14 September 2015
As always, it has been an interesting week in the intellectual property sphere. Or intellectual prosperity, because IP protection gives strong rights over the IP. Haha. Okay… Let’s move on.
Here is a rundown of the happenings.
1. Google helps the short and long-sighted.
Google’s patent for improving the wearability of glasses was approved last week by the United States Trademark and Patent Office.
The patent is for a “dynamically adjustable frame”, where an inbuilt motor will adjust and control the frame of the glasses according to what the user is doing. For example, the glasses will tighten when you are running or looking down. It also makes any frame one size fits all, and a perfectly customisable fit.
2. High-flying Japanese
Self-driving cars are all the hype now. However, Toyota has headed on a whole other tangent filing a patent for a “stackable wing for an aerocar”, which was made public this week (not the flying car… the patent). We won’t see a Corolla in the skies just yet, but in the powerful world of intellectual property, Toyota has made a smart move in hedging its bets in the future of flying cars.
3. Someone tried to trademark “No F**ks Given” (over the full-worded phrase, but to keep our eyes pure, some letters have been replaced with asterisks).
A New Yorker filed for trademark in July to gain intellectual property protection over the use of the phrase on hats, headbands, hooded sweatshirts, pants, shirts and wraps. If it was approved, it will no doubt end up being very lucrative.
Not surprisingly, registration was refused because it was “scandalous”. In fact, the United States Patent and Trademark Office went into detail about why it was scandalous, even using dictionary definitions.
Well, at least he embodied the attitude and gave it a shot.
The case is quite short, if you are keen for a fun read. Just click on this smiley face! 🙂
4. Airbnb’s logo was found in a 25-year old book.
A keen-eyed Redditor found an exact replica of the new Airbnb logo, or rather, the original logo, in a trademarks book that is a quarter of a century old! This doesn’t mean that Airbnb is in breach of any intellectual property rights, just a fun coincidence.
And yes, the title was extremely misleading. But aren’t you glad you read this article? 🙂
If you have a great idea, now may be the best time to consider patenting it. To learn more about patents, see our “What is a patent?” and “Patent Application Process” articles.
Feel free to contact a LawPath Consultant at anytime to learn more about how you can protect your intellectual property on 1800 LAWPATH.
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