Technology - Google News

Your apps may be following your every move - Fox News
Supreme is Not Collaborating with Samsung or Coming to China, a "Counterfeit Organization" Is - The Fashion Law
Infinity Blade Series Removed From App Store, May Appear Elsewhere - IGN

Your apps may be following your every move - Fox News

Posted: 11 Dec 2018 06:51 AM PST

((Credit: iStock))

Popular apps like The Weather Channel and GasBuddy may be tracking their users’ every move, according to a report published Monday.

A New York Times investigation found that at least 75 companies get “anonymous” but super-precise app location data from about 200 million smartphones across the US.

Some of the apps gather this data, including specific street addresses, as many as 14,000 times a day.

The information is often sold to advertisers, retailers or even hedge funds. In one sickening instance, people who went to the emergency room were shown ads for personal injury lawyers.

Even though the data sold is anonymous, and not tied to a phone number, The Times was able to figure out who the users were easily through their daily routines, and where they live, work or what businesses they frequent.

Many companies said the data is fair game — since users enabled location services — but explanations given to people when prompted to give permission was often incomplete or misleading, the investigation found.

For instance, an app might tell a user that enabling their location will give them the latest weather or traffic updates, but not mention that the data will be shared and sold.

That detail is buried in the privacy policy.

The data is hot commodity with sales of location-targeted advertising reaching an estimated $21 billion this year.

This story originally appeared in the New York Post.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Supreme is Not Collaborating with Samsung or Coming to China, a "Counterfeit Organization" Is - The Fashion Law

Posted: 10 Dec 2018 04:10 PM PST

Supreme is collaborating with Samsung. That was the message that the Korean cell phone giant sent on Monday at the Chinese launch event for its Galaxy A8s. According to Engadget, “Samsung China's Feng En even invited executives from the popular fashion brand on stage to talk about the marketing collaboration” against a backdrop that featured the two brands’ logos side by side. The collaboration comes ahead of what will be a roll out of Supreme stores in China beginning in 2019.

The problem? Supreme is not actually collaborating with Samsung. It also is not expanding into China. Instead, another company, one that has notoriously co-opted the Supreme name and branding, is.

Following confusion on Monday as to its involvement with Samsung, a representative for Supreme set the record straight, saying, “Supreme is not working with Samsung, opening a flagship location in Beijing or participating in a Mercedes-Benz runway show. These claims are blatantly false and propagated by a counterfeit organization.”

Samsung China’s digital marketing manager, Leo Lau, issued a clarification on Chinese social media platform Weibo, stating, "The brand we are collaborating with is Supreme Italia, not Supreme US. Supreme U.S. doesn't have the authorization to sell and market in China. Whereas the Italian brand got the [Asia-Pacific] (except Japan) product retail and marketing authorization."

The collaboration is the latest in a heated feud between Supreme, the brand that James Jebbia founded in New York City in 1994, and Supreme Italia, the brand launched in 2015 by International Brand Firm (“IBF”), a British holding company that maintains - and licenses to others - rights in the “Supreme” trademark for use on garments and accessories in an array of countries across the globe.

To the untrained eye, the wares put forth by Jebbia’s Supreme and IBF’s Supreme are identical. While Jebbia’s brand puts forth seasonal collections that consist of a range of ready-to-wear and accessories and regularly releases new products as part of its famed “drops,” the cult brand is also well-known for its more basic garments, such as t-shirts screen-printed with its red box logo inside of which is the word “Supreme” in a Futura Heavy Oblique font. With the help of Barletta, Italy-based Trade Direct – the company has licensed the Supreme trademark from IBF and manufactures the garments and accessories – IBF has been busy churning out the latter, low-cost tees and other wares bearing Supreme’s most noteworthy indicia, its box logo.

Thanks to its lookalike wares, its careful marketing (Trade Direct boasts that it is the "licensee of the most important brands in the world of streetwear,” including, it would appear, Supreme), and its overt use of Supreme-specific branding, IBF and Trade Direct have “won over less-informed fans of the streetwear brand and convinced retailers and shops that they were purchasing originals,” according to Italian IP attorney Silvia Grazioli of Bugnion SpA.

In reality, despite the striking similarities, there is no absolutely affiliation between Jebbia’s 22-year old Supreme and Trade Direct’s unauthorized Supreme Italia endeavor. And in fact, legal sources close to Supreme have told TFL that IBF and Trade Direct are in the wrong, and that the media’s widespread use of the term “legal fakes” – which Silvia Grazioli of Bugnion SpA says is used to refer to “a legal copy of a brand, where ‘legal’ indicates that the fake brand is a trademark registered in a country where the original mark has yet to be launched” – is “misleading and technically wrong” since Trade Direct and IBF’s use of the Supreme trademark on garments “is simply illegal in Italy.”

But more than merely winning over customers, IBF has been amassing trademark rights all over the world. To be exact, it says it has rights in the Supreme name/logo in a whopping 54 countries.

