Technology, Law, Baseball, Rock ‘n’ Roll.
About LawLawLaw
My name is Erik Heels, and this is my LawLawLawTM newsletter. Since 2001, LawLawLaw has documented trends in technology, law (mostly patents and trademarks), baseball (mostly Red Sox), and music (mostly rock).
Today’s disclaimer du jour of the day #150: Action figures sold separately.
Thanks for reading!
Brexit Stuff
Dear Clocktower Law VIPs,
In the short term, Brexit (UK’s historic vote on 06/23/16 to leave the EU) should not have any impact on your trademark rights.
In the longer term, trademarks in the UK (CTM and Madrid Protocol trademarks) will likely need to be converted to UK national applications at some point, but that point is at least two years out, and the terms and costs of how this will be done have yet to be worked out.
(Patents in the UK should not be impacted at all, since the European Patent Office is not part of the EU.)
Change is constant, even unexpected change!
Best,
Erik
Clocktower Law Stuff
* 17 Seconds #25 (2016-06-17)
Help us update Clocktower Law’s list of cool clients.
https://www.giantpeople.com/6202.html
* How To Build A Startup: One Board At A Time, Be Yourself, Get Plants (2016-06-15)
Top 11 tips for entrepreneurs. Since my house-painting business in my teens to my Clocktower Law days, I’ve been building startups and advising startups. Here’s a smattering of what I’ve learned.
https://www.giantpeople.com/6185.html
* Twitter’s Trademark Policy Sucks (2016-04-27)
The story (don’t forget to read the comments) of how Clocktower Law helped a client get its Twitter account back.
https://www.giantpeople.com/6010.html
* 17 Seconds #24 (2016-05-17)
Transparent patent and trademark fees.
https://www.giantpeople.com/6154.html
* 17 Seconds #23 (2016-04-17)
Is Clocktower Law the best patent law firm in America?
https://www.giantpeople.com/5998.html
Tech Stuff
* How Yahoo Derailed Tumblr (2016-06-15)
After Marissa Mayer promised “not to screw it up.”
http://mashable.com/2016/06/15/how-yahoo-derailed-tumblr/
* Microsoft Acquires LinkedIn For $26.2B, Deal To Close By End Of 2016 (2016-06-13)
Is this story related to the one below? Think they’ll screw it up?
http://lifehacker.com/microsoft-acquires-linkedin-for-26-2b-deal-to-close-b-1781878156
* Nest May Be The First Major Casualty Of Hollow ‘Internet Of Things’ Hype (2016-06-07)
My Nest smoke/CO2 detectors do have fewer false alarms than the old dumb ones.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160606/08335334635/nest-may-be-first-major-casualty-hollow-internet-things-hype.shtml
* Hacker Puts Up 167 Million LinkedIn Passwords For Sale (2016-05-19)
I certainly changed mine.
http://thehackernews.com/2016/05/linkedin-account-hack.html
Law Stuff
* On Brexit: Perhaps Britain Won’t Leave The Eu After All? (2016-06-26)
Oh those crazy Brits! In case you missed it, on 06/23/16, the UK voted to leave the EU.
http://kottke.org/16/06/perhaps-britain-wont-leave-the-eu-after-all
* How the U.S. Patent Office Got So Screwed Up (2016-06-21)
When Popular Mechanics weighs in, perhaps we have a problem.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/a21181/greatest-american-invention/
* President Obama Signs Federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (2016-05-13)
I’m not exactly sure why this was necessary, but here you go. See also my older (but still relevant) article below about trade secrets.
http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2016/05/13/obama-signs-defend-trade-secrets-act/id=69102/
* Judgment With Prejudice Is Res Judicata And Not Vacated Even If Mooted By Later Reexamination (2016-04-29)
This is an example of sucky legal writing that uses sucky legalese that sucks. If Clocktower Law ever starts communicating like this, then please slap us upside the head with a dead fish.
http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2016/04/18/68394/id=68394/
* Uniform Username Dispute Resolution Policy (UUDRP) (2016-04-27)
I built it. Will them come?
https://www.giantpeople.com/6004.html
* ‘Boaty McBoatface’ Wins Online Poll To Name Uk Polar Research Ship (2016-04-18)
Oh those crazy Brits!
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/04/17/boaty_mcboatface_wins_online_poll_to_name_uk_polar_research_ship.html
* Patents vs. Trade Secrets (2002-02-05)
The advantages and disadvantages of protecting business ideas with patents and trade secrets.
https://www.giantpeople.com/156.html
Baseball Stuff
* NESN: Dave O’Brien’s Exaggerations More Annoying Than Red Sox Losses (2016-06-22)
In related news, I miss Don Orsillo.
http://joyofsox.blogspot.com/2016/06/nesn-obriens-exaggerations-more.html
* Red Sox Third Baseman Pablo Sandoval To Have Shoulder Surgery (2016-05-02)
So maybe he’s not fat and lazy?
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/pablo-sandoval-red-sox-shoulder-surgery-injured-out-233849279.html
* Robbie Ross’s Quiet, Unique Value To The Red Sox (2016-04-21)
This is a great article. You need league-average players on your roster to have a winning team. In related news, I miss Wade Miley.
http://www.overthemonster.com/2016/4/21/11476656/red-sox-bullpen-robbie-ross
Music Stuff
* Jury Sides With Led Zeppelin in Copyright Infringement Case (2016-06-24)
Turns out you can’t own a chord progression.
http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/jury-sides-led-zeppelin-copyright-infringement-case/
* Deconstructing The Genre-Bending Magic Of ‘Gorillaz’ (2016-06-22)
One for Ben.
http://digg.com/video/gorillaz-genre-explainer
Random Stuff
* Six Million Years Of Human History, Explained In 10 Minutes (2016-06-24)
http://kottke.org/16/06/six-million-years-of-human-history-explained-in-10-minutes
* Frog & Toad And The Self (2016-05-21)
Arnold Lobel’s beloved books taught children to understand and appreciate their individuality.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/05/frog-and-toad-and-the-self/483399/
* 24 Buzz-Related and 184 Blog-Related Domain Names For Sale (2016-04-01)
I’m downsizing. This probably has something to do with turning 50 recently.
https://www.giantpeople.com/5906.html
P.S. LawLawLaw, available at LawLawLaw.com, is a publication written by Clocktower Law LLC founder Erik J. Heels and published by GiantPeople LLC. The opinions in LawLawLaw do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Clocktower Law, GiantPeople, their employees, or the author. If you don’t share this with friends and family, then who will? Thanks!
P.P.S. Erik claims to publish the #1 blog about technology, law, baseball, and rock ‘n’ roll at erikjheels.com. Brevity is not his strong suit.
