December 2022 – Page 27

December 1, 2022

HALO TAKES AN AGGRESSIVE STANCE AGAINST TRADEMARK INFRINGERS

American E-liquid Brand Fights to Protect Intellectual Property on a Global Scale

Tampa, Florida, Dec. 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pure Labs takes action to protect the intellectual property of its flagship E-liquid brand, Halo, relentlessly prosecuting multiple trademark infringers.

Pure Labs recently brought civil action and successfully defended its intellectual property rights against US-based vape company, The Blinc Group, Inc. It was discovered that Blinc was illegally using the Halo mark in the branding of its vaping device kit and accessories, marketed as the “Halo System”, “TipHalo”, and “BaseHalo”. Akerman LLP represented Pure Labs against Blinc by negotiating a substantial settlement payment, as well as Blinc’s agreement to immediately cease the use of the infringing branding, destroy or rebrand all infringing packaging and inventory, and abandon numerous trademark applications similar to Pure Labs Halo trademarks.

An ongoing lawsuit between Pure Labs and French company, So Smoke, is progressing through the French Judicial System. Pure Labs asserted that So Smoke has been illegally using Halo’s logo, trademarks, and flavoring in E-liquid products under the Reservoir Freaks brand. Pure Labs has been working diligently with French counsel to pursue legal action, resulting in a search and seizure of the product in question and forcing So Smoke to repackage the litigious products.

Pure Labs employs a dedicated in-house team to continually monitor and thwart intellectual property theft involving any of its trademarks. “Ensuring that Halo customers around the world can confidently vape Halo’s award-winning tobacco and menthol e-liquids as they complete their journey of ending their addiction to combustible cigarettes has always been a top company initiative.”, stated Jeffrey Stamler, Co-Founder of Pure Labs.

About Pure Laboratories

Operating since 2009, Pure Laboratories (Pure Labs) is a state-of-the-art 110,000-sq. ft. manufacturing and distribution facility located in Gainesville, Florida. Nicopure Labs, a subsidiary of Pure Labs, is an industry-leading tobacco and menthol e-liquid manufacturer, globally recognized for the production of its American-made, award-winning vaporization products. With a 10,000-sq. ft. ISO 7 cleanroom, Pure Labs is synonymous with quality manufacturing. Pure Labs’ corporate headquarters are based in Tampa Florida, with additional operations located in Europe.

For additional information about carrying Halo’s premium American-made E-liquid and innovative line of vaporizer devices, please email Halo’s principal distribution partner, Syndicate Distribution at sales@syndicatedistribution.com.

For additional information on Pure Laboratories’ full capabilities visit www.PureLabs.com.

For media inquiries, please email press@purelabs.com.

Samantha Knight
Pure Labs
press@purelabs.com

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8706279

December 1, 2022

TRADE X Opens New Automotive Trading Facilities in Kenya

The TRADE X global automotive trading platform creates a strategic hub in Kenya, which will serve automotive dealers within key East African countries

TORONTO, Dec. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — TRADE X, a B2B cross-border automotive trading platform based in Ontario, Canada, today announced that it has opened a new Kenyan trading corridor, which includes both a shared bonded warehouse in Mombasa and an office in Nairobi, as the company expands its reach across the African continent.

TRADE X provides auto dealers, car rental companies, fleet owners and mobility solution providers with a seamless end-to-end process for the sourcing and distribution of cross-border vehicle inventory. With the highest GDP in East Africa, Kenya serves as a strategic location, providing a direct-access route to trade with landlocked countries such as South Sudan and Uganda, where it is legal to drive vehicles registered in neighboring countries.

Over the past few months, TRADE X has focused on developing a presence in Kenya and building broader trust within the automotive industry. In May, TRADE X began buying and shipping inventory to Kenya as the company works toward making right-hand drive vehicles available on its platform.

“Our focus is on building trust with dealers and helping them to understand the process and pricing structure,” said Andrew Agbro, Vice President for Trade and Business Development at TRADE X. “Every dealer we work with has applauded us not just for our prices but for the quality of our vehicles. For example, we don’t accept vehicles that have been in accidents — and we are still more cost efficient than our competitors.”

