LawGeek

Smart Feminist Response to Miss Teen USA - SC Map Fiasco

There have been a load of responses to Miss Teen South Carolina's map misstep, but this one strikes me as by far the most astute and insightful, not to mention quite funny and well-done.

Brave New Films on U.S. Gov't failure to rebuild NOLA

A pretty moving four-minute movie about our government's failure to rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Given the billions we're spending trying to rebuild Iraq, it's sad that we can't focus here at home on rebuilding a community that wants and needs our help.

To support the rebuild efforts, click here.

Nixon Peabody DMCA Takedown spurs fair use revolt

ATL has the full story here and here. The video below tells it too and shows exactly how fair use helps fight censorship and promotes free speech.

Friendster's attempt to trademark "It's Complicated"

So being a big IP nerd, I was poking around Friendster the other day (yes, I still occasionally use it) and noticed that when someone's relationship status says "It's Complicated" there's a little "tm" after it:

That's odd, I thought.  So I went and looked up the US Patent and Trademark Record for it and sure enough, Friendster has filed for a trademark registration on "It's Complicated":

Word Mark	IT'S COMPLICATED
Goods and Services	IC  045.  US 100 101.  G & S: COMPUTER SERVICES, NAMELY, PROVIDING INFORMATION REGARDING, AND IN THE NATURE OF, ON-LINE DATING, SOCIAL INTRODUCTION, AND SOCIAL NETWORKING SERVICES.  FIRST USE: 20050714. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20050714
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code	(4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number	78429765
Filing Date	June 3, 2004
Current Filing Basis	1B
Original Filing Basis	1B
Published for Opposition	September 6, 2005
Owner	(APPLICANT) Friendster, Inc. CORPORATION DELAWARE 1380 Villa St. Mountain View CALIFORNIA 94043
Attorney of Record	Joel S. Gooch
Type of Mark	SERVICE MARK
Register	PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator	LIVE

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What's bizarre to me about this is what exactly, if anything, this trademark means.  The PTO document says that they are using the mark "It's Complicated" in conjunction with "Computer Services, namely, providing information regarding, and in the nature of, on-line dating, social introduction, and social networking services."

Yet, no one I know would think that.  It's not like Friendster offers an "It's Complicated" search service or introduction service where that phrase is used as a brand name.  Rather, it's information provided by the user themselves about their relationship status.  Again, here it is in context:

 

Trademarks are supposed to identify the source of a good or service.  But in this context, the phrase "It's Complicated" identifies the status of the user, not the source of anything from Friendster, Inc.  I suppose one could argue that the Friendster service is communicating the information by using the "IC" phrase, but again, it's the user that chooses that phrase and its meaning, not Friendster.

Of course, I completely understand Friendster wanting to have some kind of intellectual property right on the phrase, as it has become quite popular on social networking sites as a status for users who have varying degrees of relationship dysphoria, but trademark does not seem a good fit and frankly leaves me feeling quite Puzzled(tm).

 

C-SPAN Video of Ninth Circuit Argument in AT&T Wiretapping Case

FYI, The Internet Archive has now posted the C-SPAN video of the oral argument in EFF's case against AT&T over the illegal NSA surveillance campaign:

You can read more about the case here.

Fizzball

The other Big Bang
Originally uploaded by StickyC.

Brings back memories. :-)