December 2014 Issue 71

Transcription

1 December 2014 Issue 71 UAE Has World s Most Attractive Tax Framework Rubik s Cube Trademark Puzzle Solved by EU Court Google Follows through on Threat to Shutter News Service in Spain 1 TAG-Legal tag-legal.com

2 IN THIS ISSUE UAE Has World s Most Attractive Tax Framework Qatar Improves in Corruption Index 3 5 Rubik s Cube Trademark Puzzle Solved by EU Court Chimpanzees Are Not Legal Persons, Court Rules Samsung vs Apple Patent Lawsuit Hearing: Cup Holder Argument Takes Centre-Stage 11 China Opens Second Intellectual Property Rights Court 12 Google Follows through on Threat to Shutter News Service in Spain 2 TAG-Legal tag-legal.com

3 UAE Has World s Most Attractive Tax Framework By Mary Sophia ABU DHABI- The UAE has the most attractive tax framework in the world and the least demanding, according to a report by the World Bank Group and PwC. The Middle East tax environment is evolving, said Dean Kern, partner, PwC s Middle East markets, tax and legal services leader. The report found that tax regimes in Middle East countries continue to have one of the most attractive rates in the world. The UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia retained the top three positions as having the most attractive tax rates in the world. On average, a medium-sized company in the Middle East has a total tax obligation of 23.7 per cent, making 17.6 payments and needing 159 hours to comply with its tax requirements. The report also highlights a nine-year trend of all these indicators in the Middle East. In desire to become simple and an efficient place to do business, the governments here are looking to strengthen their fiscal frameworks by introducing measures to reduce complexity, such as, electronic filing and e-payments. There is also a shift towards a more territorial approach to taxation, along with an expansion of the tax treaty network in a number of regional economies such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia. With GCC governments considering the introduction of value added tax (VAT), the biggest challenge in order to drive voluntary compliance will be to ensure that the VAT systems are simple, efficient and cost effective for companies, he said. UAE businesses have traditionally enjoyed low taxation policies with many operating in tax-free trade zones. 3 TAG-Legal tag-legal.com

4 Last year, the UAE government announced a study to examine the effects of imposing a uniform corporate tax across all the emirates in a bid to reduce its dependence on oil revenues. However Younis al-khouri, undersecretary and director general at the UAE federal finance ministry, told Reuters that the study was just a regular exercise with no new taxes planned for now: It is only an impact study, nothing more than that. We have announced earlier that 2012 and 2013 won t have any taxes. Presently, corporate tax is only enforced on oil companies and banks with the former paying 55 per cent and the latter paying 20 per cent in corporate tax. While individuals are not required to pay income tax. The study found that 14 economies increased their total tax obligations while 14 others lowered their tax rates. However, a tax rate decline has shown signs of slowing down globally, the report said. Source: Gulf Business 4 TAG-Legal tag-legal.com

5 Qatar Improves in Corruption Index DOHA- Qatar is the second least corrupt country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, according to Transparency International s recent report. The country ranked 26th in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 which was recently released by Transparency International. As Qatar scored 69 points in 2014 index, improving its performance compared to previous year when it scored 68 points. Denmark topped the list as the least corrupt country scoring 92, followed by New Zealand (91) and Finland (89). Somalia and North Korea were ranked lowest in the index. Source: The Peninsula Qatar The Index surveyed 175 countries across the globe. The UAE, which ranked 25th, is the least corrupt country in the Middle East and North Africa. While Bahrain and Saudi Arabia shared 55th place and Oman was ranked 64th. 5 TAG-Legal tag-legal.com

6 Rubik s Cube Trademark Puzzle Solved by EU Court By Enrico Bonadio LUXEMBOURG- The Rubik s Cube has confounded millions of people, including myself since discovering it in my uncle s house as a child. And now the iconic threedimensional puzzle has been the subject of an EU ruling. The device was invented in 1974 by Ernő Rubik, a Hungarian professor of architecture. Its particular and eyecatching shape, characterized by black lines and the multi-colored grid structure, has won it several prizes and has obtained significant commercial success in many countries. More than 400m cubes had been sold worldwide, making it the bestselling puzzle toy. tests of intellectual and digital dexterity. A parallel industry has mushroomed in the wake of its success: so-called speedcubing (also known as speedsolving) the practice of trying to solve the cube s puzzle in the shortest time possible, which has spawned many competitions around the world. But the Rubik s Cube has always been more than just a toy. It s been the subject of mathematical studies on its relevance to group theory and one of the most famous 6 TAG-Legal tag-legal.com