In Kenya, the bulk of automobiles originate in Japan. Unlike other African markets, Kenya has strict import requirements. Vehicles must not be older than seven years, and cars must pass an inspection process before being shipped into the country. Vehicles that are shipped to Kenya without first passing an inspection are destroyed.

TRADE X is focused not only on tapping into the supply coming out of Japan, but to opening new trade routes between Kenya and countries such as the U.K, Australia, Thailand, South Africa, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

“Kenya is a high-quality and discerning market,” said TRADE X SVP of Global Business Development Eric Gosselin. “Because the inspection process in Kenya is so rigorous, Kenyans prefer to purchase foreign pre-owned vehicles rather than buy locally. We are excited to set up our East African base in Kenya as we move closer to adding right-hand-drive vehicles to our platform.”

In Kenya, popular automotive brands include Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Subaru. TRADE X is looking to further expand the variety of makes and models available to Kenyan car buyers.

Interested automotive dealers in West Africa can sign up at tradexport.com to begin procuring vehicles, accelerating inventory turnover and driving revenues.

The company’s AI-driven ‘Brain’ software provides dealers, fleet owners, and mobility solutions providers first-ever support in all aspects of vehicle trading. This includes trade financing, compliance, customs requirements, international payments processing, vehicle inspections, digital trade documentation, and homologation. TRADE X provides peace of mind and security for users, whether they are trading within their own continent or overseas. TRADE X simplifies the experience and ensures each transaction is transparent, compliant, insured, and monitored from start to finish.

About TRADE X

With headquarters in Ontario, Canada, TRADE X is the first global vehicle marketplace to aggregate cross-border supply and demand for car dealers, fleet owners, rental companies, mobility solution providers, importers, and exporters, opening new trading corridors to buy and sell vehicles. The TRADE X ‘Brain’ platform is a machine-learning, AI-driven technology that connects buyers and sellers through a transparent marketplace that aids sellers in finding the world’s highest bidders and gives buyers access to the best vehicle source markets and price arbitrage opportunities. Users can quickly and seamlessly transact online in a secure environment with all the complexities of international trade – compliance, anti-money laundering regulations, vehicle inspection, currency exchange, digital trade documentation, payments, and financing – all managed by TRADE X. The company serves authorized buyers and sellers everywhere with a user-friendly app available 24/7 via mobile, tablet, or desktop. TRADE X’s largest investors include Aimia Inc., a publicly traded holding company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: AIM). To learn more, please visit www.tradexport.com.

Media Contact:
Siobhan Nolan
JConnelly
(862) 217 9585
snolan@jconnelly.com

TRADE X Contact:
Shelley Keller
Director, Corporate Communications + Brand
shelley.keller@tradexport.com

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December 1, 2022December 2, 2022

This HIV Prevention Drug Could Change the Game

A new, long-lasting drug could be a game-changer for preventing HIV infections, experts say.

Advocates are hopeful that those who need it most in low- and middle-income countries will not have to wait for it as long as they have for previous HIV drugs. But questions remain about access and price.

The drug is called cabotegravir and is delivered as a shot once every other month. In clinical trials, it did a better job at preventing infection than another option — a pill taken once a day.

The bimonthly injection seems to be an easier treatment regimen to stick to than daily pills, according to Mitchell Warren, executive director of AVAC, an HIV prevention advocacy organization.

“If you can take a pill every day, that’s great. But if you can’t, we see a lot of people who start [taking the pills] who don’t continue,” he said.

Aside from the inconvenience, there can be a stigma attached to taking the pills, Warren said. The drugs for prevention, called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, are the same as the drugs used to treat HIV infection.

“If you’re a young person and your parents find your pill bottle, they say, ‘Why are you taking this pill? Are you HIV infected?’ And the young person may say, ‘No, I’m protecting myself,'” Warren said. “And they say, ‘Well, why are you having sex?'”

Long-lasting drugs like cabotegravir or another new product, a once-a-month vaginal ring, offer patients more choices, he added.