You see, in 2015, IBF started to file applications and receive registrations for the Supreme name and box logo all around the world thanks to a technicality in trademark law. Unlike in the U.S., where trademark rights are enjoyed by the party that is the first to actually use the trademark, in China, for instance, (and an array of other countries), rights are gained by the party that is the first to file a trademark application and then in order to maintain that registration, actually use the trademark within 5 years.

The lack of a use requirement gives trademark-seeking entities that are not actually using the mark at issue in the jurisdiction at issue a significant advantage.

So, while IBF began using the Supreme trademark decades later than the original Supreme first put its box logo on its door on Lafayette Street in Manhattan and on the garments and accessories inside its store, it was able to obtain exclusive rights because it filed a trademark application in San Marino, one of the world's smallest countries, before Chapter 4.

As such, Jebbia’s Supreme has been forced to take on IBF and Trade Direct in court (mostly in Italy and San Marino), citing counterfeiting, trademark infringement, and unfair competition, among other claims, and the results have been mixed. The Business Specialized Division of the Court of Milan has repeatedly sided with Supreme, stating that Trade Direct’s use of "an “identical sign [as Supreme] on identical products” gives rise to counterfeiting and “unlawful activity of parasitic unfair competition.” Following a preliminary blow before the European Union Intellectual Property Office this spring, however, lower courts in Italy have moved to annul their orders that had required the seizure of Trade Direct and IBF Supreme-branded products.

If the ongoing lawsuits between Supreme, and IBF and Trade Direct are any indication, the Samsung x Supreme Italia collab will likely give rise to a legal fight to the death between the parties in China in the not too distant future … one that will likely make use of the enhanced intellectual property protections in China, particularly provisions established to protect non-native rights holders, such as Supreme, against bad faith trademark filers.

In the meantime, for an in-depth look at the ongoing legal battles between Supreme and IBF/Trade Direct, you can find that here.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Infinity Blade Series Removed From App Store, May Appear Elsewhere - IGN

Posted: 11 Dec 2018 04:27 AM PST

You can still wield the Infinity Blade in Fortnite.

By Shabana Arif

Epic Games has announced the removal of the Infinity Blade series from the App Store, as it can no longer support the games to a satisfactory standard.

The iOS-only sword combat series is often credited with helping to popularise premium mobile gaming, but Epic says it can't support the series while it shifts focus to Spyjinx, a collaboration between Bad Robot Productions, Infinity Blade developers ChAIR, and Star Wars director J.J. Abrams.

It won't be the last we'll see of Infinity Blade however, with Epic saying that fans "may find Infinity Blade popping up in places you wouldn’t expect."

Exit Theatre Mode

There is speculation that the games could be moving to Epic's own store, which was revealed last week, but with ongoing support confirmed for the next month only, the dev may just have been teasing the appearance of the titular sword in Fortnite. The Infinity Blade was confirmed to be coming to Fortnite in this week's patch notes. Players can find it at Polar Peak.

"Over the next month, we’ll continue to support Infinity Blade III with updated Clash Mobs and other surprises. Fans should be sure to check in frequently for special items," read the update. As a thank you, players can download the Infinity Blade Stickers app for free right now.

"The Infinity Blade series will always hold a special place for me personally and for Epic as a whole,” said Donald Mustard, Global Creative Director. “It’s always bittersweet to say goodbye, but we are excited for Spyjinx and what the future holds!”

Fortnite's version of the Infinity Blade is a Mythic weapon that deals significant damage and destroys structures. You can skim the section of patch notes relating to the sword below:

This Mythic melee weapon can be found on Polar Peak.
Primary Fire delivers a powerful sword slash. It deals big damage to enemies and destroys structures in one blow (75 damage to players).
Alternate Fire allows the player to leap great distances, destroying objects in its path. Upon landing, it delivers damage and a knock-up to nearby players (25 damage).
The wielder of the sword is also granted additional abilities:
An increased pool of max Health and Shields (200 Health/200 Shields).
Regeneration of effective Health over time up to max Health and Shields (1 HP per second).
An instant burst of effective Health upon elimination of an enemy (50 HP).
Increased movement speed (130%).
The first player to pull the Infinity Blade from its pedestal will be instantly healed to full Health and Shields.
If a player picks up the Infinity Blade, all other inventory items aside from building materials will be dropped.\
When the wielder of the Infinity Blade picks up an item (aside from building materials), the Infinity Blade will be dropped.
The Infinity Blade will be dropped when the wielder is knocked out or eliminated.
Only one Infinity Blade will appear per match.

Along with the Epic Games Store, Fortnite's Creative mode was also announced last week, and will stand alongside the game's Save the World, and Battle Royale modes.

Shabana is a freelance writer who enjoys JRPGs, wine, and not finishing games. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Let's block ads! (Why?)