7 So, why has a top EU court ended up dealing with this iconic object? The answer lies in its very particular shape, which was registered as a three-dimensional trademark in the EU in 1999 by Seven Towns, the British company that manages the intellectual property rights relating to the cube. It is indeed possible to register shapes as trademarks as long as they are distinctive, namely when they help consumers understand that the product comes from a certain company and thereby ensure that consumers receive consistent quality. Coca Cola, for example, has trademarked the shape of its bottle. But a German toy manufacturer, which was marketing cubes similar to Rubik s Cube, Simba Toys, was not happy about the registration and sought to obtain its cancellation on the grounds that the shape of the Rubik s cube related to its functionality as it allows its rotating capability, as opposed to an issue of external design. Indeed, shapes of objects that, despite being distinctive, serve a technical function cannot be registered as three-dimensional trademarks. For example, a few years ago; the shapes of the famous Philips three-headed shaver and the Lego toy-brick were refused registration as they had been considered necessary to obtain a technical result a particularly efficient shave, on the one hand, and the interconnection between the bricks, on the other hand. The aim of Simba s legal move was quite clear: trying to prevent the manufacturer of Rubik s Cube from being the only one exploiting commercially a three-dimensional puzzle toy having that particular shape. The EU General Court has now dismissed Simba s legal action, though. First, it held that the Rubik s Cube grid structure greatly differs from other three-dimensional puzzles available on the market, which appear in a plethora of shapes including tetrahedron, an octahedron or a dodecahedron, or have an external surface which does not bear the same kind of grid structure. That shape the court confirmed has distinctive character which allows consumers to associate the cube to the well-known Rubik s outfit. The court also found that the rotating capability of the cube does not result neither from the black lines, nor the grid structure, but from an internal mechanism which is not visible on its graphic representation. This means that the registration does not stop other companies making different threedimensional puzzles; which do not have the same surface layout as the traditional Rubik s Cube, according to the court s ruling. This decision has obviously been welcomed by Seven Towns, which will keep relying on trademark protection. This is significant because the main patent protecting the cube s technological features expired a few years ago. And it should be taken into account that, as opposed to patents that last just 20 years, trademark protection is potentially perpetual, as long as fees for renewals are constantly paid. Source: The Conversation 7 TAG-Legal tag-legal.com

8 Chimpanzees Are Not Legal Persons, Court Rules By Kelly Dickerson NEW YORK- A New York appeals court ruled on December 4 that a pet chimpanzee named Tommy is not entitled to the rights of a human, and does not have to be released from the cage in which it is housed. The three-judge panel ruled unanimously to deny Tommy a writ of habeas corpus and legal personhood. A writ of habeas corpus is designed to protect people from being held against their will. [8 Humanlike Behaviors of Primates] The Nonhuman Rights Project, an organization that fights for legal rights for animals, first brought Tommy s case to a trial court in 2013, out of concern that his living conditions were similar to those of a person living in unlawful solitary confinement. The group argued that Tommy s owner, Patrick Lavery, is holding the chimp against his will inside a cage in upstate New York, and that Tommy should be released into a wildlife sanctuary. The court ruled against giving Tommy legal personhood in 2013, but Steven Wise, a lawyer with the Nonhuman Rights Project, presented the case to an appeals court. The appeals court judges handed down their seven-page decision on the 4th of December. The judges wrote that there is no precedent for considering animals as people, and no legal basis for doing so. The problem is that the legal definition of personhood involves both rights and the ability to perform duties. 8 TAG-Legal tag-legal.com

9 Needless to say, unlike human beings, chimpanzees cannot bear any legal duties, submit to societal responsibilities or be held legally accountable for their actions, the judges wrote in their decision. In our view, it is this incapability to bear any legal responsibilities and societal duties that renders it inappropriate to confer upon chimpanzees the legal rights such as the fundamental right to liberty protected by the writ of habeas corpus that have been afforded to human beings. Tommy s case was built around the idea that chimpanzees are remarkably intelligent animals and fit the idea of what the court considers as a legal person. As experts testified in the court case that chimpanzees have incredible cognitive abilities and that they can understand the past, anticipate the future and suffer as much in solitary confinement as would a human being, according to the appeals court transcript. Wise asserted that Tommy is a legal person, but that does not mean the organization was seeking human rights for chimpanzees. Personhood is the legal word, but it s not synonymous with human, Wise told Live Science in October. Wise has a similar case involving another chimpanzee, named Kiko that is also in the appeals court. A decision for that case will likely be made early next year. Source: Live Science 9 TAG-Legal tag-legal.com

