http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/us-patent-office-cancels-redskins-trademark-registration-says-name-is-disparaging/2014/06/18/e7737bb8-f6ee-11e3-8aa9-dad2ec039789_story.htmlApparently this has actually happened before and the team got the case thrown out because, essentially, the guys petitioning the patent office weren't judged to be able to speak for all native americans, which seems like what would happen here. Beyond that, essentially the idea is that you can't patent something that slanders someone/a group, which makes sense... but it seems like it'd be nigh-impossible to prove such a thing in this case? Granted the patent office probably has a different set of standards for these things than the legal standards.
Quote from: Cmdr_King on June 18, 2014, 09:06:39 PMhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/local/us-patent-office-cancels-redskins-trademark-registration-says-name-is-disparaging/2014/06/18/e7737bb8-f6ee-11e3-8aa9-dad2ec039789_story.htmlApparently this has actually happened before and the team got the case thrown out because, essentially, the guys petitioning the patent office weren't judged to be able to speak for all native americans, which seems like what would happen here. Beyond that, essentially the idea is that you can't patent something that slanders someone/a group, which makes sense... but it seems like it'd be nigh-impossible to prove such a thing in this case? Granted the patent office probably has a different set of standards for these things than the legal standards.The NYT article goes into the specifics of the case that was made with more detail. Basically it's not a question of speaking for all Native Americans, but being able to show that a significant portion of society considered it an epithet at the time the trademark was filed. That last part is exceptionally important because to get a trademark revoked, you have to prove that the Patent Office should not have issued it in the first place, therefore it was necessary to prove that the term was considered inappropriate the last time the trademark was renewed, which was back in 1990. A key point in the argument was that either all or the vast majority of dictionaries in widespread circulation listed Redskin as a racial slur as early as the late 60s.In other important legal news, Japan has finally made possession of child pornography a crime. I was going to go to IotD because anime is specifically protected but I'm trying to look on the bright side.
I was going to go to IotD because anime is specifically protected but I'm trying to look on the bright side.
Scarlett vs DRG second match at MLG. If this sentence sounds like nonsense to you, then you can skip this link. But if you're like "oh I know of those players" then watch this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrJ9lGuvi9AAlso, I'm in most of the audience shots.
They got Mr. Fantastic working in Marvel Heroes. The ball is glorious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn6WfRnLZB8