About 1.5 million people were newly infected with HIV in 2021, according to the World Health Organization, about 60% of them in Africa.

Uganda and Zimbabwe approved cabotegravir for PrEP earlier this year. They are the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to do so.

These approvals come less than a year after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized it.

That’s progress, Warren said. FDA approved PrEP pills in 2012, but “it took three years before any African regulatory agency approved it. So, we’ve already seen a condensing of that timeline.”

Cabotegravir costs $22,000 per year in the United States. ViiV Healthcare, the company that makes the drug, has not officially announced what it will cost in low- and middle-income countries, but it is expected to be much lower. Some aid groups have indicated that ViiV will offer the drug at $250 per year.

“The problem is that actually that won’t be really affordable for countries who need to roll it out and scale up,” said Jessica Burry, a pharmacist with humanitarian group Doctors without Borders.

PrEP pills cost about $54 per year, Warren said.

“The hope is that early in 2023, we can see a price point that is much closer to that 54 [dollars] than to the 250 [dollars],” he said. “Hopefully, in the $100 range per year.”

ViiV said it is working with the U.N.-backed Medicines Patent Pool to allow generic manufacturers to produce cabotegravir at a lower price for low- and middle-income countries.

ViiV said cabotegravir is more complicated to manufacture than most HIV drugs. No generic manufacturers have been selected yet. Once they are, it will take about three to five years before a generic version is on the market.

The company has filed for regulatory approval in 11 countries so far. Burry says there should be more.

“If they’re going to be the only supplier for the next four or five years until generics are available, then they really need to step up to the plate and actually file, register and get that drug available,” she said.

Demand for the drug is unclear. PrEP pills have been slow to catch on.

About 845,000 people in more than 50 countries took them in 2020, but the United Nations was aiming for 3 million by that time.

“We don’t have a ton of PrEP users, so if you’re ViiV, you’re looking at a very small market,” Warren said.

Warren said providers and advocates need to help grow that market. They need to do a better job connecting people at risk with programs that offer PrEP, he added.

“Some of the early PrEP programs began with us thinking that if you just bought the product, people would magically show up,” he said.

Warren hopes to change that as part of a coalition that includes ViiV, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Health Organization and others.

“There’s a huge effort in this coalition to bring in civil society from day one, and the communities that this product is meant to help and support,” he said.

The slow uptake means PrEP has not yet shown that it can make much of a real-world impact, Warren noted. He hopes to see research programs launch next year to find the best ways to reach the communities most at risk and lower infection rates.

“If we can’t show that in the next three years, then we don’t necessarily need all these generic manufacturers, because there will not be a market for this product,” he said.

Source: Voice of America

December 1, 2022December 2, 2022

Silence on China Protests, but Analysts Say Africa Watching

With China seeing the biggest anti-government protests since 1989, analysts say African governments are watching closely, mainly with economic concerns.

For the past few days, the eyes of the world have been on the outbreak of mass protests in cities across China, with demonstrators furious at continued strict COVID-19 lockdowns as part of President Xi Jinping’s unpopular “zero-COVID” policy.

The protests have also taken on a political angle, leading to comparisons to Tiananmen Square, with protesters being heard shouting: “Step down, Xi Jinping! Step down, Communist Party!”

The U.S. and German governments have said they support the right of peaceful protest in China, but from Africa there has been silence.

Still, African governments — while they are unlikely to either denounce or support the protests — will be paying close attention because China is the continent’s largest trade partner, said Cobus van Staden, cofounder of the China Global South Project, which examines China’s engagement with Africa.

“In relation to the African responses to it, I think they’ll probably be muted, and they’ll mostly be concentrating on how the impact is, of the disruptions on … kind of on commodity trade, for example,” he said.

Paul Nantulya, a researcher at the U.S. Defense Department’s Africa Center for Strategic Studies, said there are “high stakes” on the African side in terms of the zero-COVID policy and its effects on supply chains.

“There is a concern, obviously on that African side, that some of this trade might be disrupted if these lockdowns continue,” he said.

