Author: VAI IP COMMERCIAL
Papua New Guinea trade mark filing is picking up as more filings are being done by local entrepreneurs or businesses based in Papua New Guinea. Other than knowing that these proprietors are protecting their intangible assets, it’s also an indication of what products and services are in the pipeline, if not already on the market. Let’s take a look at the top 11 filings: Nationwide Microbank Limited Kina Bank’s “esiloan” business and intellectual property were acquired by MiBank. MiBank’s has done more than “touched up” the logo with a more culturally modern look. This look is being filed in the…
I take great interest in Papua New Guineans filing trade mark applications to protect their intellectual property. More and more individuals are starting to realize the importance of their intellectual property and even better taking that extra step to protect it. One of the interesting finds in the course of our usual work this week is the application filed by Janet Yaki for the Papua New Guinea Stoma Association. The trade mark is a logo of the association. The application has been filed in Class 44 for: PNG IP Database Providing medical Ostomy Appliances for Ostomates living with an Invisible…
Not your typical Monday image but now that I’ve got your attention, here’s a rating from RateBeer: Best Beer in PNG 1. Niugini Ice Premium Beer 2. SP Lager Beer3. South Pacific Export Lager4. Kundu Lager The beer with the highest alcohol content of 5.2% is the Best Beer in PNG. On the face of it, there can be a sense of confusion between these brands. There are two main competitors in PNG: South Pacific Breweries and Paradise Breweries. Actually, there could three although the third is illegal but nonetheless a realistic threat. South Pacific Breweries has a beer brand “Paradise…
One of the most satisfying work we’ve undertaken to date is protecting the entire intellectual property assets of a large PNG company. The iPi Group with its headquarters in Lae came to us to find out how best to protect their IP. It was a challenging task for two main reasons. The first is that iPi is by no means a small entity. The Lae based company is as they put it “a major commercially diversified enterprise operating in a wide range of industries from trucking and logistics, extreme large volume dry freight and fuel road transport, retail and wholesale,…
Firstly, congratulations to the Registrar Amelia Na’aru and her team at the Papua New Guinea Intellectual Property Office for revamping their online search engine facility. I say “revamped” because prior to the launching of the facility we had already been using it and did find it helpful. I thought I’d give my views on why it’s an important facility, tips on how to use it and of course some areas that I think would be beneficial for practitioners and their officers alike. In essence, the search engine facility enables you to conduct searches of the PNG Trade Mark Register and…
The PNG Registrar of Trade Marks recently launched a search engine facility for patents, designs and trademarks. The trade mark database isn’t actually new as we’ve used it quite regularly, but it does have some new information and features. In any evet, it’s a wonderful effort to shift the information online and available to the public which they can access anywhere, anytime. One of the reasons we use the facility quite often is to conduct the watch service we provide to clients. And during the conducting of this service, we get to find out what products or brands are about…
The recent announcement of a partnership between MiBank and Kina Bank is welcome news. Perhaps the most interesting part of the announcement at least from my point of view is Tony Westaway’s acknowledgement that they’re aware of their intellectual properties and further how important those properties were in forming a partnership with an up and coming player in the banking industry, Kina Bank. Here’s what MiBank’s Managing Director Tony Westaway was quoted as saying in the media reports: “So we got a lot of intellectual property around mobile money or digital. However, we haven’t got deep pockets. “And certainly Kina…
I neglect my talents Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts. Separated they live in Bookmarksgrove right at the coast of the Semantics, a large language ocean. A small river named Duden flows by their place and supplies it with the necessary regelialia. It
Several years ago a client created this unique product and the initial reception he got from potential customers was “we’ve been waiting for something like this for yonks!”. The product was a success, it met a demand. Being the creative lad he is, he came up with a catchy brand name too and like the product, the brand name was well received by customers. A couple of years down the track, his success continued to grow but he came up with a problem. At first he shrugged it off, but he soon realized that if the problem continued and he…
A colleague recently referred me to a product that was being sold on a French fashion website MatchesFashion.com. The product, which appears to come under the brand “The Row” – a US fashion label, is that of a stringed knitted bag much like Papua New Guinea’s iconic stringed bag, the Bilum. Ironically, the product itself is also named “Bilum” which has raised the ire of many passionate and patriotic Papua New Guineans. The Row being a luxurious brand isn’t selling this iconic bag cheaply either. It’s got a price tag of US$2,335 (approximately PGK7,000). Papua New Guineans who have seen the…