Gawker: valleywag, trademarks

Facebook Disappears Legal Problem

Ryan Tate — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:57:54 EDT

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.Facebook settled a long-running trademark suit from Aaron Greenspan (pictured), the Harvard student whose "Universal Face Book" system predated Facebook and was used heavily by its founder before he publicly branded his own social network. Greenspan is just the latest mess Facebook has tidied up.

Greenspan's suit argues he originated the company's name and that the company's trademark is thus invalid. It's been in court for six months. The company has resolved the case just as it prepares to buy out employees antsy to cash out their shares and as it raises new funding to provide a "buffer" against the economy.

It's especially nice to resolve those sorts of problems if you're going to IPO, as Business Insider notes. And while we're not questioning founder Mark Zuckerberg's sincerity when he says the company won't go public for several years, at this rate we wouldn't be surprised if it happened sooner.

(Pic via Think Computer)

G.ho.st says Microsoft stole "No Walls" slogan

Paul Boutin — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:40:00 EDT

This much is provable: G.ho.st, a hosted service that dubs itself the Global Hosted Operating SysTem, uses a slogan, "No Walls." Microsoft's new Seinfeld-powered Windows campaign pushes several slogans, including "Imagine No Walls." Sleep-deprived superreporter Kara Swisher tells us the G.ho.st gang claims trademark infringement on a pending trademark for "No walls." Our attempts to pull G.ho.st's trademark entry from the United States Patent and Trademark Office's searchable database returned no matches to G.ho.st's claim. Ball in your court, G.ho.st.ers — post your USPTO documentation in the comments, or it didn't happen.

Dell can't have cloud computing

Alaska Miller — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:40:00 EDT

Michael Dell will not get paid every time you say "cloud computing." The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has finally shut down Dell's attempt to trademark the phrase "cloud computing" late last week. Earlier in the week, the USPTO reversed a decision letting Dell proceed with its trademark request. [The Register]

Dell still wants to get paid every time you say "cloud computing"

Alaska Miller — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:20:00 EDT

Dell's recent attempt to register the term "cloud computing" as a trademark has taken on one small hitch. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently reversed its decision to grant a "Notice of Allowance" — a written notification that a specific mark has survived the opposition period following publication — and is reviewing Dell's request once more. Maybe Dell will have better luck selling its MP3 players. [Sam Johnston]

Dell trademarks cloud computing

Paul Boutin — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:00:00 EDT

The PC megamaker quietly obtained trademark protection last month for the term "cloud computing." U.S. law says that as soon as Dell begins using the term, it owns the trademark and can force other companies to stop using it. But realistically, would you try to sell "cloud computing" to Wal-mart shoppers? Dell's move will probably backfire by forcing other companies to come up with a more appealing term for the technology. Everybody wins!

Twitter.me domain squatter will get piece of that $15 million funding round

Jackson West — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:40:00 EDT

ICANN opened up the new top-level domain .me today, which caught Twitter cofounder Evan Williams unawares:

Wonder who bought twitter.me. We were not on the ball.

If the guy who bought Twitter.me doesn't get some cash from the deal, Twitter's lawyers will, as they pursue a costly, bureaucratic trademark complaint. Either way, looks like some of that $15 million round of venture capital just disappeared from the stash. Which serves as a friendly reminder to wantrepreneurs: Chase the squatters away from your brand, lest they take up residence and demand walking-away money.

Harvard classmate claims Zuckerberg stole Facebook's name

Nicholas Carlson — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:20:00 EDT

Facebook lawyers want to bar Aaron Greenspan, a Harvard chum of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, from marketing his new book, Authoritas: One Student's Harvard Admissions and the Founding of the Facebook Era. Their rationale: It uses the company's trademarked name improperly in the title. But their real goal is surely quashing Greenspan's story. In this excerpt from Greenspan's tell-all, the author argues that Zuckerberg stole the name Facebook from Greenspan's creation, HouseSystem.

Fark applies for "Not Safe For Work" trademark

Jordan Golson — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 19:20:05 EST

Fark.com LLC, Drew Curtis' company which operates the zany headlines site, has applied for a trademark on "not safe for work" with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Given how long "NSFW" has been around, we suspect it might be difficult getting the mark granted, never mind how Fark founder Drew Curtis proposes to enforce it. We suspect it might be part of a prank, but who knows? Only Drew. Maybe if we send him a beer, he'll spill the beans.