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Hrithik Roshan’s HRX to open first offline store in Bengaluru

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Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan’s fashion brand HRX will open its first physical outlet this year in Bangalore followed by more stores in Pune, Delhi, and Mumbai, according to a Fashion United report.

Currently, it sells exclusively on Flipkart’s fashion units Myntra and Jabong. The brand is also looking to add new categories such as eyewear, innerwear, and wearables. The company is also exploring international markets.

HRX licenses various product categories and verticals to business partners including Myntra for fashion and accessories, Cure.Fit for fitness content and clean eating and Xiaomi for tech wearables.

Besides clothing, HRX also has a signature workout called the ‘HRX Workout’ and a meal plan called ‘HRX Athlete Meal’ pack sold under the Cure.Fit umbrella. Cure.Fit now has a presence in Bengaluru, NCR, and Mumbai, and has over 40,000 members.

Xiaomi is a pure play licensing arrangement in lieu of royalty payout to the brand. The country’s athleisure market is currently valued at Rs 8,500 crores and is expected to reach Rs 54,000 crores by 2020.

On the professional front, Hrithik will be seen in the biopic of the mathematician ‘Super 30’, slated to release in January next year. Besides, the actor will also be seen in Yash Raj Films’ dance-action film which features Tiger Shroff and Vaani Kapoor in the pivotal roles.

#LCExcl: Notice of Allowance simplified

— Karan Bhutani, Founder, Shoprwise.com

The Notice of Allowance (NOA) is the final step after the complex patent application process wherein the inventor provides all the requisite information pertaining to the invention including product description, design, drawings, and blueprints. Post the submission of the patent application, the patent examiner reviews and processes the application highlighting description of the invention, inventor’s claim, and outcome of the invention, and decided whether the patent should be issued.

When the patent examiner determines that the patent application is complete and the invention qualifies for a patent, the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) issues the document i.e. NOA to be sent to the applicant, indicating the grant of the patent. The patent examiner will no longer review the patent application to determine patentability but will issue the patent with the proposed invention. However, the patent will only be granted, if the applicant pays the required fee and submit all the final drawings within the three months from the date of NOA issued by USPTO. There are three sections in the NOA, which are given as below:

  1. Header – Defines the details regarding the inventor, invention, and the case number
  2. Section B identifies the fee to be paid to complete the patent process. This section needs to be completed by the applicant and should be sent to the USPTO within the timeframe
  3. The series of note include the due date for any paperwork and fees

Reviewing the NOA

The NOA also presents an opportunity to identify and rectify errors that have been made during the prosecution stage. There may be numerous errors so detailed proofreading of the patent specification is required. The NOA should be reviewed accurately so that it should not include any unintended interpretations upon the claims.

  1. Inventor’s details:

While reviewing the NOA, the applicant should thoroughly check the names, title of the patent, status of the entity-whether small or large, and address. The entity status should be checked as sometimes the applicant may license the application to a large corporate during the prosecution phase. As a result, the entity status should be changed from ‘small’ to ‘large’. In addition to this, the correspondence address can be changed and lists down details such as assignee name, city and state that appears on the patents’ face page. The applicant can also determine patent term adjustment (PTA) from the NOA.

The NOA will include notice of allowability that enlists forms such as office actions, highlight check boxes to complete the necessary information required for prosecution of the patent, submission of oath declaration, drawings, etc. in many cases, NOA will also include examiner’s final actions that should be reviewed carefully.

  1. Application Review:

The primary purpose to review the patent application in detail is to identify issues that may require any amendment or withdrawal of the application before the fee is paid. The issues that should be reviewed prior to issuance of the patent include:

  • Whether the priority claims to priority have been filed, reflected in the file history, and acknowledged by the PTO
  • All relevant documents have been disclosed in IDS and the examiner has reviewed the same
  • Whether there is any patentability intellectual property has not been reflected in the claims, but it is mentioned in the application
  • Any error in the specification or claims that should be corrected
  1. Prior Art Review:

Another important detail to check whether the examiner has initialled all prior art cited in IDS filings. This may be critical for future enforcement of the patent and the examiner has checked all the references and documents submitted in the IDS.