10 Samsung vs Apple Patent Lawsuit Hearing: Cup Holder Argument Takes Centre-Stage CALIFRORNIA- Samsung Electronics has countered Apple s allegations of infringing on iphone patents in a US appeals court and on the order that it pays Apple Inc $930 million. The on-going 3-year-old court battle between Apple and Samsung over iphone patents, which were allegedly inserted in Galaxy series of smartphones by the latter, has on December 4 came up for hearing at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In August both parties announced that they had agreed to withdraw all patent cases except in the United States. The current court case is over a decision by the US District Court for the Northern District of California which had found that Samsung guilty, and ordered it to pay $930 million, reducing the amount from $1 billion awarded before. Lawyer Kathleen Sullivan, representing Samsung, argued that the lower court erred in awarding Apple entire Samsung s profits on Samsung phones, which was akin to awarding entire profits on a car because of an infringing cup holder. Apple s lawyer William Lee, however, countered the argument saying, This is not the cup holder. What Samsung is actually asking you is to substitute yourself for Judge Koh and the jury. The hearing will go on for some more time. Source: Micro Finance Monitor 10 TAG-Legal tag-legal.com

11 China Opens Second Intellectual Property Rights Court BEJINE- The court, which opened on 16 December, will hear civil and administrative lawsuits regarding patents, new plant varieties and technological knowledge, Xinhua said. The deputy head of the provincial higher people s court, Xu Chunjian, told Xinhua the court will hear IPR cases from all over Guangdong province except for Shenzhen City, so the whole province will follow the same standard. Xu said IPR cases in Guangdong accounted for 29.68% of the country s total in 2013, an increase from 20.55% in According to Xinhua, Chinese courts currently hear about 110,000 IPR cases annually and this is expected to increase. According to Xinhua, The first IPR court was set up in Beijing in early November. It has accepted 221 cases in one month alone., about 63% of the cases were administrative lawsuits regarding brands, Xinhua said. A third IPR court is expected to open in Shanghai by the end of this year. The Guangzhou court has already selected 10 of its 30 judges, each having handled on average at least 600 IPR cases, Xinhua said. In addition, Xinhua quoted an official with the provincial higher people s court, Zhou Ling, as saying the court is China s first to treat all judges as equal. Source: Out-law.com China s top legislature approved last August, proposals from China s Supreme People s Court to set up three courts to hear IPR cases. 11 TAG-Legal tag-legal.com

12 Google Follows through on Threat to Shutter News Service in Spain By D.B. Hebbard CALIFRORNIA- The Google News service has been shuttered in Spain on December 16. Google had announced the week before, that in reaction to a new law requiring search engines to pay a tax to media companies to display content snippets inside search results they would shut down the service on the 16th. As the new law requiring the payments goes into effect January 1. Google News-Spain said on expressed on the 16 th : We re incredibly sad to announce that, due to recent changes in Spanish law, we have removed Spanish publishers from Google News and have closed Google News in Spain. We understand that readers like you may be disappointed, too, and we want to share the reasons behind this decision, said on the Google News page for Spain. AEDE, the association that represents Spanish newspapers, had tried to get the Spanish government to intervene in the matter, but revising or dumping the new law would have taken too long to enact to have any impact on Google s shutdown. This legislation requires every Spanish publication to charge services like Google News for showing even the smallest snippet from their publications, whether they want to or not, Google said. As Google News itself makes no money (we do not show any advertising on the site) this new approach was not sustainable. According to El País, the Google News site in Spain only generated 385,000 unique visitors a month, though this does not count mobile web users. Google has strategically picked the 16th in order to demonstrate what the shutdown will mean for publishers before the law goes into effect a tactic that worked to reverse a similar policy in Germany. The difference here is that the Spanish law was crafted in such a way as to force publishers to act as one and demand Google and other search engines pay the tax. In the end, it only led to this result, one publishers may soon regret. Nonetheless, the Spanish culture minister José Ignacio Wert said that he felt Google jumped the gun on the move but admitted that it was publishers themselves who suggested a tax on links that go directly to their site. Now it will be the industry that will have to see the impact in real terms of not having this tool. Source: Talking New Media 12 TAG-Legal tag-legal.com

13 Where We Operate General Administration Kabul, Afghanistan Abu Dhabi, UAE Karachi, Pakistan Algeria, Algeria Khartoum, Sudan Amman, Jordan Kuwait City, Kuwait Baghdad, Iraq Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain Beirut, Lebanon Moscow, Russia Cairo, Egypt Muscat, Oman Damascus, Syria New Delhi, India Casablanca, Morocco Nicosia, Cyprus Doha, Qatar Ramallah, Palestine Dubai, UAE Riyadh, KSA Erbil, Iraq Sana a, Yemen Jebel Ali Free Zone Area, UAE Shanghai, China Jeddah, KSA Tunis, Tunisia This Newsletter is Published by the Quality Control Department of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Legal (TAG-Legal) Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Legal 2014 Reproduction is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged. For inquiries: Quality Control Department Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Legal (TAGLegal) / quality.legal@tag-legal.com 13 TAG-Legal tag-legal.com

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