Roberto del Rosario
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1919 or 1920
Voice Color Tape
Roberto del Rosario | |
|---|---|
| Born | Roberto Legaspi del Rosario 1919 or 1920 |
| Died | 2003 (aged 83) |
| Known for | Patentholder for the Sing Along karaoke system. |
| Notable work | Inventor Of Sing Along Karaoke Voice Color Tape |
Roberto Legaspi del Rosario (1919/1920 – 2003[1] ) was a Filipino entrepreneur; best known as the patentholder of the Sing-Along System, a type of karaoke appliance he developed in 1975. From his entrepreneurial initiative to patent a karaoke system first, he frequently, albeit arguably, became referred to as "the inventor of Karaoke" in the Philippines.
Roberto Legaspi del Rosario held the patent to the Sing-along System, a type of karaoke he developed in 1975, and was consequently recognized as the sole patent holder of the karaoke system worldwide.[2] The prototype was initially dubbed as the "one-man combo". He developed the system as a teaching aid for his students in his singing school.[3] He became widely credited in the Philippines as the "inventor of the karaoke".[4] Elsewhere the credit goes to the Japanese.[4][1]
Other people credited to have invented the karaoke are:
- Shigeichi Negishi created the Sparko Box singalong system in 1967, although he never patented it.[4]
- Daisuke Inoue, a Japanese man, who built the Juke-8 karaoke machine in 1971.[2][5][6][4]
Del Rosario in 1999 filed a infringement lawsuit against San Juan-based firm Juanito Corp. of Chinese-Filipino businessman Juanito Eng Cua for its Miyata Karaoke system. Juanito in its defence said that karaoke was invented by the Japanese citing a 1999 Time magazine article crediting Inoue. A court ruled in Del Rosario's favor and with Juanito disputing the decision with the Court of Appeals as of 2002.[3][7]