Correction of Errors in NOA

The applicant should check the accuracy of the required information in the NOA, and notify errors to the USPTO. If the errors are made from the USPTO then it will determine, if the change requires republication or else the examiner will make the correction and issue the corrected NOA. If the republication is needed, the NOA will be cancelled and the fees paid for filing the statement of use will be refunded, and the application will be scheduled for republication. On the other hand, if the error has been made by the applicant such as incorrect information then a written amendment should be filed, which will be filed similar any other amendments that are filed after the issuance of NOA or prior to the filing of the statement of use.

Keeping in mind the complex issues involved in NOA, Maxval reviews the patent application and the file history before the patent is issued while addressing the errors, which can be rectified by petition. As we believe in maximizing the value of the patent, we carefully proofread the patent and identify the errors that can lead to any infringement by the competitor. We also send a timely reminder for the payment of maintenance fee within the stipulated timeframe.

China’s Tencent releases test-version of Game of Thrones game

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Tencent Holdings has released a test version of a third-party developed smartphone game in China based on the US hit television show ‘Games of Thrones’.

The game, titled “Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming”, was developed by Chinese games maker Yoozoo, Tencent Games said in a statement on its official WeChat account late on Wednesday.

According to a Reuters report, the launch comes just weeks after Chinese authorities gave their approval to two batches of new video games after a freeze on approvals for most of last year that had spooked players in the world’s largest gaming market.

China’s two biggest game developers – Tencent and domestic rival NetEase Inc – have so far not figured on any of the lists of approved titles.

Tencent, Asia’s second-biggest company by market value, signed a deal in 2014 to obtain the exclusive rights to stream “Game of Thrones” online in China.

The Emmy-winning medieval fantasy series is HBO’s biggest-ever hit with some 30 million viewers in the United States and has been played 960 million times so far on Tencent’s video platform.

The new game is a simulation that will let players take on identities such as the character Tyrion Lannister, visit spots such as Castle Black, and experience some of the show’s most memorable events like the Red Wedding, Tencent said.

Users who have obtained invite codes could start playing the game on Thursday, it said.

“The game will inherit the realist style of the HBO show, and players will be able to control various classic characters from the original novel to battle in Westeros,” Tencent Games said in the statement.

Players need to “conquer King’s Landing, capture the Iron Throne, and be the biggest winner in the Game of Thrones.”

China stopped approving new titles from early last year amid a regulatory overhaul which prevented many Chinese firms from being able to charge users for new games releases.

Yoozoo, founded in 2009, is a Chinese video game company which publishes mobile and website games.

Recently, HBO announced the premiere date of Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones season 8 will premiere on April 14, HBO announced in the first teaser. India will be able to watch the season 8 premiere on April 15, either on Hotstar or Star World.

The show will feature six episodes, which are reported to each be feature-length.

Game of Thrones is one of the most successful television series of all time and has broken records for US cable network HBO. A prequel to the series, Age of Heroes, is already in production.

PUMA, Maybelline create athleisure-inspired collection

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Sports brand PUMA is taking athleisure to the next level through collaboration with Maybelline.

PUMA and Maybelline New York collaborated to launch their first-ever ‘PUMA x Maybelline special-edition collection’ which fuses beauty, fashion and sport into one high-performance makeup collection.

PUMA x Maybelline’s makeup collaboration was designed with the always-on, do-it-all lifestyle of Generation Z and millennials top of mind.

“Our young consumer today prioritizes an active lifestyle whether it be career, fitness or personally. She’s always on the go, never settles and needs high-performance products that keep up with her grind,” said Trisha Ayyagari, Deputy General Manager of Maybelline New York.

Developed with the latest in long-wear technology, the PUMA x Maybelline 12-piece collection features a smudge-proof mascara for all-day fierce lashes, a metallic highlighter for an eye-catching chrome effect and Super Stay Matte Ink long-wear lip colour in new limited-edition shades.

In addition, Maybelline introduces two new duo sticks to their offerings – a new long-wear matte and metallic eye stick for versatile day to night looks as well as a waterproof colour and gloss face stick for a dewy flushed look. The products’ multi-use formats come in sleek, on-the-go packaging and make it easy to achieve a complete makeup look or a quick post-workout touch-up.

“This collection is truly the representation of the point where the gym meets the runway, a goal we strive for in everything we do for our female consumers,” said Adam Petrick, Global Director of Brand and Marketing for PUMA.

Maybelline long-standing spokesmodel and PUMA’s latest ambassador Adriana Lima will serve as the face of the campaign.

“Maybelline’s collaboration with PUMA makes innovative, street style-inspired makeup accessible to consumers worldwide to complement their always-on, demanding lifestyles,” said Leonardo Chavez, Global Brand President, Maybelline New York.

The PUMA x Maybelline Collection instore and online availability varies by market. Visit your local Maybelline.com for more information.

The PUMA x Maybelline Collection is available in select markets.

#LCExcl: How Indian patent offices are expediting pace for granting patents

Amit Aggarwal, Co-Founder and Director, Effectual Services  

The famous legal maxim – “Justice delayed is justice denied”, is unequivocally applicable in case of patents. An Intellectual Property (IP) owner is unable to enforce his patent unless it is validly granted by the Indian Patent Office – be it Trademark, Design or a Patent. This means that an IP owner is at potential risk of his idea being copied, until the point his IP is actually granted by the Indian Patent Office.

Not in the too distant past, the average time of grant for patents was 5-6 years (60-72 months). This was perceived as a deterrent by many IP filers, who would rather take a risk of launching a product for becoming an early mover in the market, rather than going down the road of getting a patent to protect the product before launch. Also, some of the technologies change pretty fast, having such a long patent prosecution time is particularly risky for such technologies, as, by the time the patent is granted, the technology is already replaced by another, a perhaps more promising one, technology thereby rendering the patent useless.

However, the Indian Patent Office seems to have recognized this a couple of years back and is consistently trying to decrease the grant times. According to latest Annual report available from Indian Patent Office website – During 2016-17, the number of patent applications examined increased by 72.2%, the number of grant of patents increased by 55.3% and final disposal of applications increased by 37.7%, as compared to 2015-16. The pendency of examination of trademark applications was brought down from around 14 months to less than 1 month in January 2017. The pendency in the examination of new design applications was reduced from 8 months in March 2016 to one month in March 2017.

Our research also corroborates the same fact, the average time to grant for patents filed in the year 2013 was around 63 months, which steadily decreased to 51, 37, 23, 14 and 8 months for patents filed in the year 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively. Although not every patent that was filed in recent years, such as 2018 and 2017, would have been granted by now, there is no doubt that the pace for granting patents, and other types of IP, has increased considerably. In fact, in the year 2017, a patent was granted within a record time of 113 days, using the expedited examination provision. There were 15 other applicants, who were granted patents within 113-300 days in the year 2017.

All of this is attributed to continuous changes that were introduced to the Indian Patent system.  Broadly, these changes include – Legal measures, Procedural changes, Special Provisions, and the addition of manpower.

The Legal measures included, among others, the introduction of amendments to Indian Patent Rules (2003) in the year 2016. The amendment made provisions for expediting Patent examination for patents filed by Start-ups and other entities who have selected India as International Search Authority or International Preliminary Examining Authority. Similarly, amendments were made to Indian Trademark Rules 2002, in the year 2017, such as reduction of the number of Forms from 74 to 8, and one application Form for all types of trademark applications.

The procedural changes include a variety of automation implemented by the Indian Patent Office including, Auto-allocation of Requests for Examination of patent applications. The system has removed the problem of different time of examination at different office locations. Also, the Indian Patent Office has discontinued Paper mode of communication for examination reports. Hearing notices are also sent through e-mail, which in turn helps in speeding up the procedures. The process relating to generation and issuance of Patent grant certificates has also been fully automated.

Further, some special provisions, are under consideration, for example, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has floated draft rules to further amend the Patents Rules (2003), for expediting examination of the patent applications having at least one-woman inventor listed.

Additionally, the Indian Patent Office has also increased the workforce by hiring more Patent Examiners and promoting the experienced Examiners as Controllers.

As commendable as it is, the initiative to expedite the patent grant procedure is far from complete. There seem to be many future initiatives in the pipeline which, as per the Annual Report by Indian Patent Office, are yet to be implemented.

For example, launching SMS Alert service to stakeholders regarding Examination reports along with time-bound actions to be taken by them, introducing e-verification of signature in addition to the present mode of digital signature, introducing facility for hearing with the Controller through video-conferencing from the applicant’s location, and developing Mobile App for providing IP information and service to stakeholders.

All these initiatives are aimed at making the system more efficient, and in turn, increase the pace at which patents are granted in India.

Shashi Tharoor proposes bill to regulate online gaming: What does it mean?

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Senior Congress Leader Shashi Tharoor has moved a private bill to regulate online gaming in India. The bill was unveiled in Lok Sabha for regulatory measures for the online gaming industry.  An elected Lower House member from Trivandrum, Shashi Tharoor is eyeing on online games after the recent entry of big key players in the market.

Tharoor stressed the necessity of the bill by highlighting high growth of the gaming industry looking a few years back.

While introducing the bill, Tharoor said, “The main purpose of my bill is to preserve the integrity of sports. The bill is primarily divided into two parts for this purpose. One part recognizes the offence of sports fraud and prescribes a special procedure to deal with it. The other part acknowledges the fact that the increasing commercial nature of sports increases financial incentives for vested interests to manipulate sporting events, therefore it provides for the regulation of online sports betting activities.”

What does it mean?

The bill, if passed, will regulate, PUBG, PUBG-M, CSGO, DotA 2 and others which are considered as esports.

Tharoor said the country needs a regulatory body, like the one he has proposed, in his Sports (Online Gaming and Prevention of Fraud) Bill.

According to Tharoor, the bill will reduce the flow of black money and regulate a flow of finances in the industry.

The bill will also enable the government to oversee and ensure the players are in accordance with the Constitution and the Regulations at place.

Shashi Tharoor believed there is an immediate need for a statutory framework. This statutory framework needs to be supervised by the government in order to ensure that service providers follow licensing conditions and curb any illegal activity, in case it takes place.

A report by All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) says that India has 120 million gamers which include an increase of 30 percent. The 276th report of the Law Commission of India said that the present market Online gaming in India is reportedly valued at USD 360 million, and is expected to grow to USD 1 billion by 2021.

Since gaming in India is increasing, the Bill might get passed in the houses early than we expect!

Shuttler Kidambi Srikanth inks 4-year multi-crore deal with Li-Ning

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Ace shuttler Kidambi Srikanth has entered into a 4-year multi-crore endorsement deal with Chinese sports brand, Li-Ning. The deal, which is valued at Rs 35 crore for a period of four years, will comprise sponsorship and equipment supply. Srikanth is managed exclusively by sports marketing firm Baseline Ventures.

Srikanth is only male world No.1 badminton player and also the only Indian player to have won six Super Series badminton events.

In a statement, Mahender Kapoor, Director, Sunlight Sports Pte Ltd, which is the exclusive partner for Li-Ning in India, said, “Srikanth is among the top Badminton players in the world and already the most accomplished Indian Male Badminton player and a World No 1 player. We want to play our part in helping Srikanth achieve a lot more going forward.”

Li Ning Co. Ltd retails sporting goods, including footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for professional and leisure purposes, primarily under the LI-NING brand. In India, the brand is retailed by Sunlight Sports Pte Ltd, which is a multinational exclusive partner of Li-Ning in South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Tuhin Mishra, Managing Director, Baseline Ventures said “We were really impressed with the road map and vision of the brand Li-Ning for Srikanth and the team handling Li-Ning is completely hands-on & dynamic which is so important for a top athlete like Srikanth. We look forward to a great association over the next 4 years.”

