USPTO boss: IBM bathroom patent symbolic of US patent ills

The head of the USPTO today talked about the rise of bad patents (reserving a spot in an airline bathroom, for instance) and suggested ways to fix the problem. He still loves software patents, though.

March 27, 2008 - 09:58AM CT - by Nate Anderson

Fark.com trying to get trademark on "Not Safe For Work"

Fark.com has filed for a trademark application covering the phrase "Not safe for work." Given NSFW's wide usage, enforcement could prove to be very difficult if the mark is even granted.

December 09, 2007 - 08:03PM CT - by Eric Bangeman

DualCor sues Intel over Dual-Core branding

DualCor, a small hardware company based in California, isn't a big fan of Intel's dual-core branding. The company has sued the CPU maker for trademark infringement and wants Intel's product line scrubbed clean of the label.

September 04, 2007 - 09:23PM CT - by Eric Bangeman

1998 newsgroup posts could help EFF overturn broad patent on "virtual subdomains"

As part of its Patent Busting Project, the EFF has asked the USPTO to overturn a patent on virtual subdomains. Turns out Apache was doing it a year before the patent was filed.

August 22, 2007 - 10:50PM CT - by Nate Anderson

USPTO publishes Microsoft patent requests surrounding feed readers

Because the United States Patent and Trademark Office waits 18 months before publishing pending patent applications, two patent requests made by Microsoft in June 2005 just came to light today. Why are these two patent applications creating uproar in the RSS community?

December 22, 2006 - 01:00AM CT - by Matt Mondok

Tech community split over WIPO broadcast treaty

What would it take to get Sony and the EFF on the same side? The WIPO broadcast treaty. Both groups vigorously object, while a coalition that includes Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon thinks the treaty has merit.

September 05, 2006 - 02:34PM CT - by Nate Anderson