Subject:

Intellectual Property

  • Blogs

    April 11, 2012

    S.F. Businessman Wants to Make Money Off Trayvon Martin Shooting

    Look, we don't want to argue that capitalism has hurt the moral fabric of America, but what else could we possibly conclude after learning how local businessman Lawrence Sekara is capitalizing off the Trayvon Martin tragedy?That's right, the 49-year-old San Francisco businessman submitted an online ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 4, 2012

    Is Neil Young Working on a High-Quality Digital Music Service?

    Earlier this year, rock legend Neil Young made some waves in the tech world when he blasted the thin, tinny sound quality of MP3s, arguing that digital music distribution is "degrading music, not improving it." "The MP3 only has 5 percent of the data present in the original recording," Young said a ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 21, 2012

    Copyright Owners Continue to Tilt at Windmills

    ​Given the intensity of the debates over digital piracy, you'd almost think that if one side or the other were to "win," the question would be decided: If critics of copyright holders were victorious, piracy would run rampant and the media industry would be brought to its knees; if the copyright o ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 31, 2012

    Porn Company Hunts for Illegal Downloaders of 'My Little Panties #2'

    ​As the tech and media industries slug it out over laws governing copyrighted material online, one original content producer has won a small victory in its effort to staunch intellectual-property theft. The California-based porn-video producer Digital Sin [NSFW] has won the right to obtain persona ... More >>

  • Calendar

    January 11, 2012

    Digital Statesman

    ​As the tech and media industries slug it out over laws governing copyrighted material online, one original content producer has won a small victory in its effort to staunch intellectual-property theft. The California-based porn-video producer Digital Sin [NSFW] has won the right to obtain persona ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 22, 2011

    The Stop Online Piracy Act: The Owner of San Francisco's Burning House Records Explains His Support

    ​You've probably heard some rumblings about the Stop Online Piracy Act recently. And in all likelihood -- especially if you watch major news channels like CNN -- it's probably all sounded pretty bad and pretty scary. Casey Shafer owns and runs Burning House Records -- an independent, San Francisco ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 1, 2011

    Copyright Fight the Subject of Juvenile Flamewars

    ​To the uninitiated, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce might sound like a larger version of local chambers of commerce: something like the Elks or the Rotary Club, where dull businesspeople get together for dull meetings to eat rubber chicken and to "network." But the U.S. Chamber is the largest lobb ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 24, 2011

    Woman Says 'Hipstamatic' iPhone Photo App Violates Copyright Law

    A Hipstamatic photo​A photographer is suing Apple in federal court in Texas, alleging that the iPhone's popular Hipstamatic app violates copyright law by republishing her photos and those of others without permission.In a complaint filed against the Bay Area-based company, plaintiff Shanti Deva Ko ... More >>

  • News

    October 12, 2011

    Giants Get Sued Over Team's "San Francisco" Logo

    A Hipstamatic photo​A photographer is suing Apple in federal court in Texas, alleging that the iPhone's popular Hipstamatic app violates copyright law by republishing her photos and those of others without permission.In a complaint filed against the Bay Area-based company, plaintiff Shanti Deva Ko ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 6, 2011

    The 1,101 Trademarks of San Francisco

    ​Earlier this week, we reported on the San Francisco Giants' summer of discontent carrying over into a fiasco at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The team was barred from trademarking the script "San Francisco" logo featured on Giants jackets and an armada of other team memorabilia since 1993 ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 3, 2011

    Giants Barred From Trademarking "San Francisco" Logo

    ​It was that kind of year for the San Francisco Giants. The team scored the fewest runs in the National League -- the fewest runs the team has scored, in fact, since it lost 100 games in 1985. At the plate, the Giants just couldn't deliver. Bizarrely, the franchise has been unable to do so in the ... More >>

  • Dining

    September 21, 2011

    Restaurateurs Beware: Michael Jackson Could Cost You $40,000

    ​It was that kind of year for the San Francisco Giants. The team scored the fewest runs in the National League -- the fewest runs the team has scored, in fact, since it lost 100 games in 1985. At the plate, the Giants just couldn't deliver. Bizarrely, the franchise has been unable to do so in the ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 16, 2011

    Google Thumbs Nose at Antitrust Regulators

    ​You can't say Google doesn't have balls. Despite increasingly heavy antitrust scrutiny by the federal government, the Internet behemoth is charging ahead with a deal that brings all kinds of potential for cornering a market. It will pay $12.5 billion for Motorola Mobility, a leading maker of hand ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 24, 2011

