love to be a fly on the wall when that trial balloon is offical floated. These are two countries that are fought a bitter battle worldwide if the english spelling is "Kimchi" or "Kimuchi" (Korea one that one by the way)
Amusing Headlines
You got to love these two headlines printed in the Korea Times on the same day:
Australian Cites Korea as Origin of Fakes
In Japan it is legal to import fake goods as long as they are for "personal use". This has led to a network of "mules" carrying counterfeit goods into the country under the pretence that they are for their own use. Most fake goods come from China or South Korea.
Party Animal
I try to keep my politics out of this site, but I got to love
this dispatch from the Wall Street Journal's Brendan Miniter:
Rep. John Boehner, also running for majority leader, is sounding a similar note, quoting the 40th president [Ronald Reagan] extensively in his 37-page proposal on how to get the party back on track.
I am pretty sure anybody who takes 37 pages to spell out his approach to the GOP and govrenment is not in the Gipper's mold.
Attention iRiver
You can't get better product placement for your MP3 player than this. Apple beware!
Thanks to the Lost Nomad
Site Updates
I am getting the hang of this Blogger interface and added Frappr! map for the fun of it. See it on the bottom left. I am awfuly lonely in the world at the moment (sniff!)
Perhaps I really should do a links page to all you wonderful people who have linked to me.
Marketing 101
Lesson: When you decide on a logo for your city, make sure it cannot be described as "blu-poo".
North Korean Copyright Licencing Pact Signed
The title says it all.
Pirated Software Drops in Korea
A government body called "Program Deliberation and Mediation Committee" (likely a bad translation) announced that in 2005 the percentage of programs in use that are pirated dropped for a third year. The current rate is 32%. By user 16% of businesses and 43.4% of households used pirated software. For businesses the most popular pirated programs were utility and maintenance programs. Households tended to steal multimedia software, graphics and CAD, and web development tools.
Now that is the article I read. What I do not understand is most of the pirated software for "Households" are business applications. As I mentioned before about flawed polling methodologies being rampant in Korea, I wonder they are defining a "business" versus a "Household".
Copyright Standards Set by Procecution
Adding all the recent developments into one compendium,
the Seoul Central Prosecutors Office sets down its guidelines for what they consider prosecutable copyright infringement. In a nutshell, if you don't make money off of it in anyway, its legal. They say the reason for the ruling is partly due to the cost of investigating thousands, and the impact of making thousands of minors criminals. Most notably, such a move would make the NoFree collation move to prosecute individuals more difficult.
Wrong Shoulder
The headline "
Mixed Charts Lead to Wrong Surgeries" in the Korea Times reminds me of story from my youth. About 15 years ago my sister had an operation on her left shoulder. When my sister was out cold minutes before the surgery my dad entered the room she was in. My dad prosecuted many malpractice cases in his days as a young lawyer, and in the room he pulled out a Sharpie and in his characteristic humor wrote on the right shoulder "WRONG SHOULDER DUMMY!!!" My dad thought it was very funny. My sister did not find the humor when she awoke. No idea what the doctor thought of it. Hopefully he never saw it.
Coke Bottle Nation
Funny how I get done with one post about crappy survey methods to get
slapped in the face with another in the Chosun:
That's the best they can do data wise? They make that conclusion out of sample like that? How sloppy can you get?
The article goes on to quote different experts making unsupported speculations on the causes of this dubious statistic. For all the actual facts presented it reminds of other articles. Perhaps they should have found a doctor that says poor eyesight is caused by eating kimchi.
Survey Results
As many of you know, a pet hobby on this blog is to poke holes in erroneous statistics. I was asked recently about why I am so distrustful of Korean surveys and statistics. One reason is because the methodology of the surveys are usually flawed.
Take this one:
The problem I have with this survey is the fact it was conducted by e-mail. Despite Korea's vaunted internet penetration rate, this is still flawed methodology to me since there are a number of factors that influence the randomness of this survey. Foremost is the fact that respondents self-select themselves. Think about it, if you got a survey from a random company, would you fill it out unless your really care about the matter?
Bad Boy Maker a Bad Boy?
I do not know enough about this section of Korean law to form an opinion, but its worth noting.
The Chosun Ilbo reports that a woman who's old yearbook photo was included in a scene in the popular Korean movie Old Boy is suing the makers of the film. Apparently due to the circumstance where who photo came it "damaged [her] social position". She asks for the removal of her image from copies of the movies distributed by video media and the internet.
