Digital tattoo, you write and erase yourself

 

Introducing a disposable tattoo device using digital printing.

▲ prinker.co.kr

1-Day Tattoo Device

Tattoos are a way to freely express yourself, but it’s difficult to erase or edit. Prinker S is a disposable tattoo device that you can write and erase as you want. It uses ink made from cosmetic ingredients, so it is hard to remove from water or sweat but can be removed with soap or makeup remover.

▲ prinker.co.kr

When tattooing, a user can select an image or text in the mobile app and move the device as they want on the skin. It's good news for those who haven't tried a regular tattoo because they're bored or no longer satisfied as the skin getting aged. It’ll be interesting to those who felt frustrated by the limitations of styling caused by the mask.

▲ prinker.co.kr

In addition, you can freely choose from more than 5000 designs, and you can even draw your own. Recently, a love theme has also been added for the upcoming Valentine's Day.

▲ prinker.co.kr

▲ prinker.co.kr

In fact, Prinker Korea won the grand prize at the Intellectual Property Startup Competition hosted by the Intellectual Property Office in October last year. It has applied for 19 patents, and the representative patent is 'Skin Printer', which has been applied in Korea, USA, Japan, EP and PCT.

▲ wipsglobal.co.kr
(KR 10-1865665)

There are other patents that apply the idea. It's a 'portable hair printer', and if you look at the drawing, it looks similar to a regular hair styling machine. I'm looking forward to seeing if I can do disposable tattoos on my hair.

▲ wipsglobal.co.kr
(KR 10-1985396)

Korean franchise, Sulbing filed the trademark infringement lawsuit against Chinese company

 

'Sulbing', a successful Korean franchise company,

Korea's Sulbing is a representative dessert cafe brand that has become known as Korean desserts both domestically and overseas. Starting in Busan, Korea in 2013, it has surpassed 490 franchisees within a year. Afterwards, they began to look abroad with the slogan that the most Korean is the most global. Sulbing succeeded in entering into Thailand, Japan, Kuwait, and Canada, starting with China in 2015.

▲ sulbing.com

Sulbing's master franchise (MF) and litigation with partners,

Sulbing entered overseas through a master franchise method that sells business rights by contracts with local partners, rather than by direct entry into overseas markets. When entering China, the business was carried out by signing a contract with Shanghai Yabin Food (上海雅滨食品), a local partner. However, in China, a fake Sulbing brand called ‘Sulbing Element’ (雪冰元素, XUEBING YUANSU) first filed for a trademark and was doing business. When Shanghai Yabin Foods couldn’t make the business properly in China, they filed a lawsuit demanding Sulbing to terminate the contract and return the down payment (contract fee). Shanghai Yabin Food won at the Supreme Court and Sulbing returned the down payment.

▲ sulbing.com

Sulbing's lawsuit to regain the trademark,

Sulbing filed a trademark invalidation trial against Sulbing Element. After half a year hearing, the Trademark Appeal Board (of the State Administration of Industry & Commerce of the People’s Republic of China) raised the hand of South Korea's Sulbing, saying that the trademark of Sulbing Element was invalid. The Trademark Appeal Board judged that Chinese companies had disturbed the trademark registration order and harmed the fair competition order. Sulbing, who has been suffering from fake companies and has not even been able to enter China, is planning to explore the market in the future.

▲ intomark.com
(trademark database of WIPS)
trademark of Suling Element of China

Can Korea get other brands back?

Experts say the decision on Sulbing case gave a glimpse of China's commitment to trademark law. Seong-won Yoo, a renowned patent attorney for Chinese trademark lawsuits, said “the ruling of this case demonstrates China’s determination that trademarks filed for the purpose of infringing on the legitimate rights of others and unfair competition should be regulated by unifying Article 44 of the Chinese Trademark law.

The Chinese company, which had the trademark right of Sulbing Element, also owned trademarks of other Korean brands such as Innisfree, Go Bong-min Kimbab, and KimGane. Hopefully that Korean trademarks that were stolen will be able to return to their real owners.

Apple and Prepear's trademark lawsuit

 

Prepear, that helps you make safe food,

Prepear is a small startup company in Utah, USA. They started with a blog that provides kids with recipes for making healthy food. After that, they created an app with a function that you can immediately purchase the groceries needed for cooking. The name "prepear" was created by combining cook (prepare) and a fruit, pear, and the logo was also created after the shape of a pear.

▲ prepear.com

Apple's logo trademark infringement lawsuit,

In March of last year, Apple filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Prepear, claiming that the logo is similar. Apple argued that Prepear is taking unfair advantage by making the logo similar, which undermines Apple's brand image. Prepear and Apple's logos consist of a fruit with a leaf designs. There are differences in the shape of apples and pears, but Apple has determined Prepear’s one doesn’t have a special personality and causes confusion.

▲ uspto.gov

How to deal with the Apple,

Prepear had to pay thousands of dollars in filing a lawsuit against Apple, but it was too big for a small company. While looking for a solution to protect the logo, Prepear posted their stories on the global petition site Change.org, and 10,000 people responded less than a week after posting. Public opinion on Apple became more and more negative. Since then, the petition has spread all over the world with more than 260,000 signatures to date.

▲ change.org

Public opinion, design and Apple's choice?

In December of last year, Apple asked the Trademark Trials and Appeals Committee to suspend the proceedings for 30 days. When critical public opinion prevailed over the lawsuit, Apple stopped to reach an agreement. If no agreement within 30 days, the trial automatically resumes on January 23. 

▲ uspto.gov

As this lawsuit becomes an issue, there’s keen interest on whether it will affect Apple's image and how Apple will proceed with this lawsuit.