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Due to privacy violations, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) closed two settlements with Amazon totaling $30.8 million.

In the first case, former employees of Ring, the smart doorbell company acquired by Amazon in 2018, spied on and viewed videos taken by customers without their consent. The lawsuit filed by the FTC was for $5.8 million to pay consumers reimbursement.

The second complaint, worth $5 million, alleged the violation of children’s privacy rights when it did not delete the voice recordings made by the personal assistant Alexa at the parents’ request and kept them longer than necessary.

The COPPA Rule requires, among other things, that an operator of a commercial website or online service targeted at children under the age of 13 notify parents of information it collects from children, obtain parental consent for the collection of that data, and allow the delete this information at any time. In addition, such service is prohibited from retaining information collected from children under 13 for longer than is reasonably necessary to provide the service.

“Illegally retained voice recordings provided Amazon with a valuable database to train the Alexa algorithm to understand children, benefiting its results at the expense of children’s privacy,” the FTC said.

These settlements are the agency’s latest effort to hold big tech companies accountable for policies that put profits ahead of privacy. In a statement, Amazon responded: “While we disagree with the FTC’s allegations regarding Alexa and Ring and deny violating the law, these settlements put those issues behind us.”

Source: Startupi

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World Environment Day is celebrated this Monday (5), and each year, the day has a specific theme that serves as a central focus for activities and initiatives around the world. In 2023, the theme will focus on solutions for plastic pollution, and according to experts, they will start with consumer choices.

According to data from the United Nations (UN), more than 400 million tons of plastic are produced yearly by the world’s population, half of which is designed to be used only once and less than 10% recycled.

However, a report by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) points out that plastic pollution can be reduced by 80% by 2040 if countries and companies make profound policy and market changes using existing technologies.

According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) report, to reduce plastic pollution by 80% worldwide by 2040, eliminating problematic and unnecessary plastics is necessary to reduce the size of the problem. The document calls for three changes in the market:

Reuse

Promoting reuse options such as refillable bottles, bulk dispensers, escrow schemes, and take-back schemes could reduce plastic pollution by 30% by 2040. To realize its potential, governments must help create business models more solid for reusable ones.

Recycle

Reducing plastic pollution by 20% by 2040 could be possible if recycling becomes more stable and profitable. Removing fossil fuel subsidies, applying packaging design guidelines to improve recycling, and other measures can increase the share of economically recyclable plastics from 21% to 50%.

Reorient and diversify

According to UNEP, carefully replacing plastic packaging, sachets, and takeaway packaging with products made from alternative materials, such as paper or compostable materials, can provide an additional 17% reduction in plastic pollution.

Source: G1

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If you’re a movie fan, you’ve surely noticed that, in recent years, films about the real history of some brands are increasingly gaining ground. With a great cast and good scripts, feature films about intellectual properties are being highly praised by critics and becoming a success among moviegoers.

‘Air’

With an all-star cast, the film tells the story of the creation of the Air Jordan, the shoe made by Nike, especially for the then-rookie basketball player Michael Jordan. The plot shows the negotiations between the sports company’s competitors, Adidas and Converse, and how specialists in the field convinced the basketball player’s mother to believe in the project.

‘BlackBerry’

Based on the book “Losing The Signal”, the film shows the beginning, rise, and fall of one of the companies that dominated the telephone market at the beginning of the century. Who didn’t want to have a BlackBerry?

‘Flamin’ Hot’

Perhaps the most unusual idea on our list is the movie “Super Picante”, which tells the story of the spicy version of the Cheetos snack. The screenplay is also based on a book, “A Boy, a Burrito and a Cookie: From Janitor to Executive”, by Richard Montañez, a janitor claiming he is the cookie’s inventor.

‘The Founder’

One of the films, if not the most known on our list, stars Michael Keaton and shows the story of how a small, fast food store in the middle of the United States, which became the largest chain of ready-to-eat meals on the planet, the McDonald’s.

‘Tetris’

Games are on the rise in Hollywood, so much so that “Tetris” tells the story of manufacturing and the legal battle to release one of the most famous games in video game history. The film stars Taron Egerton.