Samsung Comes In at #5
Samsung was recently ranked #5 among the top US Patent winners in 2005. However I do not think it was "Deluge" as the Chosun says as you
look at the competitors. It is interesting to note that many of Samsungs more focused competitors have the same number of patents. If you ask me with Samsung's aspirations to lead technology in so many broad areas they should be getting many more patents.
Welcome to Dynamic Korea. DUCK!
There is much talk of the initiative to place names on riot police uniforms, and such has spawned various other measures to cut down on violent protests. I would like to introduce an idea that has captivated me for a while to cut down on these things, promote it as an extreme tourist attraction. That right I recommend "Celebrating Korea's Protest Culture".
Think about the tour, Day one you visit the riot police academy for simulated training and breifing into common protester tactics (poles, slingshots, Molotov's, improvised firearms, etc.). The next day you take a tour around downtown Seoul seeing not only the traditional sites, but all the scattered protests in the city that day. This tour culminates in getting your head shaved in protest. On day three you get to sit on on planning sessions by one of the various groups to organize turn-out, transportation, and organize the protest inspirational speakers (there's a circuit don't you know). Day Three highlights include learning to sing all 3+ verses of "Fucking USA" out of one side of your mouth while saying the protest is not anti-american with the other side. All this culminated on day four with going to the one demonstration in Korea that will turn violent that day. Since these places are fixed normally, you will be placed in an observation post to see how the whole thing develops. Please note it is rude to toast marshmallows on the man who self-immolates himself in the protest that day.
Lets turn this into an asset Korea! Think of all the fun new programing on Arirang! Think of "Let's learn Korean by writing in blood!"
Dispatach from the Porn Belt?
I do not know how to classify
this translation in the Dong-A:
Bring you tissues, I am sure it will be a tear jerker, or well some type of...well never mind.
Korean Ads Reconsidered
Last week I had a conversation with a friend of mine in the ad biz here in Korea. Its always nice to compare notes with him. While we racked up our complaints and observations, one thing was perhaps unsaid. "Will Korea grow out of this phase?" I was reminded of this thought as I saw over the weekend
a catalogue of old cigarette advertising. Consider the following ads, and how much they are like current Korean ad conventions:
What is wrong here? First note the clutter, way to much information. Compare this with a Korean ad. Second, a rather weak link between the spokesman (Santa here) and the product. I am reminded how recently a private loan company used, no joke, peeing Santa's to promote the service. Finally note the two products. Normally these would go to two distinct markets, yet the advertisers in one shot, there by weakening the brands of both. Again sound familiar?
Here we have the co-opting of, at that time, the made up word "Streamlined" when in fact there is nothing in the product that relates to such thing. Echoes of the popular "Green" and "Well-being" anyone?
Note here the use of pseudo-scientific system of the "T-zone". Sound like a familiar tool in Korea today?
This all reminds me of something a friend said when I fell into the Advertising business in Korea a few years ago. He pointed out that being from the west we are so media savvy to ad tricks and devices we not just filter out such things, but look at the filter and go "Ewwww". All ad markets when through a "Ewww" time, perhaps Korea just needs to evolve some.
Interesting little factoid about the current US Ambassador to Korea via the Korea Herald:
Makes me wonder how aggressive the US will be now on IP in Korea.
More money to science
A quick note,
according the Joongang Ilbo the government just gave grants to 11 scientists. The grants, up to around US$2 million are part of a new "Star Scientist" program. I wonder if the "Stars'" previous research underwent background checks.
Samsung and AU cross licence
Just a quick note for the record,
Samsung and AU Optronics of Tawian agree to cross license patents on displays (LCD, OLED, etc.)
Hwang's Legacy (again)
I find humor in the way that every week one Korean blog or another points to another Korean blog and proclaims the essay the "ultimate" say on Hwang. Let be frank, the magnitude of Hwang's perfidy and the uniquely Korean circus around it will insure that Hwang be an infamous touchstone and whipping boy for some time. As the chattering classes continue to top each other with profundity, the outside world makes its own comments.
Bloomberg has in interesting story on the impact of it all in Korea. Some highlights:
Korea ``is no longer a leader in stem cell research,'' Arthur Caplan, a University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine ethicist, said by e-mail on Jan. 10. ``It will take years to regain that status.''...
