The rabbit lantern installation featuring an orange sphere that occupied the lawn of a sitting-out area in Nam Van was abruptly removed because it raised the “public’s doubts” that it may have breached intellectual property rights, Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) Member of the Administration Committee on Municipal Affairs Ma Kam Keong said last week.
Ma made the comments on Friday during a press conference after its regular monthly meeting at its headquarters in the city centre.
During a presentation about the bureau’s light decorations for National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival at the press conference, the bureau said it had reduced spending by 40 percent this year to about 3.75 million patacas by cutting down on the light installations so that there are 52 locations with decorations this year, 14 fewer than last year.
Asked about the rabbit lanterns in Nam Van that “mysteriously” disappeared after just a few days of being set up, Ma said that the installation raised the “public’s doubts” over possible intellectual property rights infringement, and so the bureau decided to have it removed and replaced with another rabbit-themed decoration.
Ma also said that the bureau has contacted the supplier of the rabbit lantern installation to ask whether it had infringed intellectual property rights and the bureau would make an announcement about it once the issue has been clarified.
Meanwhile, an IAM representative replied to The Macau Post Daily’s enquiry about the rabbit lanterns last week saying that the installation was “removed due to suspected plagiarism.”
This photo taken on September 17 shows the rabbit lantern installation that has been removed over intellectual property rights concerns. Photo: Iong Tat Choi
