Kurt Denke is my new hero. He's the former lawyer who is President of Blue Jeans Cable, a competitor of Monster Cable. When he received a cease and desist letter from Monster, who alleged some of Blue Jeans' "Tartan" cable products were too similar to Monster's, Denke sent back a devastating and heroic reply. This is one of the best letters I've ever read. It's heroic and ballsy, and strategically brilliant. Further, I think this letter can help illustrate the unavoidable practical difficulties that will necessarily plague any attempt to have an IP--that is, pattern privilege--system. It helps to highlight why such a system cannot be but unjust. These kind of expensive and intractable problems, inherent vagueness and bullying tactics, will always accompany a patter privilege system. Any layman who is in favor of patent should read this letter, and think about the consequences of the system they advocate.

(Cross-posted at Mises blog)

Via Marginal Revolution and Boing Boing, Boeing (no relationship) has patented using the moon's gravity to adjust a satellite's orbit. It is however believed the patent would not stand in court, as it is merely rebranding of a physics law. Yet, given legal costs, the satellite is on its way back...

Marilyn Monroe is dead but her image lives on as intellectual property and a source of wealth? link here Perhaps no longer. Photographers and other owners of her images have paid license fees to her estate under California law. Now, however, she has been declared a citizen of New York by the Los Angeles Federal District Court because the estate had argued to the California tax man that she was a New York resident. In California, the "rights of publicity" continue after death, but not in New York. The estate will appeal but grounds have yet to be stated.

Good decision in another trivial case. Who will end this plague?

A London appeals court has awarded the lead singer of Procol Harum sole royalty rights to the 1967 hit "A Whiter Shade of Pale" link here. It revoked an earlier ruling awarding 40 percent of the royalties to the group's organist for composing the organ theme, on the grounds that his claim was made too late. He had deferred making it, because he feared it would end his work with the group. It may be appealed to the House of Lords.

Whoever writes these little stories must have it in for the legal and intellectual property professions. Maybe we should retitle this category intellectual property law as a joke. If the plaintiff's claim was legitimate once upon a time and the copyright still applies, why shouldn't his claim be legitimate now?

This is rich.

Via Crain's New York Business.com, Steve Jobs and Apple Computer are suing New York City (a.k.a. the Big Apple) for using an apple logo as part of it's Green New York campaign. The two logos are displayed below, and clearly, they aren't anything alike. It's also hard to believe that anyone would possible confuse the two and walk into a New York City bus shelter looking to buy an iPod, but apparently, Jobs and Co. believe this. Fortunately, the Big Apple's legal counsel has filed a countersuit asking the courts to dismiss the Jobs suit.

I just ran across the website of an old exhibition (which is still ready for new exhibits) that stretches then limits of copyrights and trademarks. illegal-art.org may not necessarily be pleasing to the eye, but it is full of courageous, and even brazen attempts to use or abuse copyrighted and trademarked material, with plenty of lawyer stories. Enjoy the three eared Mickey Mouse, the Iowa prof who trademarked "Freedom of Expression" and sent a cease-and-desist letter to himself, and much more.

Two new names for businesses:

For a soft drink line:

Eliot's Spritzers

For a perfume line:

Client No. 9

Inquiring minds want to know.

I just stumbled on this quote from an essay I wrote a few years ago. The quote is the sum total of my contribution to libertarian thought.

The page says the text may be copied and used consistent with their permissions. I'm guessing they won't be quoting anything from these precincts on copyright.

Trademork.com is an excellent source of silly trademarks, as shown by this recent example: A Finnish computer game company is applying for a trademark for the term "pwnage," a recently coined word signifying that someone has been had. The company cannot lay any claims that it created the word, and the word is now commonly used in the gaming and online communities.

I want to trademark "trademark"...

At the assertion that to be patentable something must be novel we can only laugh or cry. There is an article on apple insider: James and Marguerite Driessen of Lindon, Utah are suing Apple Computer claiming they have patented the idea of a gift card where the gift is downloadable over the internet. The actual patent 7003500 - which took six years to issue for some reason - is vastly worse than that. They have patented the "idea" of "selling of merchandise or media content on the Internet [using] at least one in-person contact with the buyer." I want to emphasize: this patent was approved by the U.S. Patent Office.