Jan
31
Internet Post as Copyright Publication
Posted by Dirk Avery at 2:28 pm under Copyright, Internet.
Suppose you take a picture of your dog. You’re a decent amateur photographer and the photo turns out great. Since it’s so good, you post it to your publicly-available website. Five months later People magazine sees the picture, loves it, and uses it on the cover of an issue. Do you have any recourse […]
Jan
30
ROFLCon 2008
Posted by Keeley Vega at 3:13 pm under Events, Internet.
On April 25th and 26th, Harvard University is hosting ROFLCon 2008, a conference on fame and memehood on the Internet. (A meme is “a neologism used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads in a faddish way from person to person via the Internet.”)
“Celebs will come together with scholars of internet culture and […]
Jan
30
ITC Win for Microsoft over Alcatel-Lucent
Posted by Dirk Avery at 1:24 pm under Patent.
On Monday, ALJ Luckern filed his Determinations (download public version here) in the ITC investigation of Microsoft’s patent infringement complaint against Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent. Judge Luckern found ITC jurisdiction, claims 1 and 28 of Microsoft’s ‘439 patent valid, that, relative to those claims, Alcatel’s OmniPCX Enterprise system directly infringes, and that Alcatel contributorily infringed and […]
Jan
29
Answer #1: What am I?
Posted by Keeley Vega at 10:48 am under Patent.
Yesterday’s mystery patent is U.S. Patent No. 2, 712, 317, filed May 9, 1950 (now in the public domain) by Charles M. Palmer. It covers an eyelash curler, shown below:
Guesses made: a sponge mop, a leather glove (!), and a hair straightener. Better luck next time!
Jan
29
Qtrax update
Posted by Dirk Avery at 10:07 am under Copyright, Internet.
Qtrax launched yesterday and already scandal is in the air. Qtrax claimed to have deals with the major music labels. The labels have a different view.
But by Monday, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner had publicly denied that they had agreed to back the new Qtrax service.
A source close to Universal Music, […]
Jan
28
Mystery Patent #1: What am I?
Posted by Keeley Vega at 5:15 pm under Mystery Patent, Patent.
Guess the invention claimed below:
Answer will be posted tomorrow!
Jan
28
Internet money-saving
Posted by Dirk Avery at 12:04 pm under Copyright, Internet.
Yay, for the Internet! 25 million free songs from music-industry-backed, ad-revenue supported website Qtrax (hopefully the ads won’t make the service completely useless). And, University of Maryland statisticians found that buyers on eBay saved $7 billion in 2003. (The portion of that resulting from progressive auctions is uncertain.) Were the person-hours spent […]
Jan
25
Horse and buggy sales down 11%
Posted by Dirk Avery at 3:19 pm under Copyright, Internet.
1902 - Horse breeders and buggy manufacturers reported that sales fell 11% over the last year. Over the same period horseless-carriage (automobile) sales rose 40 percent to $2.9 billion. The rise in auto sales failed to cover losses from collapse of the international buggy sales.
The International Federation of Buggy Makers said that governments […]
Jan
25
IP’s purpose: economic incentive or progress?
Posted by Dirk Avery at 6:17 am under Copyright, Incentive, Patent.
Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the US Constitution, often referred to as the Intellectual Property Clause, states: “[Congress shall have the power] To promote the Progress of Science [knowledge] and useful Arts [technology], by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” Patent and […]
Jan
24
Haute Diggity Dog
Posted by Keeley Vega at 6:13 pm under Copyright, Trademark.
In November of last year, the 4th Circuit ruled on a case between Louis Vuitton and Haute Diggity Dog (the maker of “Chewy Vuiton” dog toys). On the trademark claim, the court said the toys were a permissible parody of the LV trademark. On the copyright claim, the court said: “LVM argues that the district […]