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Bruce Lee's daughter sues fast food chain over image use
A company run by Bruce Lee's daughter is suing a popular Chinese fast food chain over its use of an image of the late martial arts star.
Shannon Lee's Bruce Lee Enterprises alleges Real Kungfu has used the image in its logo without permission. The firm wants the fast food chain to immediately remove the image, and is reportedly seeking $30m (£23.1m) in compensation. The restaurant argues local authorities approved its use of the logo. The image depicts a dark-haired man in a martial arts pose.
"The Real Kungfu chain's logo is one that the company had applied for and obtained after a rigorous screening by the national trademark agency, we have already been using this for 15 years", the company said in a statement posted on China's Weibo platform.
"We are baffled that after so many years we are now being sued, and we are currently energetically studying the case and preparing our response."The Guangzhou-based fast food chain, which is known as Zhen Gongfu in Mandarin, was founded in 1990 and has around 600 outlets across China.
Bruce Lee Enterprises handles the merchandising and licensing of the kung fu star's image.
In a statement on its website, the company said it is "dedicated to sharing the art and philosophy of Bruce Lee to inspire personal growth, positive energy, and global harmony and aims to keep the martial artist's energy alive".
Bruce Lee Enterprises did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The case is likely to be watched closely as the Chinese government has in recent years promised to increase protections for intellectual property rights.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50921724
don't make shows like that for long time. don't piss off the phone cops either.
g'nite anon.
thanks anon. classic
Laureate Education Inc. sold by Sterling Partners: $7.28m-Dec 20
Laureate Education, Inc. provides higher education programs and services to students through an international network of licensed universities and higher education institutions (institutions). The Company’s programs are provided through institutions that are campus-based and Internet-based, or through electronically distributed educational programs (online). It offers its educational services through six segments: Brazil; Mexico; Andean and Iberian; Central America and United States (U.S.) Campuses; Online and Partnerships; and Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific (EMEAA). Its institutions also offer an education that emphasizes professional-oriented fields of study with undergraduate and graduate degrees in a wide range of disciplines. As of June 30, 2017, the Company’s global network of 69 institutions comprised 57 institutions it owned or controlled, and an additional 12 institutions that it managed or with which it had other relationships.
Number of employees : 60 000 people.
https://www.marketscreener.com/LAUREATE-EDUCATION-INC-33666529/company/
Chris Hoehn-Saric-Mng Dir/Co-Founder, Sterling Partners
Trustee Johns Hopkins University
Chief Executive Officer Educate Inc 07/2003–04/2004
Chairman/CEO Sylvan Ventures Llc 02/2000–07/2003
https://www.finviz.com/insidertrading.ashx?oc=1011193&tc=7&b=2
Japan Approves MSDF dispatch to Middle East to ensure safe sea lane
has details finally
The Japanese Cabinet approved Friday the dispatch of Maritime Self-Defense Force personnel to the Middle East for information-gathering activities to help ensure the safety of a key oil shipping lane. Japan's contribution to peace in the Mideast comes as tensions remain high between the United States and Iran over a 2015 nuclear deal, with Washington blaming Tehran for a series of attacks on oil tankers.
Japan has decided not to join a U.S.-led coalition guarding ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz so as to avoid hurting its friendly ties with Iran. The United States pulled out of the multinational deal to curb Tehran's nuclear program last year, re-imposing economic sanctions on the country.
Two P-3C patrol planes, which are currently based in Djibouti for anti-piracy activities in the Gulf of Aden, and a helicopter-carrying destroyer will be sent along with around 260 MSDF personnel to engage in a one-year "survey and research" mission, which needs no parliamentary approval. "The peace and stability of the Middle East is vitally important for the peace and prosperity of the international community including our nation," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference. "It is necessary to boost intelligence activities for the safety of Japan-related ships in the region," he added.
After ordering the SDF to prepare for the dispatch, Defense Minister Taro Kono told a separate press conference that the destroyer Takanami will leave Japan in early February after about four weeks of training, and a unit leaving the country on Jan. 11 will engage in intelligence gathering by the P-3C aircraft.
Areas for the mission are limited to the Gulf of Oman, the northern part of the Arabian Sea, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf have been excluded in view of Iran's criticism of the U.S. coalition initiative.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gave the nod to the planned MSDF dispatch during talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo last week, according to a Japanese government official. Safe passage of vessels in the area is vital for Japan, which relies on the Middle East for over 90 percent of its crude oil. But sending the SDF overseas is a sensitive issue in the country, as entanglement in a foreign conflict could violate its war-renouncing Constitution.
The Japanese public is divided over the dispatch, with 51.5 percent of respondents in a recent Kyodo News poll opposing the plan and 33.7 percent expressing support. In an emergency, the MSDF could engage in maritime policing action based on the SDF law, which allows personnel to take necessary actions, including the use of weapons, at sea to safeguard Japanese lives and property.
The government initially explored the possibility of extending protection to foreign ships with Japanese nationals aboard, but it decided to limit protection to Japanese-registered vessels as international maritime law only permits the use of force to protect a country's own vessels, officials said.
Most ships associated with Japanese shipping companies operate under foreign countries' flags, they said. The government will be required to report to parliament when the Cabinet makes decisions such as extension or termination of the MSDF Middle East mission.
The creation of the U.S.-led coalition in November follows a series of attacks in May and June on oil tankers, including one operated by a Japanese shipping firm, in the Gulf region.
The coalition was launched with the United States and six other countries – Albania, Australia, Bahrain, Britain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Washington had called for participation of its longtime ally Japan and other countries in the coalition, but many have expressed reservations or distanced themselves from the initiative, partly due to economic interests in Iran.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20191227/p2g/00m/0na/033000c