Recent Articles

Changing Your Name Is Not Enough to Escape Your Internet Past

August 18, 2010 21:06

The Automatic Name Change Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently suggested to the Wall Street Journal that, in the future, young people may be given the opportunity to automatically change their names. Schmidt opines that for many, the name change will be necessary to distance themselves from youthful...

Want To Hear Me Speak At SXSW?

August 11, 2010 21:11

South by Southwest (SXSW) is a ten-day conference, held annually in Austin, Texas. Actually, SXSW is three conferences, with each conference focusing on a different discipline: Music, Film and Interactive (Internet). The cool thing about SXSW is that you have a hand in who speaks at the conference....

Susan G. Komen Directing Funds To Trademark Fights

August 06, 2010 17:42

A Charity By Any Other Name According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office records, the Texas non-profit corporation, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc., has filed 291 federal trademark applications. This is a very large number, even in comparison to a company like Google,...

Is Taco John’s Twittering Its Way Into Trademark Trouble?

August 05, 2010 19:56

The Taco Tuesday Trademark This week, Taco Johns took on a lot of heat in response to its attempts to stop Oklahoma-based restaurant Iguana Mexican Grill from using the trademark “Taco Tuesday.” In response, the Taco Johns organization tweeted “Taco Tuesday first connected to Taco...

Marijuana Trademarks

July 27, 2010 19:03

Trademarks A trademark is a mark that identifies goods or services as coming from a particular source. To register a trademark with the federal government, a trademark owner must identify the goods and/or services with which the trademark is to be used. Since trademark rights are tied a particular...

Iowa Outlaws Texting While Driving

July 19, 2010 17:08

Iowa lawmakers have joined twenty-eight other state legislatures and the District of Columbia in outlawing texting while driving. Iowa Code Section 321.276 now makes it illegal to use a hand-held electronic communication device to write or send a text message while driving a motor vehicle. The...

Patent Troll Sues Apple, Google, HTC, LG, Microsoft and Motorola Over Smartphones

July 11, 2010 19:19

NPT A patent troll has sued Apple, Google, HTC, LG, Microsoft and Motorola over various wireless email delivery patents. What makes this case different is that the plaintiff is Virginia-based NPT, Inc., best known for securing a $612M settlement from Blackberry manufacturer Research In Motion...

Analyzing The Bilski Patent Ruling

June 28, 2010 18:27

The Gordian Knot Facing the greatest patent decision in the past decade, one upon which billions of dollars in patented subject matter hung in the balance, the Supreme Court of the United States took its time issuing Bilski v. Kappos, waiting nearly eight months to issue its final opinion. The...

Supreme Court Issues Ruling in Bilski Patent Case

June 28, 2010 14:50

Finally. The Supreme Court today issued the most eagerly anticipated patent ruling in over a decade. In re Bilski tackles the issue of exactly what type of “software” is patentable. More specifically, whether to be eligible for patent protection under 35 U.S.C. § 101, a “process” must be...

YouTube Wins Case Against Viacom

June 23, 2010 23:03

In a landmark ruling, Judge Louis Stanton, United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York, granted YouTube and Google summary judgment against Viacom, holding that YouTube qualified for “safe harbor” protection under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17...