Harnessing IP Talk

We are organizing an event called 'Harnessing IP' in Technology Park Malaysia, Bukit Jalil on Thursday, 12 Jan 2017, 2.30 pm. Kindly RSVP.

Industrial Design And Plain Packaging

The government wants to introduce plain packaging for cigarette boxes to curb the habit amongst Malaysians. Are they infringing on any corporate rights? Business FM have a chat with Chew Phye Keat, President of the Malaysian Intellectual Property Association (MIPA) and Joshinae Wong, Partner at Christina Chia Law Chambers (CCLC) to have a better comprehension of what is at stake here.

MRM to Govern Rights to Play Music in Public

Image by MyIPO

Music Rights Malaysia Berhad (MRM) have been formed by Minister of Domestic Trade, Datuk Hamzah Zainudin, as the sole agency to manage rights to play music in public. The announcement was made in a dinner hosted by Perbadanan Harta Intelek Malaysia (MyIPO) on 8 Dec 2016. Veteran lyricist Habsah Hassan has been appointed as Secretariat Chairperson for MRM, according to Berita Harian.

Retail stores or restaurants play music to entertain customers. A license is required by a premise to play music in public (in their store). This license have to paid periodically even though the premise owner is playing music from a radio or personal music collection. Note that music form personal music collection provides right for personal use only. MRM will be the sole body to collect licensing fees from parties that play music in public from 1 Jan 2017 onward.

The amount of licensing fee is not mentioned. The licensing fees collected by MRM will be distributed as royalties to people involved in the music industry. Music creation involves multiple parties including:
- lyricists
- composers
- publishers
- performers (artists and musicians)
- recording companies

Currently, there are four copyright collection agencies namely Music Author's Copyright Protection (MACP), Public Performance Malaysia (PPM); Recording Performers Malaysia (RPM) and Performers Rights and Interest Society of Malaysia (PRISM). Parties that play music in public still need to pay their dues to the respective agency before 2017. These four copyright collection agencies will manage the distribution or royalties among its members, even after the establishment of MRM.

Dennis

Big Mac inventor dies at age 98

The man who invented the Big Mac, considered the quintessential American fast food burger, has died.

Michael “Jim” Delligatti passed away on Nov 28 at his home in a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, suburb. He was 98 years old.

Delligatti, a McDonald’s franchisee, came up with the idea in 1967 because he said customers wanted a bigger sandwich. And so he came up with the chain’s signature burger – two all-beef patties, “special sauce”, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.

According to AP, his invention was almost rejected by McDonald’s because it was happy with its traditional meals of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries and milkshake were selling well.

He got permission to try his new burger in 1967 and sales jumped 12%, the Times said. Within a few years, McDonald’s was advertising the Big Mac nationwide.

“This wasn’t like discovering the light bulb,” he said. “The bulb was already there. All I did was screw it in the socket.”



He said the idea came from rival burger restaurants in the mid-1960s.

After the Big Mac’s invention, the company expanded its menu further, creating an age of new menu items such as the Egg McMuffin (a creation also attributed to Delligatti) and Filet-o-Fish.

But, it was the Big Mac that became a cultural icon. According to MacDonald’s Delligatti never received any royalties for the invention.

Read more at http://www.star2.com/food/food-news/2016/12/02/big-mac-inventor-dies-at-age-98/#S87tHlTSAvxahuCA.99