Patents

Bottom-Feeding Patent Trolls Troll On

The year that we somehow just made it through has been dubbed "the year of the patent troll." But given that our patent system is still broken, 2013 promises to take that title for itself, and succeeding years will make their own claim unless laws are changed. And we see how good Congress is at chan ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

The New Cold War: The Tech World Is Fighting a Costly Battle

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 >>

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

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 >>

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 >>

Apple Can't Stop Amazon from Using "App Store"

Weren't apples famous before Apple?​In another case of the Silicon Valley giants butting heads, a federal judge denied Apple's motion for a preliminary injunction against Amazon and its use of the term "App Store."Lawyers for Apple argued that the "Amazon Appstore for Android" name infringes on it ... More >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

San Francisco Pride: Who Applied For the Niftiest Sex Toy Patent? Someone From Our City Did. That's Right.

San Franciscans have always been an innovative group. Both the slot machine and the Murphy Bed were created by denizens of our city. And a quick perusal of the the Google patent application shows that little has changed. Doing a word search for "San Francisco" turned up a number of inventions that r ... More >>

Study Thrall

Brilliance is hip and even -- ahem -- sexy at Intel's Science and Engineering Fair

Patent Fight Pending

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

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.

South to the Future

Pressing Patent Suit May Backfire on Amazon.com

Viral Combat

Chiron Corp. and the nasty fight over the billion-dollar rights to the hepatitis C test

Letters