The Archives

On November 21, 2007, American communications company Motorola, Inc. filed to protect the trademark DEXT in relation to "mobile telephones" as well as "electronic personal organizers, computer software and programs, computer e-commerce software, computer software for sending and receiving short messages and electronic mail, digital cameras, video cameras" and "wireless telephone services" among other things. Gizmodo is reporting that Motorola's upcoming media phones are to be called Motorola ZINE. DEXT could be the name of one of these devices, or some kind of service for ZINE or other devices. If Motorola needs a new four-letter name for a device (like RAZR, ROKR ...

Update: PocketGamer and others are now reporting that Eidos has confirmed Tomb Raider Underworld for multiple platforms. _____ Update: Wikipedia now lists Tomb Raider: Underworld as the eighth installment of the Tomb Raider series. Eidos or Crystal Dynamics has yet to confirm or deny the name. _____ On November 21, 2007, video game developer Eidos Interactive filed to protect the trademark Tomb Raider Underworld in relation to, what else...a video game. Mork suspects that this might be the name of Tomb Raider 8, which is currently in development at Crystal Dynamics. The storyline is rumored to be based around the Mayan Calendar. During five nameless ...

On November 19, 2007, Time Warner subsidiary Time, Inc. filed to protect the trademark NewsStorm in relation to "on-line journals, namely, blogs featuring news and entertainment" as well as "on-line forums for transmission of messages among computer users concerning news and entertainment". The primary NewsStorm domains are registered by Washington, DC-based Storming Media, a reseller of Pentagon and US federal government reports that seemingly has no relation to Time, Inc. Mork hopes Time's NewsStorm brings something unique and interesting to the party. Because, you know, the world really needs one more news and entertainment blog.

On November 16, 2007, American technology company Dell, Inc. filed to protect the trademark Zingspot in relation to "an online consumer portal for digital entertainment content acquisition and distribution". Back in August, Dell acquired Mountain View-based mobile entertainment startup Zing Systems in an attempt to, according to Dell spokesman David Frink, "expand our capability to provide great product experiences". Dell's upcoming Zingspot portal appears to be the next step in that endeavor. While the Zingspot.com domain is still inactive, a whois search for Zingspot.com shows Dell as the owner. "Dude, you got a Zingspot!" Read more: CNET News - Dell's plan for Zing Read ...

On November 8, 2007, PepsiCo filed to protect the trademark Mountain Dew Revolution in relation to a soft drink. In addition, the beverage and snack company filed to protect the names Mountain Dew High Output, Mountain Dew Stimulus, Mountain Dew Reverb, Mountain Dew Kilo-Watt, Mountain Dew Rebellion, Mountain Dew Extended Play, Mountain Dew Culture Blend, Mountain Dew Visionary, Mountain Dew Supernova and Mountain Dew Discovery. Mork is getting a little tired of keeping up with Mountain Dew names, as PepsiCo seems to be registering every hip and edgy Mountain Dew name that comes into their collective head. No more Mountain Dew ...

On November 9, 2007, Illinois-based Abstinence Products, Inc. filed to protect the trademark Abstinence in relation to condoms. Yes, condoms! How awesome is that? Two horny kids are all ready to go at it. They grab a condom and the last word they read before they're bumping uglies is "abstinence". Or when some high-school jock tells his virgin-until-marriage girlfriend "I only do Abstinence", she's going to be in for a big surprise! Anyway, Mork wonders if Abstinence Products, Inc. is a conservative abstinence-only concern out to mess with kid's heads, or if they truly appreciate the humor in this name.

On November 13, 2007, Amazon Technologies, Inc. a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. filed to protect the trademark TextBuyMe in relation to "computer software for processing electronic payments to and from others" as well as "user authentication of electronic funds transfer, credit and debit card and electronic check transactions via a global computer network" and "electronic payment and information management services". Mork thinks this is strikingly similar to Amazon.com's TextPayMe Beta service which allows users to send and receive money with their phone via text messaging. LOL Update: Mork just found that textbuyme.com was sold on September 18, 2007 in a Sedo.com auction ...

On November 7, 2007, social-networking website Facebook filed to protect the trademark Fansumer in relation to "marketing, advertising and promotion services" as well as "providing advertising space" and "promoting the goods and services of others over the Internet". Facebook's new advertising effort allows businesses to target ads to the popular networking site's users based on their profiles. Jeremiah Owyang, Forrester Research’s social media senior analyst, said that Facebook's ad strategy is targeting what he calls the "fansumer", a mashup of, you guessed it, a fan and a consumer. Mork hopes Facebook is giving Jeremiah some free advertising or a new Porsche or ...