trademarks

Apparently, Google doesn't have a sense of humor when it comes to puns related to its YouTube video site.

The company is preparing to challenge the use of the name "JewTube" for a Jewish-related video site on trademark grounds, according to a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which was reported on by WebProNews.

A lawyer for NetParty, listed as the owner of JewTube, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. A Google spokesman said he was checking into the matter.

Meanwhile, Google rival Yahoo apparently wasn't so bothered by Jewhoo, a … Read more

Terence Evans this week became the first judge in the United States to cite a YouTube video in a written opinion.

Evans, a President Clinton nominee who sits on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, was writing about a case involving a trademark dispute over "Stealth" baseball bats.

The case deals with baseball Hall-of-Famer George Brett, who joined a baseball bat manufacturer after he left the Kansas City Royals. Now Brett Brothers Sports International is embroiled in a trademark dispute with Central Manufacturing, which is a hyper-litigious company owned by Leo Stoller that claims broad trademark … Read more

Looks like Google will finally have to stop using the Gmail trademark in Germany. A German appellate court ruled against the company, says German venture capitalist Daniel Giersch, who brought the case against Google. The court is expected to provide a written ruling on July 4, according to Google and Giersch.

Giersch runs an electronic postal delivery business that goes by the name G-mail, which is short for "Giersch mail." Giersch says he only wants to use the trademark in Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Monaco.

A Swiss court also has ruled against Google.

Separately, Google had to rename its e-mail service Google Mail in the United Kingdom … Read more

In a move that could shape an upcoming retrial, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has agreed once again to revisit Web browser plug-in patents at the heart of a dispute between Microsoft and University of California spinoff Eolas Technologies.

Microsoft associate general counsel Andy Culbert told CNET News.com in a telephone interview on Friday that the Patent Office agreed last week to undertake what is known as an interference proceeding.

An interference proceeding occurs when the Patent Office has determined that two separate patent holders hold patents covering the same subject matter. A five-judge panel within the … Read more

In his lifetime, the late Rev. Jerry Falwell had no shortage of critics, both in the offline and online worlds--and over the years, some in the latter category found themselves caught in his legal crosshairs over domain names resembling his own.

One of the higher-profile Web spats involved Christopher Lamparello, a thirtysomething gay man in New York. Since 1999, Lamparello has owned the Fallwell.com Web site, which housed articles aimed at contradicting the televangelist's antigay views. A few years ago, Falwell sued him, claiming the domain name's spelling was too close to that of his official Web … Read more

After finding itself in a three-year dispute with Microsoft, Savvysoft wanted to make darn sure it didn't pick a fight with anyone else.

Microsoft had taken issue with the small New York company's use of the name TurboExcel for its software, which turns Excel spreadsheets into Web services or computer code, allowing calculations to be done faster and over the Web.

After hearing from Microsoft's lawyers back in 2004, it has become a part-time job for Savvysoft workers to try to come up with a new name for the product.

Marketing director LeeAnn Chen estimates the 35-employee … Read more

In another attempt to bolster its profitability, pioneering social-networking site Friendster said Thursday it has received its third U.S. patent in the past nine months.

Officially awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on March 6, Patent No. 7,188,153 B2 covers "System and Method for Managing Connections in an Online Social Network."

The San Francisco-based outfit's first patent, granted in July 2006, covers "A System, Method and Apparatus for Connecting Users in an Online Computer System Based on Their Relationships within Social Networks." It landed a second patent in October … Read more