The world ``is shocked by the magnitude of Hwang's transgressions and will look very skeptically for some time on any `breakthrough' research achievements coming from Korea,'' Ronald Green, an ethics specialist, said.
``Sadly, Korean science as a whole has been damaged by this episode,'' said Green, director of Dartmouth's Ethics Institute in New Hampshire, in an e-mail on Jan. 11. ``Certainly, American and European researchers will be very wary of collaborating now with any Korean researchers.''
Speaking of "ultimate" words on Hwang, the Bloomberg article has this quote that reminded of
Oranckay's comments:
Lee Soo Hyun, a 56-year-old in Seoul with a spinal injury, said in a telephone interview last month that he desperately wants to believe in Hwang's work.
``If it turns out that Hwang had hoodwinked everyone, I would despair, feel utterly betrayed. I don't want to think of that possibility. That would be too horrible.''
Those who do not learn from history...
An interesting article on China's service industry on in the Economist. The funny thing, if you would substituted "China" for "Korea" it would be almost as true. I do know know if this says more about China or Korea. However I think it may means that such hurdles my be more difficult to overcome in China given Korea's experience. A sample from the article, "Koreanized":
The reason for this is a...bias towards manufacturing—“[Korea's] ‘real-men-make-stuff' attitude,” as...[a global consulting company's Seoul] office puts it. This has led to a plethora of ill-thought-through regulations for services, made worse by [Korea's] continuing suspicion of [non-chaebol] business, which is mostly concentrated in the services sector...
Worse, though [Korea] took a...decision to invite foreign direct investment into manufacturing, it has been reluctant to open up services. [A major global] consultancy's think-tank, argues that allowing more foreign investment in services could bring “not just capital and technology but a competitive dynamic...The presence of Carrefour and Wal-Mart leads to domestic copycats, creating innovation and productivity growth.”
Yet in many services—from telecoms, to the postal service and the media—[Korea] thwarts foreign firms with onerous regulations and inconsistent policies. In banking and other financial services, foreigners face limits on ownership and the types of business they can conduct. In legal services,...Lawyers' poor quality (the practice of bribing judges and rote learning of law means few can argue a case) could be helped by training from foreign firms. Yet foreign lawyers are barred at every turn. They cannot practice or comment on [Korean] law, cannot appear in a [Korean] court...
A shortage of well trained people—a complaint of almost every foreign multinational—is also holding back services growth. Many [Korean] employees, even qualified graduates, think rigidly rather than creatively and do not challenge authority or ask questions. That may be appropriate in a factory, but not when the client wants to find a clever way to win this contract or that license.
Read the article, the above changes surprisingly small. Good luck China.
Second thought, if this truly represents the service sector in both countries, it seriously begs the question why Korea should be hub of northeast Asia rather that Shanghai.
Taiwan over takes Korea?
News story form Reuters:
Taiwan breeds transgenic, fluorescent, green pig
Spot the Idiot
Does this Dong-A editorialist read is own work? How can you be so stupid, or careless, as to make this statement:
Hey Mensa wannabe, if the best you can see is 4cm x 4cm you likely cannot read the 9 point font of the New York Times!
Customs Seizes More Counterfeits
The Customs Service also seized about US$37 million in good with mislabeled origins.
It depends what fame of mind you put in in.
The Minsitry of Commerce, Industry,and Energy is changing the standards of what makes some made in Korea be labled "made in Korea". The idea is to combat firms that import forgien made products, do some minimal final assembly, then stamp "made in Korea". What struck me about the article is it becomes a perfect example of why experts say Korea has no chance in becoming a hub, unclear and burdensome govrement regulations. Can you make sense of these two statements:
So which is it? 51% by origin or 85% of the value added? Will it vary by industry? How many different classifications are there then? Granted much of this is not settled by the article, but the simple fact they take one simple rule, and then complicate it is a symptom of the problem in my opinion.
As a related question how much of a role of nationalism play in the selection of cement? "Oh I am not going to move into that building, it does not use Korean cement!" "I am jumping off this building to protest Dok-do, but I am jumping off the northside to make sure I go 'splat' on KOREAN cement!"
The Korean Job
The Korean Institute of Criminology released statistics on the crimes us dirty foreigners commit in Korea. Mostly the offenses are immigration related, However most interesting is this:
Oddly Iranians were the biggest offenders.
Arn't I so special!