Source: Gshow

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The Federal Supreme Court (STF) scheduled for June 2 the beginning of the trial of the trademark dispute between Gradiente and Apple. The trial will be held in the virtual plenary, and the ministers’ votes must be published by June 12. The process began in 2012 when Apple contested the use of the “iPhone” trademark by Gradiente.

This judgment in the Court originates from the appeal filed by the Brazilian entity. In other instances, Apple achieved favorable results. The rapporteur for the appeal is Minister Dias Toffoli. In December 2020, the minister determined that companies enter into an out-of-court agreement. Apple and Gradiente held 20 mediation hearings and failed to reach an agreement.

Gradiente even launched cell phones with the name IPhone

To not lose the right to the trademark, which was granted in 2008, Gradiente launched some cell phones with the iPhone trademark, using the capital “I”. Among the models sold were the Gradiente Iphone Neo One and the Iphone C600.

The first was an entry-level model, while the second… well, it had more competitive specs like a 13 MP camera (wow!) and a dual-core 1.4 GHz Snapdragon S4 — the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, released in February of this year, it hits 3.36 GHz.

Although Gradiente only won the right to use the iPhone brand in 2008, a year after Steve Jobs showed his iPhone to the world, the request from the Brazilian company came in 2000, when the Nokia 3310 dominated the market. At the time, Gradiente had plans to develop a cell phone with internet access — iPhone is a contraction of “internet phone”.

However, registration at the Brazilian Patent Office (BPTO) took a while to be granted. When the registration was granted, Gradiente was already in bad shape. Last week, the company emerged from bankruptcy. It hopes to win Big Tech to pay its shareholders and take it private.

Source: Terra

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The leaders of the G7 nations decided this Saturday in Hiroshima that a “working group” will be created in the future to address the “responsible use” of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the risks it poses, including misinformation.

“We instruct relevant ministers to establish the Hiroshima Process on AI, through a working group set up in cooperation with international organizations, to discuss generative AI by the end of the year,” according to the G7 communiqué.

G7 working group discussions on the subject may also discuss “governance, protection of intellectual property rights,” and “responsible use” of these new technologies, but also ways to combat “information manipulation” and “disinformation” through these tools.

“We are committed to advancing multiple approaches to AI standards setting while respecting mandatory legal frameworks,” he added.

Global Concern

The announcement of the G7 comes after the European Union, which also participates in the group, almost passed legislation to regulate artificial intelligence. Parliamentarians from the Internal Market and Justice Committees of the European Parliament have already reached an agreement on the project, which provides clarity in the use of technology, payment of copyrights and practically prohibits using facial recognition.

Governors and regulators worldwide have sought to create rules to curb the effects of AI amid the surge in the popularity of generative AI tools. The European Union will vote on a bill in June, becoming a pioneer in the area. The White House has already stated that it supports AI regulation in the United States.

The UK is turning to its regulator, and in China, authorities already require AI systems to adhere to strict rules. And in Brazil, this month, the President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, presented a bill establishing general guidelines for developing, implementing, and using AI systems in the country.

Source: O Globo

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Samsung banned the use of generative Artificial Intelligence tools such as ChatGPT by its employees. The rationale is that using AI on its internal networks and proprietary devices poses a security risk, according to Bloomberg News.

The rule was communicated to the team and it describes as a temporary restriction while Samsung works to “create a safe environment” to use generative AI tools. “We are temporarily restricting the use of generative AI.” The ban comes after Samsung discovered that some of its employees “leaked internal source code by uploading it to ChatGPT,” according to the outlet.

“Headquarters is reviewing security measures to create a safe environment to safely use generative AI to increase employee productivity and efficiency,” the statement reads, However, until these measures are prepared, we are temporarily restricting the use of generative AI”. In addition to restricting the use of generative AI on company computers, phones, and tablets, Samsung is also asking employees not to upload sensitive business information via their personal machines.

The statement informs that employees who disrespect the order can even be fired. “We ask that you diligently follow our security guidelines, and failure to do so may result in a breach or compromise of company information, resulting in disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment,” the company stresses.

