Technology and Ecommerce Briefing 2
Web Conferencing
Times are most definitely changing. Email is now the communication of choice and the internet provides the biggest marketing playground. A global customer base is now an achievable aim even for the smallest of businesses. One of the newest trends for businesses is the virtual conference room. Web conferencing and web-based seminars are replacing the traditional telephone conference call and reducing the requirements for business travel.
The benefits of web conferences and seminars are obvious, regardless of the audience size. So, whether you are training your employees, communicating with your shareholders, conducting a sales presentation or collaborating with your colleagues in a neighbouring city – web conferencing is becoming a reliable choice. And as the success of web conferencing grows – the industry will continue to evolve, providing additional tools such as video conferencing, instant messaging, audio and so on. Internet security has also developed hand in hand with web conferences, allowing virtual presentations to be done without threat from hackers. That said, for important negotiations, there is no substitute for seeing the whites of the other person’s eyes!
Privacy or Convenience in US Airports?
A test project was carried out during the Summer by American Airlines of a new initiative in passenger identification. 125 local travellers (predominately frequent business travellers) became “registered travellers” at Reagan National Airport, Washington DC by agreeing to allow their irises to be photographed and their fingerprints digitally scanned to allow automatic identification and check-in. The project relies on the latest bio-metric technologies to confirm the traveller’s identity - a human iris has more unique characteristics than a fingerprint and is stored along with the fingerprint in the form of a bar-code.
However, a similar initiative by United Airlines in Los Angeles had a less successful trial, with poor numbers of travellers signing up. Some have also criticised the initiative as providing an easier route through security checkpoints for terrorists. The airlines have responded to such criticism by emphasising that these registered travellers will still have to go through the usual security checkpoints.
Interestingly, the registered travellers were delighted by the benefits of this technology and none of the enrolees were at all concerned about providing the government with such personal information.
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnoloy is causing a stir of industry excitement. MRAM – or magnetic RAM - allows data to be stored magnetically as opposed to electrically. The huge advantage to MRAM is that it allows data to be preserved even once a computer is switched off – in other words, allowing such devices to be built with a non-volatile memory. However, experts have warned investors to be cautious and wait until prototypes have been demonstrated before jumping in. Not like the internet boom of the 90’s then!
Dishonesty and “bad faith” trademark applications
A recent case, Harrison v Teton Valley Trading Co dismissed an appeal Karl Harrison made against the Registrar of Trademarks over the registration of the name “Chinawhite” (a house cocktail developed by staff in a London night-club.) The Court of Appeal ruled that that the test whether an application to register a trade mark was made in bad faith was not restricted to dishonest applications. “No doubt an application made dishonestly will be made in bad faith, but it does not follow that if dishonesty is not established, bad faith cannot have existed.” (Sir William Aldous, Harrison V Teton Valley Trading Co). The test as to whether an application was made in good faith is purely subjective, and the state of the applicant’s mind is the only consideration.
This briefing is for information purposes only. It is not intended to give detailed advice on particular situations and should not be acted upon.