Founded in 2014, Baseline Ventures is a full-service sports marketing, entertainment and brand licensing firm with a presence in Singapore, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Los Angeles.

Tinga DOJO – The green alien dog comes to rescue Earth!

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Rendered in green, the colour of nature – Tinga Dojo, A Green Superhero Alien Dog has arrived to save the Planet Earth.

The character has been created by Diamond Toons, part of Diamond Group of Publications which is one of the largest publication house in India. First ever character IP in the world which would lead through an experiential playzone – Tingaland, which is going to be live soon.

Tingaland playzone will be the first licensee of the character Tinga Dojo. It is a new age character for pre-school kids who are always curious and hyperactive to learn more, see more, read more, hear more and play more. As today’s new age kids have absolutely new media consumption habits, Diamond Toons aim to establish an IP which would help the kids to grasp knowledge through experiential learning.

Launching this new character, Manish Verma, Director, Diamond Toons said, “The playzone Tingaland is a world in itself with its own rules, passport and currency, where the kids can experience this real-time character. We aim to reach the mind of today’s tech-savvy kids through this unwired place where they will burn their energy along with learning. The character will deepen its footprint leading into other new categories as well. Amid surging growth in digital mediums, we aim to take this character to licensed mobile apps, gaming, animation for OTT etc.”

“We are also introducing Tinga DOJO, to lure the kids through conventional mediums like engaging tales of adventure, creating unique content with storytelling, merchandise such as t-shirts, school bags, stationery, face masks, stickers, name labels etc. We will soon introduce first ever in India, the concept of Mobile Birthdays or Mobile Party Squads – Tinga Go, the party place on the go. Our overall strategy will be to cover the new age media moving on to conventional mediums,” Verma further added.

Tinga DOJO is not your average superhero dog. In fact, he is extraordinary in every way. He is a friendly alien dog; however, he has no masters, he is actually the prince of Tingaland. He has many friends from across the galaxy including some kids from earth. Tinga has been on many adventures to help his friends across the galaxy.

Tinga DOJO is from Tingaland, a planet of adventure. It is the fourth planet in Galaxy 9. People for all over the universe come to Tingaland for vacation and fun. Tinga Welcomes them and helps them have a good time. Galaxy 9 is also known for Planet Bo. Various evil creatures live on this planet and want take over Tingaland from Tinga Dojo.

Ranveer Singh gets a ‘Simmba’ tribute from Tinkle comics!

After ruling the box-office with his action drama ‘Simmba’ and creating a stir with the trailer of his upcoming movie ‘Gully Boy’, Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh share cover with Suppandi and Shikari Shambu on Tinkle Magazine.

The famous and popular kids’ comic and magazine Tinkle has featured Ranveer Singh’s Simmba avatar on their special January edition. With the coverage, the ‘Padmaavat’ actor is over the moon with his warmest memories from childhood shaping into reality.

Ranveer Singh shared the cover on his Twitter profile with the caption, “I’ve to pinch myself to see if I’m dreaming. This is one of the fondest memories from my childhood. I grew up reading @TinkleMagazine. Can’t believe I’m on the cover with SUPPANDI AND SHIKARI SHAMBU!!! I mean…I can’t even…@Suppandi #blessed #nodreamtoobig”.

Even the official handle of Tinkle Magazine took to the Twitter about the new cover, “This January, @SimmbaTheFilm roars into the @TinkleMagazine universe! Catch @RanveerOfficial’s adventures with your favourite Tinkle toons in our second January issue! Plus, an exclusive interview from the newly married heartthrob!”

Ranveer Singh-starrer “Simmba” had collected over Rs 350 crores at the global box office within 16 days of its release. According to the makers, the film is on a record-breaking spree and now ranks among the top 10 Bollywood domestic box office hits of all time.

The film is presented by Reliance Entertainment in association with Dharma Productions and Rohit Shetty Picturez.

