According to Yonhap:
North Korea is apparently no exception for efforts by U.S. firms to take every pre-emptive measure to protect their intellectual property rights worldwide.
American tech giant Intel Corp. is trying to lay the legal groundwork for possible business in the communist nation some day.
Intel confirmed Tuesday it has submitted an application for a “Specific License” in North Korea to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The company delivered the request through its law firm, Novak Druce Quigg LLP, in August 2012.
But Intel made clear that it has no plans yet to do business in North Korea, subject to tough U.N. sanctions for its nuclear and long-range missile programs. In 2011, President Barack Obama issued an executive order prohibiting U.S. firms from doing business there.
“Intel has no intent of doing business in North Korea,” Chuck Mulloy, a corporate spokesman, told Yonhap News Agency by phone. “It is (just) about IT protection.”
The company routinely files protection papers of its trademark worldwide, regardless of whether it does business in a certain nation, he added.
The U.S. Treasury refused to discuss a specific firm’s move.
“On background, please note that we will not comment on specific companies but we do have a favorable licensing policy for protecting intellectual property,” a Treasury official said.
Read the full story here:
Intel seeking trademark protection in N. Korea
Yonhap
2013-8-6
