https://www.scmp.com/rss/330761/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com A group of eight US newspapers is suing ChatGPT creator OpenAI and Microsoft, alleging that the technology companies have been “purloining millions” of copyrighted news articles without permission or payment to train their artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. The New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, Denver Post and other papers filed the lawsuit Tuesday in a New York federal court. “We’ve spent billions of dollars gathering information and reporting news at our publications, and we can’t allow... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3261028/eight-us-newspapers-sue-chatgpt-maker-openai-and-microsoft-copyright-infringement?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3261028/eight-us-newspapers-sue-chatgpt-maker-openai-and-microsoft-copyright-infringement?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 May 2024 05:00:14 +0000 Marc Benioff, the Salesforce chief executive who also owns Time magazine, said artificial intelligence (AI) companies ripped off intellectual property to build their technology. “All the training data has been stolen,” Benioff said on Tuesday in an interview at Bloomberg House at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Content from media outlets including Time and The New York Times surfaces in results from AI companies, he said. There is increasing scrutiny on the makers of large language models... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3248702/davos-2024-openai-ceo-altman-time-owner-benioff-disagree-ais-use-copyrighted-content?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3248702/davos-2024-openai-ceo-altman-time-owner-benioff-disagree-ais-use-copyrighted-content?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Jan 2024 03:45:11 +0000 Apple said it would put its latest smartwatch models back on sale in its US retail stores on Wednesday after it won a court ruling in a patent fight, providing a quick reprieve for its US$17 billion business. The company said its Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 would also resume online sales from Thursday noon, Pacific time. The US International Trade Commission (ITC) had banned the import and sale of the products at Apple’s official channels after it ruled in favour of Masimo, a medical device... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3246452/apple-resumes-sale-watches-after-appeals-court-lifts-us-ban?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3246452/apple-resumes-sale-watches-after-appeals-court-lifts-us-ban?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Dec 2023 02:30:48 +0000 Apple said it will appeal a US ban on its latest smartwatch models after the Biden administration opted to not veto a ruling on patent infringements. The ban on Apple’s latest smartwatch models came into effect on Tuesday, with the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 no longer available in stores or online. The ban is the latest legal tussle involving Big Tech companies over valuable patents that has also seen Google battle in court against Sonos in a fight over speaker tech. The United... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3246322/us-import-ban-certain-apple-watch-models-takes-effect-over-patent-clash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3246322/us-import-ban-certain-apple-watch-models-takes-effect-over-patent-clash?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Dec 2023 14:23:13 +0000 An artificial intelligence (AI) system cannot be registered as the inventor of a patent, Britain’s Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, in a decision that denies machines the same status as humans. The UK’s highest court concluded that “an inventor must be a person” to apply for patents under the current law. The decision was the culmination of American technologist Stephen Thaler’s long-running British legal battle to get his AI, dubbed DABUS, listed as the inventor of two patents. Thaler claims... https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3245822/ai-systems-cannot-be-named-inventor-patents-uks-top-court-rules?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3245822/ai-systems-cannot-be-named-inventor-patents-uks-top-court-rules?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Dec 2023 04:00:17 +0000 Semiconductor company Arm Holdings on Wednesday gave a fiscal third-quarter sales outlook below Wall Street estimates, with the company attributing the forecast to a large deal that is likely to land later than expected. Arm’s shares dove 8 per cent to US$50 in extended trading after the news. But the company, which sells designs and other intellectual property (IP) for creating semiconductors that power most of the world’s smartphones, also forecast fiscal full-year sales that beat Wall Street... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3240863/arm-forecasts-third-quarter-below-wall-street-deal-delay-shares-dive-8?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3240863/arm-forecasts-third-quarter-below-wall-street-deal-delay-shares-dive-8?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Nov 2023 03:50:17 +0000 US President Joe Biden will be hosting Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders from May 12-13 in Washington at a special summit, signalling US efforts to engage with the Asia-Pacific amid intensifying competition with China. Tensions between Washington and Beijing have recently been exacerbated by the launch of several Asian trade agreements, and White House language has been frank in its assessment of China’s role in the region. Against this geopolitical backdrop, the US-Asean Special... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3176822/how-us-new-indo-pacific-economic-strategy-could-edge-out-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3176822/how-us-new-indo-pacific-economic-strategy-could-edge-out-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 May 2022 17:30:21 +0000 No image is a more iconic signifier of the end of a court case than the judge banging his or her gavel. When the gavel comes down and a verdict is delivered, the case comes to an end. For most litigants, the objective of seeking a win in court is to obtain justice and remedy. The latter can only occur if judgments are enforced. Among the challenges facing foreign companies operating in China, two that are often cited are the country’s opaque administrative rules and regulations, and the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3176575/how-hong-kongs-role-foreign-investment-gateway-china-will-be?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3176575/how-hong-kongs-role-foreign-investment-gateway-china-will-be?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 May 2022 05:45:19 +0000 A Chinese national who pleaded guilty earlier this year to stealing a trade secret from agribusiness giant Monsanto while he worked in Missouri has been sentenced to more than two years in prison. Haitao Xiang, formerly of Chesterfield, Missouri, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in St Louis to 29 months in prison and fined US$150,000. Xiang also must undergo three years of supervision upon his release from prison. In January, Xiang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit economic... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3173501/chinese-man-sentenced-jail-us-stealing-monsanto?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3173501/chinese-man-sentenced-jail-us-stealing-monsanto?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Apr 2022 21:55:54 +0000 China has joined the World Intellectual Property Organization’s treaty on protecting industrial designs, which should help Chinese designers safeguard their work internationally, the UN agency said on Saturday. Beijing has entered the WIPO’s Hague System for the international registration of industrial designs – as well as the Marrakech Treaty, making books for the visually impaired more accessible. WIPO director general Daren Tang received China’s accession documents while in Beijing to attend... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3166007/china-signs-treaty-protect-industrial-design-ip?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3166007/china-signs-treaty-protect-industrial-design-ip?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 06 Feb 2022 07:51:22 +0000 A Chinese national admitted in United States federal court on Thursday that he stole a trade secret while working for Monsanto and one of its subsidiaries in Missouri, federal prosecutors said. Haitao Xiang, 44, formerly of Chesterfield, Missouri, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit economic espionage. He was indicted by a grand jury on eight charges in 2019. Prosecutors said in a news release that Xiang transferred a trade secret to a memory card and then tried to take it to China for the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3162509/chinese-man-pleads-guilty-stealing-monsanto-trade-secret-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3162509/chinese-man-pleads-guilty-stealing-monsanto-trade-secret-us?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Jan 2022 06:07:44 +0000 Sophisticated, internet-enabled audiovisual technologies, once a niche reserved for gamers and videophiles, have been gaining mainstream acceptance for some time, but the outbreak of Covid-19 kicked adoption into overdrive. Now, grandparents use videoconferencing to show up for birthdays. Students live-stream their classes, and doctors rely on smartphones to examine their patients remotely. At the end of the day, many of us relax with streaming services such as Netflix. Today, internet-enabled... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3162057/preserve-patent-rights-help-make-pandemic-life-bearable?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3162057/preserve-patent-rights-help-make-pandemic-life-bearable?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Jan 2022 06:30:38 +0000 In his media briefing on December 22, World Health Organization director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that blanket booster programmes are likely to prolong the Covid-19 pandemic, rather than end it, “by diverting supply to countries that already have high levels of vaccination coverage, giving the virus more opportunities to spread and mutate”. The Omicron variant is seen widely as an example of that type of mutation. An angry Dr Ayoade Alakija, co-chair of the African Union’s... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3161245/covid-19-vaccine-patent-waiver-will-save-lives-rich-west-must-stop?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3161245/covid-19-vaccine-patent-waiver-will-save-lives-rich-west-must-stop?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Dec 2021 22:45:20 +0000 Hong Kong needs to strengthen intellectual property (IP) protections for new inventions if it hopes to become the region’s innovation and technology hub, a leading researcher has said, noting scientific infrastructure alone will not be enough to achieve the goal. Dennis Lo Yuk-ming, a Chinese University professor of chemical pathology known for his inventions in non-invasive prenatal testing and cancer screening, said in an interview with the Post that the city needed more legal professionals... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3159320/ip-everything-hong-kong-must-strengthen?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3159320/ip-everything-hong-kong-must-strengthen?