Roberto del Rosario
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| Born | Roberto Legaspi del Rosario June 7, 1919
Pasay, Philippine Islands
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| Died | July 30, 2003 (aged 84) |
| Nationality | Filipino |
| Citizenship | Filipino |
| Known for | Patentholder for the Sing Along karaoke system. |
| Notable work | Inventor Of Sing Along Karaoke Voice Color Tape |
Roberto Legaspi del Rosario (June 7, 1919 – July 30, 2003) 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".
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.[1] He filed a patent infringement case against a Chinese company before the Philippine Supreme Court [citation needed]. In 1996, the court ruled that the Chinese company violated his patent rights. [citation needed] Despite this, a book entitled Karaoke Idols: Popular Music and the Performance of Identity[2] credits Daisuke Inoue, a Japanese man, as having invented karaoke earlier in 1971.