ChatGPT is the biggest concern

ChatGPT is what worries the company the most. The privacy risks involved in using the chatbot vary depending on how the user accesses the service. If a company is the ChatGPT API, conversations with the chatbot are not visible to the OpenAl support team and are not used to train the company’s models. However, this does not apply to text entered into the general web interface using its default settings.

OpenAl advises users not to “share sensitive information in their conversations” and notes that all conversations can also be used to train future versions of ChatGPT. The company recently released a feature similar to a browser’s “incognito mode” that does not save chat histories and prevents them from being used for training.

Source: Startupi

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Brazilian companies, universities, and research institutions filed 22 patent applications regarding using 5G in applications dedicated to smart cities, showing a study by the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce, and Services (MDIC) released on Tuesday, 18.

Four hundred twenty-five applications were filed in the country, including patent applications from foreign companies for applying fifth-generation mobile technology in innovative city projects.

The data are from the study “Intellectual Property – data & Facts – Smart Cities,” carried out by the ministry, in partnership with the Brazilian Patent Office (BPTO) and the Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development (ABDI), through the Intelligence Center in Industrial Property (NIPI), collegiate linked to the MDIC.

The survey shows that almost half of the patent requests are for broadband access (208). The Internet of Things (IoT) appears next, with 77 registration requests. Technological solutions in the area of health (e-health) (61), connected vehicles (50), and augmented and virtual reality (46) also stand out.

According to the study, most applicants are companies in the United States responsible for 203 applications filed in Brazil. China (77), Japan (61), and Sweden (27) appear ahead of Brazil (22) on the list.

In the cut by company, Qualcomm leads quickly. The US manufacturer has registered 156 patent applications with the possibility of using 5G in intelligent cities. The top five include two Chinese companies – Huawei, with 50 requests, and Oppo Mobile, with 21 –Japan’s NTT Docomo (47) and Sweden’s Ericsson (31).

Regarding national applications, those refer to Internet 4.0, IoT, augmented and virtual reality, e-health, lighting management, street lighting, and traffic management.

“The work recognizes the recent growth in the number of patents in this area of knowledge in Brazil,” evaluates the NIPI. “It indicates, however, the need to strengthen the focus on issues closer to the national reality, on tropicalized themes, such as renewable energies and the fight against endemic diseases, in addition to the challenges of guaranteeing greater accessibility, communication, and better services in places of difficult access,” adds the collegiate.

Source: Telesintese

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About a year and a half after changing its name from Facebook to Meta and making it clear that it would invest heavily in the metaverse, the company is changing its discourse. The Silicon Valley giant says it is now focusing on advanced artificial intelligence.

In a statement sent to employees on Tuesday, the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to lay off another 10,000 employees in the coming months and doubled down on its new focus on “efficiency.”

The pivot to efficiency, first announced last month on Meta’s quarterly conference call, comes after years of heavy investment in growth, including in areas of unproven potential such as virtual reality.

Now, Zuckerberg says the company will focus primarily on cutting costs and optimizing designs. Building the metaverse “remains central to defining the future of social connection” Zuckerberg wrote, but that’s not where Meta will put most of its capital.

“Our biggest single investment is in advancing AI and incorporating it into each of our products,” said Zuckerberg. He agreed with how AI tools can help users of his apps express themselves and “discover new content”, but also said that new AI tools can be used to increase efficiency internally, helping “engineers write better code and faster”.

The comments come after what the CEO described as a “humbling awakening” last year when the “world economy changed, competitive pressures increased and our growth slowed considerably”.

Meta and its predecessor have been involved in AI research for years, but the remarks come amid a heightened AI frenzy in the tech world that started in late November when Microsoft-backed OpenAI publicly launched ChatGPT.

Not to be outdone, Meta announced late last month that it was forming a “top product group” to “supercharge” the company’s work on AI tools.

“I think it’s good to focus on AI,” Ali Mogharabi, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar, told CNN of Zuckerberg’s comments.

