Posts in International

Japan is not the only economic sector in Asia that has been eking out a strong niche in the global automotive sector. The 2015 Global Automotive Executive Survey released by global auditing firm KPMG reports that the Hyundai/Kia group of South Korea is the auto manufacturing business whose market share was most expected to increase by auto executives. As of 2015, the report shows that Hyundai/Kia holds the fifth-overall ranking for mass market vehicle production. The story of South Korean car makers entering the U.S. market and Korean automobiles on American roadways follows a familiar script. Consumer perceptions give way to a recognition of quality improvements and lower price tags.

Not a single American automaker was expected to increase its market share over the next five years, according to global auditing firm KPMG in its 2015 Global Automotive Executive Survey. In terms of mass-market production, only General Motors and Ford rank in the top ten of auto manufacturers from across the globe. One country whose carmakers have done a great job of stepping in and commandeering significant parts of America’s market share for autos is Japan. Nissan and Toyota are two car brands which are incredibly familiar to today’s American consumer. However, when these companies entered the American market, it was almost laughable to think that either would manage to survive, let alone succeed.

Corporate investment into research and development at John Deere has also fallen slightly but the company did manage to maintain a $341.1 million R&D investment during the most recent fiscal quarter. Since the beginning of 2015, Deere & Company has received a total of 92 patents from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. According to Innography’s text cluster (see left), much of Deere’s innovation is focused on work vehicles, tractors and harvesters. We were intrigued to note, however, that a sizable chunk of Deere’s recent inventions relate to a display screen with icon, indicating a healthy amount of software development at the company.

The intellectual property community has become familiar with scandals over the last decade as well, although nothing that rivals the audacity of the reported FIFA scandal to be sure. A little more than a year ago, despite numerous Gurry scandals, without any objection and by consensus, the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) appointed Francis Gurry to a second six-year term of office as Director General of the Organization. Gurry himself originally came to power after Kamil Idris, Director General of WIPO from from 1997 to 2008, was forced to step down a year early from the position due to allegations of misconduct. But will Gurry remain at the helm of WIPO for his full six-year term?

The first ever CES Asia took place between May 25th and 27th in Shanghai, China. The inaugural industry event showcased the many different technologies that will be entering China’s consumer market in the coming months and years. The three-day exposition was the first Chinese technology trade show coordinated with the Consumer Electronics Association since 2012. More than 200 companies came from 15 countries to display emerging consumer technologies from knockoff versions of Google Glass to home cinema technologies. The forecasts for the Chinese consumer market for emerging technologies would give any technology developer reason to believe that nothing but fair weather awaits them in that country.

To listen to the critics, one would believe that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Trade Agreement marks the end of the world for global health, especially for the poor. They are, in a word, wrong. Admittedly, the TPP Agreement is extremely contentious, but the TPP Agreement contains important provisions regarding intellectual property (IP) rights, especially the standards of protection for pharmaceuticals. If the global community is to truly benefit from the promise of medical progress, we must stop the attack on the IP protections that incentivize innovation and turn our attention to the issues that genuinely inhibit access to medicines.

Best Buy Co. recently released its financial earnings report for the first quarter of FY2015, which shows signs of life for the brick-and-mortar consumer electronics retailer. Indeed, financial analysts were stunned to see that Best Buy’s adjusted earnings from continuing operations actually rose from 35 cents per share in 2014’s first quarter to 37 cents per share; earnings estimates expected that figure to drop to 29 cents per share. Best Buy also posted a year-over-year increase in domestic revenues of about $100 million, an incredible feat during a year in which e-commerce continued to increase its take to 7 percent of all American retail sales.

IBM’s most recent quarterly earnings report indicates that the company is seeing rapid growth in its cloud business revenues, which increased 75 percent year-over-year, resulting in total cloud revenues of $7.7 billion in the twelve months leading up to the end of 2015’s first quarter. Even given the recent success of the Amazon Web Services cloud platform, these most recent financial figures show that IBM’s cloud computing services are outperforming Amazon’s by more than $2.5 billion over the last year.

The proposed bill comes as welcome news to large companies like Google and Amazon which have been looking for ways to start developing beyond line-of-sight flight plans and other complex operations. The rules may, however, be less well suited for smaller UAV innovators. As an article published by Motherboard points out, the Booker/Hoeven legislation will require commercial drone operators to register for a license whereas currently allowable commercial drone operations operate in a non-licensed legal grey area. The undisclosed registration fees that would be put in place for licensing is also a cause for concern among small commercial players with limited financial resources.

Disney holds 2,257 active patents as well as 2,287 trademarks, many of which protect design and character marks for beloved characters like Tinkerbell and Mickey Mouse. One recently acquired trademark protects the use of the standard character mark “ScoreCenter” when used with an electronic scoreboard service for athletic events which is distributed to computers and wireless devices by means of a global computer network. The owner of this trademark is ESPN Inc. but ESPN is a subsidiary of Disney so at the end of the day, this sports entertainment trademark is Disney property.

In the world of smartphones, it’s looking like paranoia is becoming much more profitable in recent years. Huge security breaches at major corporations around the world have made people everywhere much more aware of the technological risks they run in their own daily lives. We’ve already reported on the value of patent portfolios focused on mobile device security here on…

In response to all of these body blows to McDonald’s, CEO Steve Easterbrook announced a number of changes that he hopes will set the corporation on a much more successful course. Easterbrook promised investors after the earnings report was published Wednesday that the company would be making meaningful changes to its menu within the month. Easterbrook has also proposed a major restructuring to the corporation’s global operations that would split the company into four segments: one focused on lead markets like Britain and Australia, a high growth division including Russia and China, a U.S. domestic division and one focused on McDonald’s activities in the 100 other countries where the fast food restaurant operates.

Marion Donovan invented a few products that made some everyday life tasks easier, the most important of which is the waterproof diaper cover. Donovan’s dedication to addressing problems posed by parenthood helped to sanitize one of the dirtiest jobs of parenting while helping to make her quite wealthy, a veritable American Dream of inventing. Donovan’s invention presaged the eventual development of disposable diapers, which now represent nine out of every ten diapers used in the developed world. Donovan will be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame on May 12, 2015.

It looks like DuPont is busy trying to find ways to pay back investors so that the corporation can keep one group in particular from forcing a corporate split to break away from what those investors see as unprofitable business activities. The challenge is being waged by Trian Fund Management LP, an investment management firm headed up by Nelson Peltz. Trian and Peltz want DuPont to split into two separate ventures, one being a growth company with a focus on agriculture and nutrition products, the other a materials company which can provide more consistent dividends to shareholders. This would, however, put a wrench into certain DuPont activities meant to encourage innovation at the company, such as networking groups and rotation programs that allow DuPont’s 1,000 scientists and engineers to provide feedback from diverse fields, which sometimes lead to serendipitous innovation. This would have hindered, for instance, the development of the biobased polymer Hyrtrel RS, a material for air ducts and office furniture which incorporates plant materials.

There’s a commonly held notion that economic success and the professional pursuit of live performance are mutually exclusive. Although stagework might never be a stable job, the upcoming sale of Cirque du Soleil from founder Guy Laliberté to a group led by TPG Capital of Forth Worth, TX, for $1.5 billion should put to rest the idea that there’s no money in theater.