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Dec 2021 07:00:25 +0000 An overhaul of Hong Kong’s copyright regime is long overdue. The government began moves to reform the legislation in 2006. Since then, there have been three rounds of consultation and two bills. But the legal amendments have still not been made. A bill introduced in 2014 was shelved two years later after filibustering by opposition lawmakers left insufficient time. Concerns were raised by internet users that their online activities would be unduly restricted by the proposals. Now, the copyright... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3157944/new-hong-kong-copyright-law-must-take-interests-all-account?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3157944/new-hong-kong-copyright-law-must-take-interests-all-account?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Dec 2021 00:00:35 +0000 Hong Kong is resurrecting a bill expanding intellectual property protections that opposition lawmakers have blocked twice before, with officials saying it is high time the city catches up with the rest of the world in updating its copyright regime. The government on Wednesday launched a three-month public consultation on the proposal to update the Copyright Ordinance, which is expected to be submitted to a newly elected Legislative Council in 2022. Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3157218/hong-kong-revive-bill-bolstering-copyright-law?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3157218/hong-kong-revive-bill-bolstering-copyright-law?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Nov 2021 09:33:50 +0000 Rarely has there been a case of holiday blues of such monumental proportions. On Saturday, a large group of VIPs in Singapore were attending the official unveiling of a 42-metre-long inflatable outdoor sculpture, Companion, created by celebrity artist Kaws as part of a two-week, government-sponsored spectacle called “Kaws: Holiday”. But at 4.30pm, a court injunction ordering both the immediate suspension of the artwork’s display and the accompanying sale of merchandise was delivered to the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3155960/singapore-court-orders-halt-display-kaws-holiday-giant?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3155960/singapore-court-orders-halt-display-kaws-holiday-giant?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Nov 2021 10:33:09 +0000 Reports of the death of world trade, and in particular of the World Trade Organization, have been greatly exaggerated – perhaps in spite of the best efforts of former US president Donald Trump and his trade team led by Robert Lighthizer. But the organisation faces a critical test of its relevance in the next two months. The imperative for cooperation on pandemic recovery – in vaccine distribution, safe travel rules and supply chain reform – and on the climate crisis, have lent urgency to the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3153443/can-wto-serve-miracles-when-trade-ministers-meet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3153443/can-wto-serve-miracles-when-trade-ministers-meet?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 Oct 2021 14:45:13 +0000 Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a powerful tool around the world, but advances in the technology have also introduced a big challenge in terms of its ethical use, experts said on Thursday at the South China Morning Post’s annual China Conference. “AI is genuinely a huge challenge to data privacy,” said Alan Chiu, managing partner at Hong Kong law firm ELLALAN. “Big data analysis, at least in some ways, inherently conflicts or stretches the limits of fundamental data protection... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3137723/basic-ethical-questions-transparency-and-bias-ai-remain-unsolved?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3137723/basic-ethical-questions-transparency-and-bias-ai-remain-unsolved?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Jun 2021 15:00:00 +0000 French producers of the famed blackcurrant liqueur known as creme de cassis de Dijon announced a legal victory on Monday that will prevent a Chinese firm from selling any Dijon-labelled bottles. “We are thrilled,” Claire Briottet, president of the Dijon creme de cassis alliance in Burgundy, said. The sweet cordial is a cocktail mainstay for bartenders worldwide, most famously for adding to champagne for a kir royale. The four historic producers in Dijon, including Briottet, secured a Protected... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3130196/frances-dijon-creme-de-cassis-base-kir-royale-cocktail-will-no?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3130196/frances-dijon-creme-de-cassis-base-kir-royale-cocktail-will-no?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Apr 2021 17:37:14 +0000 This is the first in a series of reports on Chinese intellectual property as Beijing seeks to make IP protection a central part of its new development strategy. Chinese universities have been rising in global rankings for patent filings, according to data published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in March. Last year, they made up nine of the top 20 educational institutes on the WIPO’s list, compared with only three in 2017, extending China’s lead over the US in patent... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3128815/china-mission-turn-junk-patents-treasure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3128815/china-mission-turn-junk-patents-treasure?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Apr 2021 16:00:09 +0000 A growing clash between courts in China and Western countries seeking to exert rulings beyond borders could escalate, warned legal experts, after a local Chinese court issued an injunction over a dispute between smartphone giant Xiaomi and a US company.  The case, an example of the Chinese judiciary’s intensifying efforts to impose long-arm jurisdiction under Beijing’s directive, can throw international lawsuits into uncharted waters, according to analysts.  It started last June, when Xiaomi... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3128009/china-tests-long-arm-its-law-xiaomi-and-huaweis-international-patent-battles?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3128009/china-tests-long-arm-its-law-xiaomi-and-huaweis-international-patent-battles?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Apr 2021 22:00:26 +0000 The Covid-19 pandemic and vaccine development – as during the height of the HIV/Aids crisis in the 1990s – has brought to the forefront the debate within the World Trade Organization on the need to re-evaluate the balance of WTO intellectual property rules between exclusive ownership of new knowledge and broad public access. The WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, commonly called the Trips Agreement, was completed in 1994 with the negotiated balance stating... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3124717/how-access-covid-19-vaccines-has-highlighted-need-wto-rebalance-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3124717/how-access-covid-19-vaccines-has-highlighted-need-wto-rebalance-its?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Mar 2021 01:15:10 +0000 Huawei Technologies Co. broke into the top 10 recipients of US patents last year, according to an analysis of filings with the US Patent and Trademark Office, the latest sign that Chinese companies are aggressive in pursuing the US lead in global technology. The telecom company’s 2,418 patents, along with 2,177 new patents issued to display-screen maker BOE Technology Group, help propel China into the rank of fourth-biggest recipient of US patents, behind Japan and South Korea but ahead of... https://www.scmp.com/tech/china-now-has-more-us-patents-germany-thanks-huawei/article/3046083?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/china-now-has-more-us-patents-germany-thanks-huawei/article/3046083?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Jan 2020 00:00:23 +0000 The White House and Beijing have reached an agreement on a “phase one” trade deal with most of the last-minute attention focused on agricultural purchases and tariff reductions. Among the key structural issues that may not have been adequately addressed is Washington’s concern about theft of intellectual property rights, which, according to President Donald Trump, costs the nation $600 billion annually, an accusation denied by China. Many in America’s security establishment also see China’s... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/techno-nationalism-transcends-us-china-relations-argues-yukong-huang-and-jeremy-smith/article/3042963?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/techno-nationalism-transcends-us-china-relations-argues-yukong-huang-and-jeremy-smith/article/3042963?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Dec 2019 10:45:36 +0000 Creating art is a common way for humans to express themselves – and it is usually protected by copyright laws – but what if artificial intelligence (AI) did the same? If a writer used AI to complete Cao Xueqin’s famous unfinished Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber, who should own the copyright? Cao Xueqin, the writer, or the AI algorithm? “So far, there is no law specifically addressing ownership of AI-created work [in China],” said Liu Wenjie, a law professor at the Communication University... https://www.scmp.com/tech/who-owns-copyright-works-created-ai/article/3042946?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/who-owns-copyright-works-created-ai/article/3042946?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Dec 2019 07:50:31 +0000 The winner of a logo competition aimed at promoting tourism in a Chinese city has been accused of ripping off Disney’s distinctive font. The government of Dalian in northeastern China published the winning design of its “Dalian has quality gifts” competition on December 11. But internet users soon identified that the lettering looked a lot like that of Walt Disney’s signature company logo. The city’s Bureau of Culture and Tourism, which is in charge of the competition, said on Tuesday it was... https://www.scmp.com/arts/chinese-city-logo-design-under-probe-after-being-accused-plagiarizing-disney/article/3042781?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/arts/chinese-city-logo-design-under-probe-after-being-accused-plagiarizing-disney/article/3042781?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Dec 2019 10:18:22 +0000 The Federal Bureau of Investigation has deployed counter-intelligence agents in all 56 US field offices and centralized efforts to thwart China’s aggressive theft of strategic secrets and its recruitment of American scientists, according to Senate testimony on Tuesday. Field offices are command posts spread across American cities that are used to carry out local and regional operations.  “Technology is the key to military and economic power,” John Brown, assistant director of the FBI’s... https://www.scmp.com/politics/alarm-us-over-chinas-recruitment-scientists/article/3038557?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/politics/alarm-us-over-chinas-recruitment-scientists/article/3038557?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Nov 2019 10:36:49 +0000 A new CGI movie adaptation of beloved Chinese classic Journey to the West has met an untimely demise. Meant to be a futuristic spin on the mythological classic, the movie instead got laughed off the internet because its armor-clad hero looks a little too much like Iron Man, from Marvel Comics franchise. The film, titled Armored War God Monkey King, was expected to stream exclusively on Tencent Video over the festive period, but got yanked before debut, as Marvel fans in the world’s largest... https://www.scmp.com/culture/iron-man-knockoff-got-laughed-internet/article/3000379?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/iron-man-knockoff-got-laughed-internet/article/3000379?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Jan 2019 12:26:53 +0000