PitchMark

Image source: llaollao Malaysia & II.Ia.Io Malaysia

28 April 2022 12:30

Rip-off or not: Malaysians identify a copycat brand of Spanish frozen dessert brand ‘llaollao’ on the first day of its launch

A newly open dessert store in Malaysia is being blamed for copying the whole concept of a frozen store franchise that operates in the country.
II.Ia.Io, a Malaysian small business that specialises in frozen yogurt, recently opened its first outlet to compete with llaollao, a Spanish frozen yoghurt desert chain that operates in the nation.
As soon as the new store opened its doors to customer

27 April 2022 10:22

Did Asghar Farhadi plagiarise the idea for “A Hero” movie from his student?

Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi has been accused of stealing the concept of his successful movie A Hero from his former student Azadeh Masihzadeh.
Masihzadeh had filed a case against Farhadi in a Tehran court for plagiarising the concept from her documentary All Winners All Losers, which was made for a workshop led by Farhadi in 2014. The movie was also shown at a film festival i

25 April 2022 19:53

Designing the future - calling innovators, creators, designers and start-up founders! Webinar featuring leading legal IP experts on World Intellectual Property Day.

Young people in the Asia Pacific number approximately 718 million aged 15-24 years. As future innovators and entrepreneurs finding creative solutions to the world’s problems, they would do well to arm themselves with knowledge and skills regarding the intellectual property (IP) they are creating.
World Intellectual Property Day is an annual event that is celebrated on April 26. The theme of th

20 April 2022 09:45

Dua Lipa’s hit song "Levitating" slapped with two copyright cases

British pop star Dua Lipa is facing two copyright infringement cases relating to her smash hit song “Levitating” released during the pandemic. A US-based reggae band has accused her of copying a portion of their song, while two songwriters have accused her of ripping off their decade-old disco songs.
The first claim was made by the US-based Artikal Sound System. It sued Dua Lipa and her label

18 April 2022 11:56

Indian historian Vikram Sampath embroiled in plagiarism row

Indian historian Vikram Sampath has been accused of plagiarism in an article written by him in 2017 as well as copying a passage in his two-volume biography on the Indian political leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
In the first instance, a trio of USA-based historians and academics Rohit Chopra, Ananya Chakravarti and Audrey Truschke, highlighted multiple sentences from Sampath’s 2017 article wh

Imaara Mall (Left) & image design from Temi Coker's Behance account (Right)

11 April 2022 09:25

Rip-off or not: Nairobi’s Imaara Mall accused of stealing the work of a creative designer

The Imaara retail mall in Nairobi has been accused of copying the work of a Nigerian graphic designer-cum-photographer based in the United States.
The newly opened mall's external walls were painted with a style of art that closely resembles Temi Coker's designs on his Behance account.
Temi began creating his own unique design styles shortly after leaving Adobe in 2019. Since then, his desig

6 April 2022 10:24

Advertising agency accuses Coinbase of idea theft

The US-based cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase’s 60-second super bowl ad was a massive hit, but it was accused of copying someone else’s idea without giving credit to the company that came up with the concept.
In February, the exchange aired a simple colorful QR code that floated on the screen for a minute which could be scanned to redeem $15 worth of free Bitcoin and a chance to win US

4 April 2022 12:45

Rip-off or not: Croatia coin design winner blamed for plagiarism

The winner of Croatia’s coin logo competition is accused of copying the design from a 17-year-old photo taken by a Scottish photographer and has since withdrawn from the competition and returned the prize money.
Croatia needs a new coin design for circulation as it is adopting the Euro currency in 2023. To achieve this goal, the country’s central bank had organized a competition for the best de

30 March 2022 10:25

PitchMark is now on Medium.com too

PitchMark is pleased to announce that our content is now available on the Medium platform as well.
We are excited about engaging Medium’s community of creators and innovators, and will continue raising awareness of the importance of registering their valuable intellectual property before sharing it with the world.
If you’re on Medium and want to help us get to know this new universe better,

29 March 2022 15:14

Deepfake of Ukraine’s Zelenskyy shows that IP laws governing such tech is urgently needed

Recently, a video featuring a deepfake version of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared on social media, asking his troops to surrender in the ongoing war with Russia.
The video was quickly identified as a fake, partly due to its poor quality. Zelenskyy also swiftly posted a video of himself exposing the deepfake, and Facebook, YouTube and Twitter announced they had removed the vide

29 March 2022 14:09

IP Chit Chat with film producer Juan Foo

Thanks to technological advancement, new platforms are being launched every other day, providing more opportunities for creators to share their stories with the world. However, that also means that protecting the intellectual property rights of these stories is more important than ever. In the first interview in our new IP Chit Chat series, we speak to veteran Singapore film producer Juan Foo abou

Images from Bored Wukong (left) and OpenSea via JournalTime

22 March 2022 09:16

Rip-off or not: Bored Ape Yacht Club vs Bored Wukong

Another day, another kerfuffle in the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — and this time, the fuss is all about cartoon monkeys.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club is an NFT project that has attracted a lot of interest from celebrities. It comprises a collection of 10,000 illustrations of apes, and digital ownership of these gives buyers bragging rights, the ability to monetise their ape avatars v

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