Directed by Rohit Shetty, Ranveer plays a corrupt cop, Sangram ‘Simmba’ Bhalerao in the film, who chooses the righteous path after a life-changing event. Also, featuring Sara Ali Khan, Sonu Sood, Siddharth Jadhav, Ashutosh Rana and Ajay Devgan, the film hit the screens on December 28.

On the professional front, Ranveer will be next seen in ‘Gully Boy’ alongside Alia Bhatt, that has been directed by Zoya Akhtar. The musical drama is loosely based on the life of rappers Divine and Naezy and is slated to release on February 14.

Apart from his professional achievements, Ranveer has also been hogging the limelight due to his wedding with actress Deepika Padukone. After dating each other for six years, Ranveer and Deepika tied the knot on November 14-15 at Italy’s Lake Como.

Chacha Chaudhary becomes the unofficial ambassador of ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’

Chacha Chaudhary, the legendary Indian comic hero is the unofficial ambassador of Swachh Bharat with the launch of the fifth comic book – Chacha Chaudhary, Mowgli and Swachh Nagar in continuation to the Swachh Bharat comic series created by Diamond Toons.

The comic book involves iconic character Mowgli and the giant Sabu along with Chacha Chaudhary guiding and creating awareness on dry and wet garbage segregation.

Speaking on the launch of the comic book, Manish Verma, Director, Diamond Toons said, “Chacha Chaudhary has been infusing new energy to the national cleanliness mission time to time through these series of comic books. With his vast reach to the Indian households, urban and rural alike, Chacha Chaudhary is now an integral part of the campaign and is being recognized as its unofficial ambassador by his fans. Involving Chacha Chaudhary shows the power and influence of this iconic character who is still working better in reaching out to people of all age groups and social profiles. This content developed around Chacha Chaudhary is now been taken to multiple levels as reference material or teaching aid for storytelling, workshops, nukkad nataks etc and is working efficiently in favour of the mission.”

With back-to-back editions of the comic book in series, Chacha Chaudhary has helped successfully promote this campaign across the country aggressively which has led to a strong behavioural change in kids and adults. The character has now become the unofficial face of the movement. The change derived by Chacha Chaudhary through these ‘Talking Comics’ on Swachh Bharat has proved that he is the biggest influencer of all generations for behavioural change and people put in maximum trust in him in India.

The comic has been translated in 12 major Indian languages namely Hindi, English, Bangla, Gujarati, Marathi, Assamese, Malayalam, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

Below are the points that are addressed in the comic series:

-Eliminating open defecation

-Solid waste management

-Reduce 3 ‘R’s of waste management – reduce, reuse and recycle

-Behavioural change regarding personal hygiene by making them aware to wash hands before and after the meal and after toilet

– Clean toilets in school

Brief descriptions of the comics:

 Comic 1 – Chacha Chaudhary and Swachh Bharat – Introduced the Swachh Grahi Family to the nation with the most favourite character of India, Chacha Chaudhary appealing and guiding to work towards this important campaign.

Comic 2 – Chacha Chaudhary and Toilet – featuring Chacha Chaudhary and Akshay Kumar together. The comic aimed to change the mindset of people in rural areas on hygienic defecation and the importance of building toilets at home.

Comic 3 – Chacha Chaudhary and Swachh Sheher – An initiative which presented the movement ‘Roko-Toko’ where Chacha Chaudhary along with the character ‘Super Dustbin’ make citizens aware and responsible about their day-to-day activities which lead to dirt and uncleanliness in the city.

Comic 4 – Chacha Chaudhary and Bye-Bye Kachra – The comic was made to create awareness on waste management and recycling of garbage.

Comic 5 – Chacha Chaudhary Mowgli and Swachh Nagar – Chacha Chaudhary, Mowgli along with Sabu come together to guide people on dry and wet garbage segregation.

Diamond Toons is the most creative division of Diamond Group of publications. A part of Diamond Toons: Chacha Choudhary, Billu and Pinki are the most loved and read comic characters in India.