    Claim: Limewire's Shutdown Reduced Music Piracy by 7 Percent

    ​The nationally-recognized market research nerds NPD Group just released their latest poll, which suggests the shutdown of the file-sharing application Limewire this past October reduced peer-to-peer-based music piracy in the U.S. by a significant 7 percent. Wait, that many of you were still ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 11, 2011

    Levi's Suing Dolce & Gabbana For Copying Pocket Stitching

    Copy this at your own risk. ​Levi's is suing another fashion label for trademark infringement alleging it copied the Levi's double- arch stitching design and ribbon tab on the back pocket. The San Francisco-based jeans company filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco Wednesday against Ita ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 4, 2010

    'Giants Baseball: Torture.' Can That Phrase Be Trademarked?

    Really, it just seems like the Giants' bats are broken...​Earlier this year, San Francisco Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper -- who can't turn off the games when they become unwatchable -- turned to broadcast partner Mike Krukow and uttered "Giants baseball: Torture." It's a phrase fans have taken t ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 31, 2010

    We Weren't Really Expecting Any Fresh Thinking About 'Online Piracy' From Obama, Were We?

    "This is a fundamental issue of America's economic competitiveness," Locke said of online piracy on Monday.​Commerce secretary Gary Locke issued a harsh condemnation of so-called music piracy in a speech in Nashville Monday. We'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that Locke seemed to r ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 25, 2010

    Zynga Sued over 'Mafia Wars' Trademark by Digital Chocolate: Read the Lawsuit Here

    Who says a war is bad for business?​San Francisco-based social-gaming company Zynga is being sued for alleged trademark infringement over its popular Facebook game, Mafia Wars.Digital Chocolate, another online gaming company, claims in a lawsuit filed in federal court that it owns rights to the na ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 16, 2010

    Alleged Patent Violation -- of Mushrooms -- Spawns S.F. Lawsuit

    A witness for the prosecution -- or the defense? ​For those of you who never thought they'd read an article in which the terms "patent infringement" and "mushrooms" were juxtaposed -- Oh happy day, your time has come. In recent years, items even erstwhile patent clerk Albert Einstein couldn't have ... More >>

  • News

    January 13, 2010

    Total Drag: One of S.F.'s most famous drag queens protects her trademark

    A witness for the prosecution -- or the defense? ​For those of you who never thought they'd read an article in which the terms "patent infringement" and "mushrooms" were juxtaposed -- Oh happy day, your time has come. In recent years, items even erstwhile patent clerk Albert Einstein couldn't have ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 30, 2009

    Swingless Golfers Strike In Court

    via flickr by chris.corwinNever win​The saga over the patent rights and trade secrets of the swingless golf club continues in a San Francisco courtroom.A federal judge in San Francisco today permitted some counterclaims accusing a Wyoming-based company and two directors of tricking the former owne ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 18, 2009

    Apple Triumphs in Key Copyright Ruling in San Francisco Lawsuit

    Robert Pedraza                      By C. Stiles ​In our cover story last week, Worms in the Apple, writer Tim Elfrink detailed the saga of the Rudy and Robert Pedraza, a couple of rogu ... More >>

  • Calendar

    November 11, 2009

    Faster, Dressmaker! Style! Style!

    Robert Pedraza                      By C. Stiles ​In our cover story last week, Worms in the Apple, writer Tim Elfrink detailed the saga of the Rudy and Robert Pedraza, a couple of rogu ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 5, 2009

    New York Times Reports SF Duck Tour Quacking Lawsuit -- But Omits Crucial Aspect

    The SF Weekly has paid a lot of attention to the Duck Tour rivalry here in San Francisco. Possibly too much. So it was nice to see that the nation's most respected publication also found that story interesting, and published one of its own.The story is a good one, and it's especially informativ ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 20, 2009

    Duck, Duck, Suit: One SF Duck Tour Sues Another Over Trademarked Quack

    In November of last year, the SF Weekly published a cover story on the all-out duck fight going on between the city's rival amphibious tours, Bay Quackers and Ride the Ducks. Bay Quackers is the smaller, locally owned business that's been around about five years; Ride the Ducks belongs to ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 9, 2008

    Is Emily the Strange a Copycat?

