Attorney Eric Menhart recently commented in two articles in “The Daily Tar Heel,” the newspaper serving the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill community. The first article, entitled “Facing Scrutiny,” examines information on social networking sites as it is used to investigate and screen college students. The second article, entitled “Google Puts Chapel Hill Streets on View,” examines the Read More
Bill Protects IT Health Privacy
A new bill, entitled “Technologies for Restoring Users' Security and Trust” (TRUST) in Health Information Act, has been introduced as House Resolution 5442. The bill regulates the use of information technology within the American health care system and seeks to protect the privacy and security of patient medical information. According to Congressman Markey, one of the bill’s sponsors, Read More
Apple Trademark Suggests Gaming
Apple Computer recently sought to expand its trademark protection into a new class of goods: gaming. The proposed expansion of its preexisting federal trademark has many in the industry wondering what Apple has planned. Some of the attempted protections are: hand-held units for playing electronic games; hand-held units for playing video games; stand alone video game machines; electronic Read More
Spectrum Bidding Heats Up
The bidding war for radio spectrum that is being freed up by the elimination of analog television broadcasting continues to attract attention by major technology firms. You can see a map of the spectrum range here. Several blocks of spectrum in the 700-MHz range have to date attracted bids of $18.9 billion, well in excess of the FCC’s goal of $10 billion. Of particular note, the C Block, the Read More
Microsoft Bids for Yahoo
Talk about a big deal. Microsoft has offered to purchase Yahoo for $44 billion. If completed, the monstrosity would be an instant Google competitor, combining the forces of two firms that alone have not been able to compete with Google. While the deal is a long way from coming to fruition, this seems to make sense at first glance. Both Yahoo and Microsoft have had their various struggles over the Read More
ICANN Kills Domain Tasting
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has announced a proposal to start charging a non-refundable annual ICANN fee on registrar domain registrations immediately upon registration. The ICANN Board resolved to: . . . encourage ICANN's budgetary process to include fees for all domains added, including domains added during the AGP, and encourages community discussion involved in Read More
Bill Eyes International IP Help
A recent bill introduced in the house, entitled “Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2007,” or PRO IP for short, casts an eye towards improving international cooperation and enforcement of IP rights. The bill, introduced by John Conyers of Michigan, proposes that the United States Patent and Trademark Office appoint 10 intellectual property attachés to serve Read More
Happy MLK Day
Working for protection of individual rights, whether for civil rights, privacy rights or IP rights, requires leadership. The holiday is a good opportunity to be reminded that Martin Luther King Jr.’s non-violent style of leadership, which relies on truth, justice, and belief in force of law, is an effective method of resolving disputes and bringing about change in a variety of arenas. Read More
Of CyberLaw and CyberLawg
Unfortunately, there have been some blog postings and other communications regarding this firm’s application for the use of the mark “CyberLaw” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Because many of these communications are lacking in providing complete and accurate information, the firm issues the following statement. A blog post issued by EFF’s Corynne McSherry criticizes the firm’s application. Read More
Domain Tasting Under Review
ICANN, the agency responsible for global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers, including domain names and Internet protocols, is eyeing the practice of domain name tasting for policy changes. Tasting, originally designed to keep typos from becoming permanent errors, is also used by domain name entrepreneurs to test the profitability of certain names before committing to Read More