As for democratic South Africa saying anything in support of the protesters, Steven Gruzd, from the South African Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg, said Pretoria was more likely to take a neutral stance similar to its position on the conflict in Ukraine.

“South Africa’s not going to publicly call out China, South Africa’s going to keep quiet I think and not interfere,” he said. “I certainly don’t think they’re going to give support to the protests, this is after all their BRICS ally and their largest trading partner.”

Contacted for comment on the protests by VOA, two spokesmen for South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation said there was no reaction from the department.

In neighboring Zimbabwe, a longtime ally of Beijing, the spokesman for the ruling ZANU-PF party, Chris Mutsvangwa said, “As a matter of policy ZANU-PF does not interfere in the internal affairs of other United Nations member countries.”

Only in Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, the sole major African state that supports Taiwan and does not have relations with Beijing, Percy Simelane, the spokesman for the king’s office, said of the Chinese protests, “We believe in freedom of expression for all nations and societies.”

Aside from the lack of government reaction, media coverage of the protests on the continent has also been muted. Outlets across the region are mostly picking up news articles from the international wires, with very few local op-eds on the nature of the dissent.

However, Kenyan and South African newspapers this week both ran original copy on how their local currencies and economies stood to be affected by the unrest. They focused on fuel prices and exports.

There has been silence from the Chinese state media too, but that might change if the protests continue, Nantulya said.

“One can expect that over the next few weeks China is really going to up the ante. It does have a sizeable media infrastructure and architecture on the continent of Africa, and we can be sure that it will make maximum use of the capability to regain the narrative, to control the narrative, and essentially to discredit the protests and whichever African sympathies might be out there,” Nantulya said.

For now, Chinese police are out in force and officials have warned of a “crackdown,” but there are also indications the government may be looking at softening COVID restrictions.

Source: Voice of America

December 1, 2022

Vantage introduces Social Trading to make trading more interactive

Vantage App is also available on more phone models

PORT VILA, Vanuatu, Dec. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Vantage (or “Vantage Markets”), the multi-asset broker, has launched social trading on the Vantage App, making it an all-in-one trading app that supports both regular trading and social trading.

Lian Jie, Assistant App Marketing Director, Vantage

Social trading is an innovative feature that turns trading into a social event. Experienced traders can share their trading strategies as signal providers. Novice traders will be able to follow numerous signal providers, gain insights from experienced investors, and trade their strategies by mirroring the trades of others.

The Vantage App offers access to over 1000 trading instruments including CFDs on Forex, Commodities, Indices, Energy, Shares, ETFs and Bonds.

It has an intuitive in-app navigation and provides a comprehensive range of charts, technical tools, order types, personalised trading reports and alerts. Available in 14 languages, the Vantage App also offers market analysis and market news powered by Trading Central and FX Street.

With the growing demand for mobile trading in mobile-centric markets, the Vantage App is now supported on OPPO, VIVO, Huawei, Xiaomi, and Samsung devices, on top of iOS and Android devices. Vantage introduces Social Trading to make trading more interactive

Lian Jie, Assistant App Marketing Director at Vantage explains how the new feature is revolutionizing the traditional CFD industry. “As our active investor profile gets younger, our clients have been more willing to explore and adopt innovative trading methods like social trading, going beyond traditional trading methods. At Vantage, we understand how technology and innovation can transcend boundaries, so we have utilized the power of technology in our Vantage App to meet the needs of the next generation and provide a seamless and convenient experience for all our clients.”

About Vantage

Vantage (Vantage Global Limited (VFSC 700271) ) is a global, multi-asset broker offering clients access to a nimble and powerful service for trading CFDs on Forex, Commodities, Indices, Shares, ETFs and Bonds.

With more than 13 years of market experience, Vantage now has over 1,000 employees across more than 30 global offices.

