Copyrights, Trademarks, Patents, and branding irons

[Thad]

From what I read on Techdirt, it sounds like a case of overconfident lawyers figuring their case was so obvious that they didn't actually have to make it.

On the other hand, it's entirely possible that it's a case of biased and/or out-of-touch judges. I remember an anecdote in The Real Frank Zappa Book where Frank described an incident in a UK court where the judge did not know what a record was and someone had to explain it to him.

[Mongrel]

On the other hand, it's entirely possible that it's a case of biased and/or out-of-touch judges. I remember an anecdote in The Real Frank Zappa Book where Frank described an incident in a UK court where the judge did not know what a record was and someone had to explain it to him.

[Mongrel]

Oh this is a nice touch.

EDITOR'S NOTE: On Jan. 17, the Washington Examiner published a story with the headline "Not even the EU is that stupid: McDonald's hasn't really lost the trademark to 'Big Mac'." The author drew a conclusion from his conversation with the Supermac company that was incorrect. You can read the judicial ruling here. The story did not meet the Washington Examiner's editorial standards and has been retracted. Links to the story have been disabled. The Washington Examiner apologizes to our readers.

[Blossom]

Failing to defend their trademark in any meaningful way is probably what got the trademark pulled.

It would be nice to pretend that if they had done enough to preserve the trademark, they still wouldn't be able to apply a trademark on "Big Mac" against a restaurant named "Supermacs" with a self-titled burger.

[Mongrel]

It would be nice to pretend that if they had done enough to preserve the trademark, they still wouldn't be able to apply a trademark on "Big Mac" against a restaurant named "Supermacs" with a self-titled burger.

I think that might still be possible. They are two different terms and a court can choose to rule that only the exact term is a trademark, I think? Mac/Mc itself is too generic to copyright, being a very basic word.

[Blossom]

Yes, a court could easily rule that way. It would even make a lot of sense for them to rule that way.

Not gonna happen.

[beatbandito]

It sadly probably will, but I fully support this challenge.

It's not like other places are trying to advertise that they're "Home of the Big Mac". The copyright is so aggressive that a burger chain called "Supermac" isn't allowed to be called "Supermac" because it's close to the name of a menu item at McDonalds. That kind of shit is a silly abuse and something I'd love to see havens from other than the moon.

Besides, over there it's a "Royale with Cheese".

[Mongrel]

It annoys me irrationally that I keep seeing that joke and thinking "THAT'S THE QUARTER-POUNDER".

[beatbandito]

It's also an Irish company, so it's actually known as a Hasselhoff.

[Mongrel]

It's also an Irish company, so it's actually known as a Cárdú Hásselfraú.

[atog]

what kind of pidgin gaelic is that? smh

[Thad]

Yes, a court could easily rule that way. It would even make a lot of sense for them to rule that way.

Not gonna happen.

I dunno, how does the EU compare to the US in terms of trademark law?

I know they helped create our current fucked-up life-plus copyright system.

[Mongrel]

Yes, a court could easily rule that way. It would even make a lot of sense for them to rule that way.

Not gonna happen.

I dunno, how does the EU compare to the US in terms of trademark law?

I know they helped create our current fucked-up life-plus copyright system.

I was thinking about this yesterday, and I realized I have no clue what legal tradition EU-wide law follows. European legal systems are generally all derived from Civil Law (which is descended from Roman Law, via Canon Law), rather than the Common Law of the English-speaking world, but there's several very distinct flavours of Civil law, such as Napoleonic, German, Nordic, mixed systems, etc.

[Mongrel]

'Like a Big Mac But Juicier': Burger King renames sandwiches to troll McDonald's

AHAHAHAHAHAHA

[nosimpleway]

Looks like they're still using ketchup and mayo to top their sandwiches. If they wanted sandwiches convincingly like a Big Mac, they'd mix them together.

[Thad]

If you have some free time and want to read some enjoyable excerpts of a judge reading the riot act to a copyright troll: Copyright Troll Richard Liebowitz Benchslapped And Sanctioned AGAIN In A Massive Filing Detailing Pages Upon Pages Of Him Lying Under Oath

[Thad]

Today in "we're living in a cyberpunk dystopia": Heated seats as a service? BMW wants to sell car features on demand

(so it's like on-disc "DLC" but for your car)

(and boy I sure can't imagine any kind of scenario where allowing people to disable your adaptive cruise control remotely over the Internet might have any kind of negative consequences)

I remember a Philip K Dick short story where everything in the character's apartment is coin-operated. Has to put a quarter in every time he wants to open the front door, turn on the TV, open the fridge, etc. Dick was ahead of his time.

[Brantly B.]

I think Romo's Tesla has already passed its "trial period" for ACC and some other stuff, so as usual you can thank Silicon Valley for courageously normalizing this terrible practice. My Audi has a bunch of infotainment things that are disabled unless I want to pay $30/mo but it's mostly maps and other things I might be too lazy to just plug my phone in for.

[Mongrel]

I remember a Philip K Dick short story where everything in the character's apartment is coin-operated. Has to put a quarter in every time he wants to open the front door, turn on the TV, open the fridge, etc. Dick was ahead of his time.

I was literally joking cynically just this afternoon about the US becoming more like Ferenginar every day, using the specific example of them having to do exactly this.

[Niku]

And if you think Musk Jr. cutting your brakes remotely when you make fun of him on Twitter is bad, just imagine how much more insufferable classic car enthusiasts are going to be.

(Also fucking with someone’s car over the internet is literally the entire point of the murder mystery in Greg Daniel’s cynical new comedy about mega corporations, Upload. Now streaming exclusively on Amaz oh for FUCK’S SAKE DRAMATIC IRONY)