I do not know if I am just in bad mood this morning, or "the stupids" are made the rounds in Korea yesterday. Apparently Korean President Roh Moo-hyun thought the best way to encourage everyone was through an email:
Exactly which other government in South Korea is Roh's government competing with?
"Examples regarding innovation"? "Nation in the vanguard of innovation"? I suggest the blue house (or the Dong-A) get a new translator/editor team first. Other than that pithy comment, one would think the post "Hwang" era, one would make a point of the necessity of HONESTLY enhancing the national image.
Wow! A whole book! Were there nice pictures? Did you get help?
"The pursuit"? The Pursuit of what, "education" or "innovation"? and for that matter what is this "we could have done" bit? Is it not in the past, and you want to talk about the future? For that matter Roh, instead of moping about the issue, what are you, as a leader, going to do to change it?
I also politely recommend that Roh read his countries own newspaper to learn the perils of creating an environment where the pursuit of innovation is more important than the pursuit of truth. Incidentally you, do you think society leaders glowering over innovation without mentioning honest would have anything to do with creating such an environment?
So lets summarize the message "Your leader read a book, now you should innovate more!" Great way to set an example!
LOTA LOTUS
One of the more problematic things about registering trademarks in Korea is the Korean pronunciation. When one registers an English word as a trademark in Korea, they receive protection for the implied Korean language pronunciation of that brand. The problem is the Korean Intellectual Property Office, its Tribunal, and the Patent Court have can have very odd (and inconsistent) interpretations of how English marks are pronounced in Korean. Further problematic is that Korea tends to give the benefit of the doubt to applied trademarks that could only arguably have a different pronunciation from a registered brand. Take the case of
Hyundai Motor v. Lotus Group.
Hyundai applied for the mark LOTS, which was objected to by Lotus, owner of the registered mark LOTUS. In Korean "Lotus" would commonly be pronounced "Ro-Tu-Su". LOTS however would normaly be prounced "Rot-su", however arguably one could pronounce this "Ro-ti-su". True to form, the Patent Court gave Hyundai the benefit of the doubt, and cleared the way for registration of LOTS.
It is for reasons such as this that wise for companies, especially foreign ones, that they identify and register possible Korean homonyms and other arguably similar marks. There are no hard and fast rules to identify such, and you may even be mistaken on some, but businesses should be aware of it. Most problematic in my experience has been the pronunciation of individual letters (such as the above) and the "L/R" sound at the end of syllables. That sound may be the best way to recreate the english, but in everyday Korean the sound is normally dropped and thus technically creates a new name in Korea.
In another issue in the Hyundai case, the Patent Court ruled that Lotus is NOT a famous worldwide brand. I can not say it strongly enough, "You know what you call a company relying on its worldwide fame in Korea? One that gets screwed.". In general if you do not have substantive sales in Korea using that brand, your chances of proving worldwide fame reduce substantially (its possible, but I wish you luck). This is why it is recommendable not only to file under the Madrid convention (which gives you some protection), but also to register your key brands in Korea, regardless of actual use (there are further problems with this tactic, but it will give you some protection).
The Korean Job
The Korean Institute of Criminology released statistics on the crimes us dirty foreigners commit in Korea. Mostly the offenses are immigration related, However most interesting is this:
Oddly Iranians were the biggest offenders.
Customs Seizes More Counterfeits
The Customs Service also seized about US$37 million in good with mislabeled origins.
Spot the Idiot
Does this Dong-A editorialist read is own work? How can you be so stupid, or careless, as to make this statement:
Hey Mensa wannabe, if the best you can see is 4cm x 4cm you likely cannot read the 9 point font of the New York Times!
Aren't I so special!
I do not know if I am just in bad mood this morning, or "the stupids" are made the rounds in Korea yesterday. Apparently Korean President Roh Moo-hyun thought the best way to encourage everyone was through an email:
Exactly which other government in South Korea is Roh's government competing with?
"Examples regarding innovation"? "Nation in the vanguard of innovation"? I suggest the blue house (or the Dong-A) get a new translator/editor team first. Other than that pithy comment, one would think the post "Hwang" era, one would make a point of the necessity of HONESTLY enhancing the national image.
Wow! A whole book! Were there nice pictures? Did you get help?
"The pursuit"? The Pursuit of what, "education" or "innovation"? and for that matter what is this "we could have done" bit? Is it not in the past, and you want to talk about the future? For that matter Roh, instead of moping about the issue, what are you, as a leader, going to do to change it?
