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Screen shot of Shein website

Fast-fashion brand Shein faces growing accusations of plagiarism

Founded in 2008, Chinese fast-fashion online retailer Shein is known for its high frequency of refreshed inventory featuring the latest trends, and very low prices — so low, in fact, that it has been giving fast-fashion Forever 21 and H&M a real run for their money in recent years.
But Shein has also drawn attention for negative reasons, and alleged rampant plagiarism is one of them. Brand

Screen shot of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway website

India steps up IP protection for Darjeeling Himalayan Railway's century-old logos

Being named a UNESCO World Heritage Site can help to catalyse tourist interest, and thus generate value for a country’s economy. As these sites are regularly reviewed to assess whether their conservation status qualifies them for a continued place on this list, it also incentivises governments to prioritise the protection of their countries’ historical architecture and infrastructure. If one views

Image on left from Beautyblender website, image on right from Avon website

Rip-off or not: How teardrop-shaped make-up sponges became all the rage

In a 2016 lawsuit, beauty company Avon admitted liability for infringing on Rea.deeming Beauty’s intellectual property rights. The object in question was a hot pink make-up sponge that Avon had named “Beauty Blender”. And as all make-up buffs know, the most famous Beautyblender (yes, that’s how it’s officially spelled) was invented by Rea Ann Silva, the founder of Rea.deeming Beauty.
Let’s sta

Screen shot of Jessica Simpson's Instagram page

How Jessica Simpson regained full ownership of her fashion label

Much of the world may still know Jessica Simpson as a 1990s pop star turned reality show personality. But since 2005, she has also been a retail entrepreneur, and a very successful one at that, having steered the Jessica Simpson Collection with different business partners. And now, after years of problems with her most recent licensing partner, she has bought back full ownership of the label that

Electronic Superhighway exhibited in American Art Museum in 2011, from Libjb/Wikimedia Commons

When is fair use of copyrighted materials really fair?

A landmark visual art exhibition is taking place in Singapore’s National Gallery museum right now — the first comprehensive institutional survey of Nam June Paik’s work in Southeast Asia.

This South Korea-born artist was a major figure in the avant-garde movements of the 20th century, and is widely recognised as a pioneer of video art.
That aspect of his work is very much evident in Ele

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Digital ownership, the birth of a new concept

The following article by Sophie Goossens was first published here by global law firm Reed Smith. It is re-published here with Reed Smith's permission.


Ownership, a legal concept almost as old as humanity, is being tested by the advent of the metaverse - an always-online, persistent, spatial 'second' world. The staggering rise in popularity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) demonstrates ho

Our top 10 stories of 2021

Our top 10 stories of 2021

From pop culture IP news to outrage over recipe plagiarism, these were the stories our readers loved this year.  

1. Creator of Netflix sensation Squid Game accused of plagiarism
Shortly after Squid Game became a global streaming blockbuster, the show's creator-director Hwang Dong-hyuk was accused of plagiarising As The Gods Will, a 2014 Japanese movie.
2. By creating her own IP, mod

What might a full IP protection toolkit for brands look like?

What might a full IP protection toolkit for brands look like?

The continued growth of e-commerce means that counterfeit products which were once sold on the streets in the dark of night can now be purchased on the world’s most popular retail platforms. Bharat Kapoor – Vice-President, Online Brand Protection, for authentication and information services firm Authentix – shares more about how to tackle this problem.



This conversation with PitchMa

Giving creators more recognition

Giving creators more recognition

The Copyright Bill tabled in Singapore’s Parliament on July 6, 2021, came into force in November. What were the factors that spurred these amendments, and what do they mean for creators and their clients? Lam Chung Nian – who heads the Intellectual Property, Technology & Data Group at Singapore’s WongPartnership law firm – shares more.



This conversation with PitchMark managing p

How care and honour come into play when dealing with IP

How care and honour come into play when dealing with IP

John Eastwood – founding partner of Eiger Law and head of the firm’s intellectual property and technology practice – has extensive experience counseling clients on IP matters and more, both within Asia and on both sides of the Strait in Greater China. As chair of the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan Intellectual Property Rights Committee, he has also worked closely with the European Commission,

Australia’s approach to online enforcement for copyright infringement

Australia’s approach to online enforcement for copyright infringement

Michael Williams heads the intellectual property group at Australian law firm Gilbert + Tobin, and played an instrumental role in advocating for the introduction of site blocking under Australian copyright law.



In this conversation with PitchMark legal advisor Frank Rittman, he elaborates on how Australian legislation deals with Internet service providers whose networks are used by

The damage that fake goods can do to brands is very real

The damage that fake goods can do to brands is very real

Counterfeit products are the bane of many industries, and most of these products are manufactured in and distributed from Asia. What can companies do to protect and enforce their intellectual property rights?




Andrew Bradshaw is the President of the Asian Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy, an organization that coordinates IP investigations for some of the world’s leadi

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