Tag: intellectualproperty

"Book" and its Wrappers

Books are sadly limited things once they are wrapped in DRM (see previous). Now even the word book may be limited.

Facebook has filed suit against Teachbook.com, an online community for teachers. The lawsuit accuses Teachbook of “misappropriating the distinctive BOOK portion of Facebook’s trademark.”

I don’t think that’s satire. I think that Jennifer Van Grove wrote it for Mashable with a straight keyboard.

The hounds of “intellectual property” have made enough toothmarks on enough books. Now their foul fangs slaver for the word book itself.

IBM Concedes Sippy Award to Sony

Sony just collected a Silly Intellectual Property Award (Sippy) when IBM withdrew its entry. Here’s a quote from the Big Blue concession speech (via Glyn).

IBM has put into the public domain and withdrawn its application for patent number US2007/0162321 – Outsourcing of Services. This patent application covers analyzing work flows, skills, economic costs, etc.

Sony’s concluded its comic horror show in style, winning its suit against Jammie Thomas. The jury awarded $222,000 in damages. Star of the final scene was Richard Gabriel of the RIAA, with his grim warning “that both downloading and distributing music is no joke” proving that he’s not just a straight man to the wackier Jennifer Parsier.

Having collected the Sippy, which IBM was wise to concede, will Sony try to collect the $222,000? Will it try to win the song-Sippy with “It’s fun to sue with the RIAA”?