I also politely recommend that Roh read his countries own newspaper to learn the perils of creating an environment where the pursuit of innovation is more important than the pursuit of truth. Incidentally you, do you think society leaders glowering over innovation without mentioning honest would have anything to do with creating such an environment?
So lets summarize the message "Your leader read a book, now you should innovate more!" Great way to set an example!
Yum!
The headline says it all...and its not a joke!:
World Cup as Mareketing Tool
An interesting little article on
how Korean companies are trying to capitalized on the World Cup, without actual invoking its name. The name can only be used by official sponsors, but everyone wants to profit of the games. Interestingly they mistakenly point out that KTF use of "Korea Team Fighting" was a success, when in fact in favored horribly in comparison to the grassroots slogan "Be the Reds" of the Red Devil supporters. Perhaps in a grudging show of acceptance, KTF signed an agreement with the fan club this year.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out if Korea does not go far in tournament. On one hand, you can say Korean ad dollars for these things are fickle, but on the other we are pretty much in unchartered territory for the Korean ad business.
It will also be interesting to see how many foreign companies get on this ad bandwagon and how they will be accepted. Particularly those that are part of FIFA's normal sponsorship (Coca-cola, Toshiba, Yahoo, etc.).
Life Imitates South Park
Anybody remember South Park's "Cow Days" celebration. Its coming to Korea. Consider the headlines:
That last one may be the last shoe to drop in the Hwang case. Hwang has patents in Korea and the US for cow cloning.
Korean Netiquette Graded F
Thats the headline of a Dong-A piece today. Most Koreans give there fellows in Cyber space a failing grade regarding politeness on line. More:
I comment on because of something that happened me me recently. I have lived in Korea for six years now, and have not learned Korean fluently despite various attempts. Further I am now stymied since I have learned enough day-to-day Korean that most learning tools are overly formal and incongruous with my daily life.
One language tape taught me a phrase first off I have NEVER heard in Korea. Considering its import, you would think you would hear it a lot. That phrase "ChiLaeHamNiDa" (my romanization is likely wrong) means "Excuse Me", again a phrase I have never heard in six years in the country. I also got a good laugh when they discussed how to say "no" in Korean. Anybody here long enough can tell you there are two basic ways to say "No" in Korean. One way is to loudly suck air through your teeth making a "sssssh" sound, that means "No, but maybe". Second is to loudly sound out "Ah-ssssssh" which means "definitely no".
That Theiving Shatten - Uptdate
IPBiz, who has been following the Hwang thing in the US,
posts on the patent an claims of Shatten's patent application . The application includes human cloning, but does not give any example of such in the detailed description.
Patentability aside, I think any claims that Shatten "stole" a patent or research, if we were to look at the patent, would likely come down to the detailed description on the workings of the invention.
Stay tuned.
Breaking News...well sort of
I saw this coming over the weekend, but could not find the time to do the research for a proper post. However since I knew this would drive the bloggers in Korea crazy, I thought I should post a bit on what has been said. Over the weekend the Pittsburgh Tribune talked about how one Hwang collaborator Gerald Schatten is trying to patent cloning technologies:
Obviously it talks some about the Hwang controversy. Some how the Korea Times frames the story in this headline:
The Times article is essentially a rehash of the Pitt Trib, however they do have some comment from Seoul National. Funny however they leave out this passage from the original, emphasis mine:
Hwang and other South Korean researchers filed for an international patent Dec. 30, 2004, to protect their methods for deriving stem cells from cloned human embryos.
Schatten is not listed as an inventor on the international patent application -- filed eight months after the Pitt researcher applied for a U.S. patent for a similar method, according to documents obtained from the World Intellectual Property Organization. The 46-page international patent application also does not cite any of Schatten's previous research.
Similarly, Schatten's 18-page U.S. patent application makes no reference to Hwang's work, including another paper published by the Korean scientist in Science the month before that which outlines supposed breakthroughs in the same cloning field.
Who is stealing who's work?
I think I am going to have to go after the WIPO documents today or so. I did try the USPTO, yet the application link on the USPTO website is not working at the moment. However, (assuming I did my search right) this is the link info for the Schatten patent mentioned in the first part of the article:
App#: 20040268422
Title: Methods for correcting mitotic spindle defects associated with somatic cell nuclear transfer in animals