Vantage is more than a broker. It provides a trusted trading ecosystem, an award-winning mobile trading app, and a user-friendly trading platform that enables clients to take advantage of trading opportunities. Download the Vantage App on App Store or Google Play.

trade smarter @vantage

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December 1, 2022

ICANN Launches Initiative to Advance Africa’s Digital Transformation

Coalition for Digital Africa to Collaborate for Greater Internet Access, Connectivity

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Dec. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today launched the Coalition for Digital Africa, an initiative aimed at expanding the Internet in Africa. Conceived by ICANN, the Coalition is an alliance of like-minded organizations committed to building a robust and secure Internet infrastructure to bring more Africans online.

Home to the youngest population on the planet, 70 percent of whom are under age 30, Africa has one of the fastest-growing Internet penetration rates in the world. Internet connectivity is growing by leaps and bounds – from 1.2 percent in 2000 to 43 percent in 2021 – driven by a digitally savvy, young, and educated urban workforce for whom adopting and using online services is second nature.

“The Coalition for Digital Africa provides an opportunity for new ways of cooperating and collaborating among diverse stakeholders,” said ICANN President and CEO Gӧran Marby. “Though the Coalition was initiated by ICANN, its success is dependent on synergistic work with other organizations – be they local, regional, or international – who are united in their aim to enhance Africa’s Internet infrastructure, increase the rate of Internet access, bolster Internet security, and raise the level of participation from Africa in multistakeholder policymaking development.”

The Coalition will further promote innovation aimed at building technical capacity and encourage entrepreneurialism by enabling people to access the Internet using their own languages and scripts. While its official launch took place during a press conference at the 17th annual Internet Governance Forum, the Coalition already has rolled out activities in pursuit of its goals.

To make the Domain Name System (DNS) infrastructure in Africa more robust so that it can cater to the rapid growth, the Coalition announced the installation of an ICANN Managed Root Server (IMRS) cluster in Kenya last month. Another cluster is planned for a second location in Africa next year. These clusters enable regional Internet queries to be answered within the region, rather than being dependent on networks and servers in other parts of the world. The IMRS clusters will also reduce the impact of potential cyberattacks in Africa.

“The launch of the Coalition brings us one step closer to strengthening the Internet infrastructure in Africa. The Coalition provides an important vehicle to enable a better protected DNS and more secure Internet infrastructure in Africa,” said Mr. John Omo, Secretary General, African Telecommunications Union. Further noting that the establishment of the Coalition will play the important role of enhancing confidence in many online systems that are now being mainstreamed, even as the continent looks forward to growing Internet penetration in Africa from the current 43% to globally competitive levels.

The Coalition’s focus is on creating meaningful connectivity throughout Africa. The Coalition will begin by working to better adapt the Internet in Africa to enable digital inclusivity and creating opportunities to spur the growth of local content and businesses. Key to that effort is Universal Acceptance, or UA, which ensures that all valid domain names and email addresses, regardless of length or script, can be used by all Internet-enabled applications, devices, and systems. With UA, people who are already connected, and those who will be connected in the future, can communicate over the Internet and access local content in their preferred languages and scripts.

One way the Coalition will tackle this is through a project led by the Association of African Universities aimed at making email and other systems within higher education UA-ready. This is an essential step toward ensuring an Internet that is both useful and empowering for all people.

“This is an important and welcome initiative for Africa. Improving the technical capacity of higher education institutions across the continent is imperative for a digital Africa,” said Olusola Bandele Oyewole, Secretary General of the Association of African Universities. “We are happy to take part in this journey to give African Internet users the opportunity to be part of a truly global, inclusive, and multilingual Internet.”

The Coalition for Digital Africa comprises governments, regional and international organizations, and the local Internet community. Inaugural partners of the Coalition also include the African Information Network Centre, AfRegistrar Association, Africa Top Level Domain, Africa Telecommunications Union, Association African Universities, Association Française pour le Nommage Internet en Coopération, International Telecommunication Union-Development Sector, and Network Startup Resource Center.

More information is available at www.coalitionfordigitalafrica.africa.

About ICANN

ICANN’s mission is to help ensure a stable, secure, and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you have to type an address – a name or a number – into your computer or other device. That address must be unique, so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation and a community with participants from all over the world.

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