Mogharabi said Meta’s investments in AI “are beneficial on both ends” because they can improve the efficiency of the engineers who create products and because incorporating AI capabilities into Meta’s lineup of apps will potentially create more time engagement for users, which may generate advertising revenue.

And in the long term, Mogharabi said, “a lot of the AI investments and a lot of the enhancements that come from those AI investments can be applied to the entire metaverse project.”

But Zuckerberg’s emphasis on investing in AI and using technology tools to make the company more efficient and increase its bottom line is also “what shareholders and the market want to hear,” Mogharabi said.

Many investors had already complained about the company’s metaverse ambitions and spending. In 2022, Meta lost over $13.7 billion on its “Reality Labs” unit, which houses its metaverse efforts.

Investors seem to welcome Zuckerberg’s shift in focus from the metaverse to efficiency. After falling sharply in 2022, Meta’s shares have risen by more than 50% since the beginning of the year.

Angelo Zino, the senior equity analyst at CFRA Research, said the second round of layoffs at Meta “has left us officially convinced that Mark Zuckerberg has completely shifted gears, shifting the company’s narrative to one focused on efficiencies rather than looking to grow.” the metaverse at any cost.”

Source: Olhar Digital

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Admission to the Agreement will take effect on August 1 of this year.

In mid -February, Brazil’s adhesion to the Hague Convention for the International Registry of Industrial Designs was made official after the government applied for its membership in the 1999 Geneva Minutes in December 2022. Entry into the agreement will be effective as of August 1st this year.

The process of adhesion to the system began last September when the House of Representatives approved the country’s bonding through Legislative Decree No. 274/22. With its adhesion, Brazil will become the second Latin American country (after Mexico) and the 79th member to join the Convention. Other American countries in the agreement are Belize, Jamaica, Mexico, Sao Tome and Principe, Suriname, Canada, and the United States.

The Hague Convention (in force since 1925) will allow those who have a business or produce industrial designs in Brazil to request their drawings from Brazil in any of the signatory countries through a single international request, Just as they can obtain international protection for their pictures in Brazil if they produce outside Brazil.

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), applications must be named after the creator, cannot be submitted through the Brazilian Patent Office (BPTO) (WIPO will administer the international applications), and may include until 20 variants of the projected model. These drawings must belong to the same class or subclass as the Locarno classification and share common characteristics. Brazil will protect the pictures recorded for 25 years.

The postage of the publication of industrial design is prohibited when Brazil has been designated in an international request; The change of holder is also prohibited until the registry receives certain documents and will not be allowed to register in the International Registry of Change of Inventive ownership in Brazil until the INPI has all the certification documents related to this change.

In Brazil, there are six resolutions related to industrial design: Resolution PR No. 232/2019, which provides for the creation of the Industrial Designs Manual (created in January 2019 through Normative Act 232/2019), and the resolutions for the expedited examination request for industrial design application dor sports products, for the delivery of the Electronic Industrial Design Registration Certificate, for the creation of the electronic industrial design module of the electronic industrial property management system, for the deposit of Requests for the filing of industrial designs for applications for geographical indications and the adoption of the international Locarno classification for industrial designs. Similarly, all these resolutions and other provisions are contained in Industrial Property Law 9,279/96, which defines industrial design in article 95, and the regulation of BPTO.

Being part of the Hague system is particularly advantageous, as it allows local designers to take their models outside Brazil and that SHEs and various companies quickly get registration in all contracting countries, avoiding complex and costly procedures, making a single payment for a Single request in a language through a single entity (WIPO) and with the freedom to schedule the publication of your registration.

Source: LexLatin

Applications for Wipo Global Awards are open, a boasting award for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) of all sectors of the economy, which use different forms of intellectual property, from copyright to brands, Patents, and geographical indications.

In their second edition, the awards intend to highlight the central role of SMEs’ innovative and creative activities and recognize creators, inventors, and designers who achieve their business objectives based on the efficient use of intellectual property rights and at the same time implement this innovation and creativity for society.

The winners will be entitled to a personalized mentoring program for intellectual property marketing, as well as a program on access to financing opportunities and partnerships.

Source: Sapotek