Skip to main content

Tiger-striped jersey: Copyright deemed unnecessary

KUALA LUMPUR (June 26, 2012): Former youth and sports minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman decided there was no need to copyright the tiger-striped design of the national sports jersey unveiled seven years ago, the Intellectual Property High Court heard today.

Former national sports institute chief executive officer Datuk Dr Ramlan Abdul Aziz told the court he had raised the idea to protect the design as it was the right thing to do.

“Datuk Seri (Azalina) wanted to have the design available for everybody, so it was not pursued. It was not my responsibility to take steps, it was up to the Youth and Sports Ministry to do this,” he said under cross-examination by National Sports Council (NSC) lawyer Datuk Mohamad Bustaman Abdullah.

Ramlan said he felt it was important for the NSC management to take steps to protect the design.
He was testifying at the trademark dispute hearing between the NSC and sports apparel company Mesuma Sports Sdn Bhd over the striped design which was launched on Nov 14 2005.
Ramlan said the national aspirations of the jersey had been discussed several times at National Sports Council meetings.

“There was a general idea it would be tiger-striped,” said Ramlan, adding that the jersey was for the NSC to use for national athletes and promotional purposes.

The NSC is claiming it registered the design under the Industrial Designs Act through CR Sports in 2009.

This was followed by an agreement between the NSC and Telekom Malaysia (TM) to launch the Team Malaysia Panthera jersey on April 28 last year.

On April 6, last year, TM filed eight applications to register designs consisting of its corporate logo and incorporating the tiger stripes on the words “Team Malaysia”.

CR Sports filed six applications on May 3 last year to trademark the striped design.
However, Mesuma Sports was registered as the proprietor of the trademark for 10 years from July 9, 2009 to July 9, 2019.

The hearing continues before judge Datuk Hanipah Farukillah.



Tan Yi Liang
newsdesk@thesundaily.com

Comments

  1. Skydancer27 June 2012 at 10:19 am

    Datuk Seri Azlina Othman is right, what copyright. As I can see the colour and the stripes are Malaysian sporting colours in all Sports events local and international. Go to any sport shops in Malaysia you can but a tiger stripe shirt, go to OCM they also sell the jersey and track top to anyone who care to pay. What copy right issue? Mesuma is a business entity, they printed the track suite and they sponsored our athletes in some of the Games. They just want to protect their interest la. No copyright and the Tiger stripes with that burnt orange colour is for all Malaysians.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ex-coach's jail sentence cut to a year

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday sentenced former athletics coach C. Ramanathan to 12 months' jail for molesting two junior athletes 19 years ago. A three-man bench led by Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus unanimously dismissed Ramanathan's appeal against conviction, but varied the jail sentence of four years to a year, which was to run concurrently. Following yesterday's ruling, Ramanathan, 75, a former teacher, walked out a free man as he had served 10 months in Kajang Prison. Convicts get one-third remission for good behaviour while in prison. However, he will lose his pension. Hishamudin, who sat with Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail and Datuk Linton Albert, said the court found no merit to overturn the conviction. "However, in reducing the sentence, we considered Ramanathan's age and the long years the appeal has taken." Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud submitted that then High Court judge Tan Sri Abdull Hamid E...
2 comments
Read more

Govt Always Gives Emphasis To Sporting Culture, Says PM

KUALA TERENGGANU, May 29 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badaw i said the government always gives emphasis on cultivating a strong sporting culture in achieving excellence at the international level. As such, the Prime Minister said, it was important to scout for young talents in sports. "I observe that the Malaysia Games (Sukma) has become one of the important platforms to do so. "In this arena, the potentials and skills of the youngsters can be identified for development so that they can achieve greater success in sports," he said in his message in the souvenir book of the 12th Sukma from May 31 until June 9. Abdullah said he was aware that competition in sports was very keen and challenging but this did not mean that Malaysian athletes were incapable of competing at the international level. "The fact is that we have all the characteristics required to be excellent. We must inculcate a strong fighting spirit so that we don't easily surrender,...
1 comment
Read more

Indonesia Choose Komodo Dragon As SEA Games Mascot

KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 (Bernama) -- Host for the 26th SEA Games, Indonesia has chosen the Komodo dragon as mascot for the 2011 Games which will be held in Jakarta and Palembang from Nov 11 to 25. The Indonesia SEA Games Organizing Committee (Inasoc), was qouted by Jakarta Post as saying that a pair of Komodo dragons, a male (Modo) and a female (Modi), were chosen in recognition of the Republic's conservation efforts to protect the dwindling number of the rare lizard. Modo and Modi were unveiled last night at a function in Jakarta, to mark the 200-day countdown before the games open on Nov 11 in Palembang. The Komodo dragons, the largest lizard in the world, only live on the Indonesian islands of Komodo in Flores, East Nusa Tenggara. On Jan 15, Inasoc unveiled its logo, a Garuda eagle, to symbolize the power and grandeur of Indonesia. Indonesia dominated the Games between 1977, when it first competed, and 1997, failing to top the medal charts only twice in that p...
1 comment
Read more