intellectual property

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How Piracy Can Boost Business
 How Piracy Can Boost Business
analysis
Jul 19, 2008 11:03 AM CDT

How Piracy Can Boost Business

Companies should copy, buy out, and study intellectual thieves

(Newser) - Intellectual piracy is bad for business, yes, but also inevitable—and companies fare better when turning it to their advantage, the Economist reports. The large (and illegal) volume of music and video exchanged online, for example, can reveal who’s popular in which countries. And Microsoft, which officially battles piracy,...

Tech Giants Join Forces Against 'Patent Trolls'

Fear of lawsuits behind group effort to snap up intellectual property

(Newser) - Some of tech's biggest players are banding together to corner the market on patents key to their various businesses, the Wall Street Journal reports. Companies like Google and Verizon are afraid of being held hostage by small players with a claim on key bits of intellectual property, and wary of...

Senate to Mull Patent Law That Shields Big Biz

Upstarts would get lower damage awards if bill passes

(Newser) - The Senate is planning to look at a patent bill that would limit damage awards and tip the balance of power between corporations and smaller upstarts, the New York Times reports. Backers say the bill will curb gratuitous lawsuits filed against technology giants by speculators known derisively as "patent...

Google Fights Patent Theft Charges
Google Fights Patent Theft Charges
Jan 12, 2008 8:05 PM CST

Google Fights Patent Theft Charges

Northeastern U and partner claim company stole search method

(Newser) - Google denies allegations that it is infringing on a patent held jointly by Northeastern University and a Massachussetts company for an Internet search method, and is countersuing to invalidate the patent, PC World reports. NU and its partner claim Google is infringing a patent they were granted for a distributed...

Court Blocks New Patent Rules
Court Blocks New Patent Rules
Oct 31, 2007 10:40 PM CDT

Court Blocks New Patent Rules

Judge grants injunction for drug giant GlaxoSmithKline

(Newser) - A Federal judge has blocked the US Patent and Trademark Office from implementing tough new patent rules with a temporary injunction in a suit brought by GlaxoSmithKline. The Wall Street Journal reports the new rules would have limited the number of times patent holders may make minor changes to existing...

Google Bares Tool to Hunt & Zap Copyrighted Videos

Technique designed to dodge Viacom lawsuit

(Newser) - Google yesterday unveiled new technology to seek out copyright-protected material on its YouTube site, which the company hopes will head off Viacom's $1 billion lawsuit. The software scans videos, breaks them down into data points and analyzes them so that any matching versions can be flagged and removed "in...

Microsoft Ruling in Europe Major Blow to Tech Giants

Court upholds record fine and order to share codes

(Newser) - A European Union appeals court yesterday upheld an anti-trust decision against Microsoft, leaving intact a record $689 million fine and and a challenge to how it does business in Europe, the New York Times reports. The decision has huge repercussions for other tech giants as the European Union seeks to...

Sacre Bleu! Harry Potter Translator Pinched

Teen suspected in illicit French version

(Newser) - A French boy suspected of posting a translation of the latest Harry Potter novel was arrested Monday, the AP reported today. The 16-year-old didn't appear to have financial gain in mind, a prosecutor said—with the French version not due until October, "he just wanted to get the book...

Chefs Get Into Food Fight
Chefs Get Into Food Fight
Jun 27, 2007 4:46 PM CDT

Chefs Get Into Food Fight

New York restaurateur sues, claiming copycat ripped her off

(Newser) - Rebecca Charles, chef/owner of the famed Pearl Oyster Bar in Manhattan, is taking her former sous-chef to court, claiming he knocked off her menu and decor for his own New York eatery. Lawyers for Charles, who is seeking unspecified financial damages, said that the owner of Ed's Lobster Bar had...

Geek Uprising Shows Futility of Web Censorship

Lawyers no match for websurfers armed with anti-priacy code

(Newser) - The flash riot of Internet crusaders who disseminated the code to decrypt HD DVDs over the last few days should teach entertainment companies to think long and hard about their anti-piracy strategy, the New York Times notes. The standard cease-and-desist letters sent to websites to keep the code out of...

Court Relaxes Patent Test
Court Relaxes Patent Test
May 1, 2007 7:36 AM CDT

Court Relaxes Patent Test

Tech companies applaud broader guidelines for "obviousness"

(Newser) - Tech companies are thrilled with a Supreme Court ruling yesterday that relaxed the "obviousness" test for patents—the standard for deciding when a combination of existing elements deserves patent protection. No longer will Silicon Valley giants have to wrangle with patent "trolls"—people who anticipate minute improvements...

Dylan, Dr.Seuss Can't Mix
Dylan, Dr.Seuss Can't Mix
Apr 13, 2007 11:57 AM CDT

Dylan, Dr.Seuss Can't Mix

Humble parodists no match for corporate Goliaths wielding copyright law

(Newser) - Dr. Seuss's estate has knocked down a website by artist/jokerman Kevin Ryan, featuring the fantasist's verses set to fake Bob Dylan music. The loss of the brilliant mash-up prompts Salon's Dan Brekke to explore how the times are a' changin' for copyright law, particularly in the murky and amorphous area...

Students Sue for Homework
Students Sue for Homework
Apr 10, 2007 4:16 PM CDT

Students Sue for Homework

(Newser) - Four teenage students are suing an antiplagiarism website for the rights to their schoolwork, arguing that they were forced to turn over original work without compensation, the Christian Science Monitor reports. When their school adopted an antiplagiarism service called Turnitin, students were required to submit essays to be stored and...

Google Stares Down Viacom, Copyright

How do the boys keep YouTube from turning into Napster?

(Newser) - With Viacom incubating "the biggest copyright lawsuit in history" against YouTube, the video-sharing site is beginning to smell a bit like Napster. Which leads Clive Thompson to ponder in New York why the Google boys decided to acquire YouTube—and its looming crisis—last year. And why, once they...

Big Guns Battle Video Sharing With Free TV Shows

Copyright-protected content will be available for free online in new NBC-News Corp. partnernship

(Newser) - TV biggies NBC Universal and News Corp. are teaming up to hit YouTube with the full force of their their combined TV content, offered online for free. Starting this summer, AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft's MSN and News Corp. subsidiary MySpace will hope to win over internet users (and the advertising that...

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