    By Lauren Smiley What if Emily the Strange -- the sullen girl-power icon from Berkeley-based company Comic Debris who claims her own clothing line, comic book series, and soon, a motion picture -- isn't all that odd at all? Accusations are flying around the blogosphere that Emily, whose emo pre-tee ... More >>

  • Music

    April 9, 2008

    Matador Records Skips Important Credit on Cat Power's Jukebox

    By Lauren Smiley What if Emily the Strange -- the sullen girl-power icon from Berkeley-based company Comic Debris who claims her own clothing line, comic book series, and soon, a motion picture -- isn't all that odd at all? Accusations are flying around the blogosphere that Emily, whose emo pre-tee ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 7, 2008

    Fresh from controversy, Lane Hartwell to head up Tuesday night panel discussion and ask the immortal question: what's protecting artists on the web?

    By Lauren Smiley What if Emily the Strange -- the sullen girl-power icon from Berkeley-based company Comic Debris who claims her own clothing line, comic book series, and soon, a motion picture -- isn't all that odd at all? Accusations are flying around the blogosphere that Emily, whose emo pre-tee ... More >>

  • News

    December 5, 2007

    Blogos-Free

    Since the paper is called the Examiner, shouldn't it take a closer look at what's going up on its Web site, and pay for it?

  • Blogs

    November 2, 2007

    Jessica Seinfeld Accused Of "Vegetable Plagiarism," Husband Jerry Turns It Into Comedy Bit

    Since the paper is called the Examiner, shouldn't it take a closer look at what's going up on its Web site, and pay for it?

  • Blogs

    November 2, 2007

    Jessica Seinfeld Accused Of "Vegetable Plagiarism," Husband Jerry Turns It Into Comedy Bit

    Since the paper is called the Examiner, shouldn't it take a closer look at what's going up on its Web site, and pay for it?

  • Blogs

    June 27, 2007

    Net Radio Royalty EXTRA -- UPDATES: David Byrne, Cover feature

    Since the paper is called the Examiner, shouldn't it take a closer look at what's going up on its Web site, and pay for it?

  • Music

    December 21, 2005

    Unfair Use

    To what insane lengths will Sony go in its fight against piracy?

  • Calendar

    May 4, 2005

    Art Bandits

    What's stealing and what's not, in "Pirated: A Post Asian Perspective"

  • News

    October 22, 2003

    Sounds of Silence

    ASCAP's legal threats kill a thriving local music scene

  • Music

    September 17, 2003

    Raw Sue-age

    Let us not squander the gift of mass lawsuits against average Joes: Fuck the RIAA!

  • Music

    December 19, 2001

    Paying through the nose -- and the ears

    Noncommercial radio versus the capitalist urge

  • News

    October 3, 2001

    Digital Wage

    What a difference a year makes, to the country, and to the New Economy

  • News

    September 12, 2001

    Who Owns Your Clone?

    A San Francisco firm thinks it's time people started copyrighting their DNA

  • Culture

    April 18, 2001

    Custody Battle

    Marvel Comics isn't going to give up Captain America without a fight

  • News

    December 6, 2000

    Patent Fight Pending

    When a company sues a notorious critic for infringement, is it just business or intimidation?

  • News

    May 17, 2000

    Babes in Toyland

    Two hackers piss off Mattel and spawn an Internet legal imbroglio

  • News

    February 9, 2000

    Genes Without Frontiers

    The so-called gene chip could revolutionize the way we treat cancer patients. That is, if biotech firms don't keep it out of doctors' hands.

  • Music

    December 1, 1999

    Thievery Corporation

    The sample-minded artists of Detritus.net celebrate the fine art of cultural reappropriation

  • News

    October 27, 1999

    South to the Future

    Pressing Patent Suit May Backfire on Amazon.com

  • News

    July 14, 1999

    TheirNameHere.com

    New domains -- including .store -- likely to multiply Internet trademark conflicts

  • Music

    January 6, 1999

    Rhapsody in Green

    At the end of the Gershwin centennial, his trust benefits from new copyright laws. But are they protecting artists or merely bank statements?

  • News

    April 2, 1997

    Scarf Dance

    Gary Bukovnik says his flowers are sprouting on Gucci neckwear, but that's not where they belong

  • News

    December 6, 1995

    Letters

    Gary Bukovnik says his flowers are sprouting on Gucci neckwear, but that's not where they belong

  • News

    November 8, 1995

    Mix Masters

    Inside the underground DJ mix-tape phenomenon

  • More >>
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