CAIT announces launch of eCommerce Portal, Rise in eCommerce sales in Middle East despite Covid-19, Telecom Licensing Terms amended by DoT, Samsung and Nokia ink Video Patent Licensing Deal, Spotify and Kakao sign Music Licensing Deal and Warner Bros. has partnered with Toybox.
CAIT announces launch of eCommerce Portal
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) announced that it is going to launch a mobile app for its eCommerce portal ‘Bharatemarket’ which is aimed at getting more small traders to sell online more easily through smartphones. The traders’ body has its sight at onboarding seven lakh traders on the portal by December 2021, and one crore traders by December 2023. CAIT has partnered with the Startup India division of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) for this endeavour.
Further, SME-focussed networking platform GlobalLinker is also providing core technology, whereas the All India Trader Welfare Association (AITWA) will be offering logistics support. The association has also highlighted that it will give no preferential treatment, in any form whatsoever, to vendors that are listed on the platform. The portal will be built on a geotagging feature that will allow customers to place orders from the nearest store of their choice, and once placed, a two hour window is provided for the traders to deliver the ordered items. It is said that no foreign investment in the portal will be accepted, and that the data of the users will remain in India itself.
Rise in eCommerce sales in Middle East despite Covid-19
Just as the Covid-19 pandemic spurred greater online usage across the globe, many countries in the Middle East too faced it. Despite the problems of inept digital infrastructures and inefficient logistics, the countries with relatively young and affluent populations were shown to be eager to utilize eCommerce platforms. According to RetailX, 2020 retail eCommerce sales for Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar were USD 11.06 billion, USD28.08 billion, and USD2.5 billion, respectively.
By contrast, retail ecommerce sales in the US in 2020 were roughly USD374 billion. With respect to Saudi Arabia, according to Statista, sixty percent of the population shopped online in 2020, and eCommerce revenue for 2020 was USD 11 billion, which amounts to an eCommerce spend per shopper at the rate of USD527. It was also noted that cash on delivery remained the dominant payment system, and the popular local eCommerce sites included Haraj.com.sa and Souq.com.
Telecom Licensing Terms amended by DoT
As per an amendment dated March 10th 2021, India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has included defence and national security as key factors in purchasing telecom equipment as per the licensing conditions for telecom companies. The notification stated that effective from June 15th, 2021, telecommunication companies can use telecom products only from trusted sources in their networks and must take permission from the designated authority if they plan to upgrade their existing network using equipment that has not been designated as a trusted product.
Indian companies may be on the receiving end of an indirect impact, since almost thirty per cent of Bharti Airtel’s existing network comprises of Chinese telecom equipment, it is as much as forty per cent for Vodafone Idea. Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE are the major manufacturers of telecom equipments. State-run telecommunication companies Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and MTNL too have equipment from Chinese vendors. The issue may arise on account of the front that many experts have attributed the recent incidents of hacking of important Indian infrastructure entities allegedly by Chinese hackers to the hastened government response.
Samsung and Nokia ink Video Patent Licensing Deal
Nokia has signed a deal with Samsung, to license patents covering its innovations in video standards. Though the financial terms of the agreement were not publicly disclosed, Samsung will be making royalty payments to Nokia as part of the deal. This is not the first deal that the two companies have entered into. In the year 2013 Samsung had signed a five year deal to license Nokia patents. Later, in the year 2016 Nokia and Samsung expanded their cross licensing agreement post Nokia having won a patent license arbitration, following which, there was also another extension to the patent agreement in 2018.
Spotify and Kakao sign Music Licensing Deal
Spotify is a digital music streaming service that provides access to its users to millions of songs, podcasts and videos from artists all over the world. Recently, the South Korean music distributor Kakao Entertainment music and Spotify reached an agreement on global music licensing, though the two companies failed to renew an existing deal in the month of February, 2021. Kakao Entertainment’s music had previously been made available for Spotify’s global markets, excluding South Korea, since 2016. This deal was reportedly a result of the extensive fan-demand, and backlash that the absence of the availability of the music on their platform, which upset a lot of fans.
The absence was felt in regard of the songs from popular artists such as IU, became unavailable for Spotify’s over 345 million users across 170 countries. Thought at the time, the two companies shifted the blame upon each other, they both realised that pursuing the licensing deal would stand to mutually benefit them.
Warner Bros. has partnered with Toybox
Warner Bros. Consumer Products has partnered with Toybox, a company that specialises in 3D printers that allows persons to create the toys at the comfort of their own home. This partnership enables audiences to 3D print the licensed toys from across the Warner Bros. portfolio including those of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman action figures with nine points of articulation, Batarangs, Batman’s Batcave computer, Batmobile, Batman disc launcher, Bat-Signal, Justice League disc launchers, Daily Planet building; with additional items to follow.
It additionally provides users a chance to 3D print licensed toys and memorabilia based on DC, Cartoon Network, Looney Tunes, Friends and Seinfeld. Further, the deal also extends the licensing to classic films under the Warner Bros. banner, such as the Polar Express and Elf. The purchases will be required to be made by way of ‘Toybox Bolts’, which is an online currency unique to the Toybox platform.
Authored and compiled by Neharika Vhatkar (Associate, BananaIP Counsels) and Manvee Saidha (Legal Intern)
The Licensing and E-Commerce News Bulletin is brought to you jointly by the E-Commerce Law and Consulting/Strategy Divisions of BananaIP Counsels, a Top IP Firm in India. If you have any questions, or need any clarifications, please write to [email protected] with the subject: eCommerce News.
Disclaimer: Please note that the news bulletin has been put together from different sources, primary and secondary, and BananaIP’s reporters may not have verified all the news published in the bulletin. You may write to [email protected] for corrections and take down.
