The recent live shredding of a Banksy painting by its frame at a Sotheby’s auction served as a strong reminder of the interplay between art and copyright. Shortly after the Banksy print entitled “Girl with Balloon” was sold, the frame in which it was housed proceeded to shred half the work in front of the auction attendees. This event raised numerous questions. Would the buyer still want the piece? Was Banksy entitled to destroy his work after it had been sold? Is the purchaser of a work of art allowed to do whatever they want with it, including mutilate or destroy the work?

As the issue of counterfeiting continues to evolve, savvy brand owners are taking innovative approaches to intellectual property protection to meet their shifting needs. One such approach aims to resolve a key issue faced by brand owners: the variable effectiveness of government officials in taking action against counterfeits. Companies face understandable frustration when they perceive that different government agencies or officials may be less effective in enforcing the law, and they too often feel as though this issue is outside of their control.

In recent years, Vietnam has become a magnet for high-tech investment, especially in the areas of mobile phones and mobile phone components, electronics, and software development. In step with the recent pronouncements of Vietnam’s leaders to continue promoting Vietnam as a leading destination for investment in this space, the government greeted the Year of the Pig by issuing a new decree setting forth strong incentives for investors in the science and high-tech sectors.

On October 2, 2017, Indonesia officially became the hundredth country to accede to the Madrid Protocol, which came into effect a few months later, on January 2, 2018. Following accession to the protocol, Indonesia issued Government Regulation No. 22 of 2018 on Registration of International Trademarks under the Madrid Protocol (GR No.22/2018), effective June 6, 2018, which set the requirements for two categories of applications: