Legal Issues

Legal Issues

by Mike Masnick


Print


Filed Under:
cyberlaw, trademark


Cyberlawyer Gives Up Attempt To Register Cyberlaw As A Trademark

from the chalk-one-up-for-the-cybermasses dept

Last month, we noted that a lawyer wasn't just trying to trademark the term "cyberlaw" but was already threatening other lawyers for using the term. As the news broke a bunch of folks (mainly lawyers) pointed out how ridiculous this was, and now the guy has dropped his attempt to trademark the term (though he is still trying to trademark a logo of the term). He claims: "It was very clear that this was not going to be an academic argument, it was going to be more of a shouting match, and I didn't think it was worth my time to get involved in a shouting match with people that were going to shout louder." However, as Eric Golman notes at the link above: "Funny--I would have thought it wasn't worth his time because the application was completely unmeritorious."

9 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 

Reader Comments (rss)

(Flattened / Threaded)

  1. by Anonymous Coward on Feb 22nd, 2008 @ 3:55pm

    He should have applied for a 'cyber-trademark'

    Anyway, I'm calling dibs on eLaw. It's an obvious joke, but obvious doesn't seem to be a defense anymore.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  2. by Le Blue Dude on Feb 22nd, 2008 @ 4:07pm

    iLaw!

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  3. Re: by Anonymous Coward on Feb 22nd, 2008 @ 4:58pm

    dibs on iLaw!

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  4. by Nelson Voice on Feb 22nd, 2008 @ 5:26pm

    Tunes harmonica ...

    Ha Ha

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  5. Re Trademarks by Doug Robb on Feb 22nd, 2008 @ 5:29pm

    There is a general principle in trade mark law (or at least here in Australia) where a term that may have been able to be trademarked once has fallen into 'common use' or has become a 'common descriptive term'. Such words are not capable of being registered as a trade mark.

    I would suggest 'cyberlaw' along with 'Internet' would be in this category. It is also possible for registered marks to effectively lose their status through this process - and example is the word 'lite' that seems to pop up everywhere these days.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  6. by Lucretious on Feb 24th, 2008 @ 3:25am

    "unmeritous"? Is that even a word Mike?.. ;)

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  7. Re: by Anonymous Coward on Feb 25th, 2008 @ 5:34am

    If it's not, blame Eric Golman, not Mike. :p

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  8. Re: by DanC on Feb 25th, 2008 @ 8:49am

    Apparently 'unmeritorious' is a word....means the same thing as meritless. Kinda weird though..most lawyers just use your standard "without merit".

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  9. trademark by Dr. Slobber on Feb 25th, 2008 @ 9:12am

    Can I trademark the phrase "stupid lawyer" ?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

Add Your Comment

Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
Plain Text HTML Save me a cookie
  • Plain Text: A CRLF will be replaced by break <br> tag, all other allowable HTML is intact
  • HTML: No formatting of any kind is done without explicitly being written in
  • Allowed HTML Tags: <b> <i> <p> <a> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <hr> <tt>
Close
Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
Plain Text HTML Save me a cookie
Search the Techdirt Blog
And now, a word from our Sponsors..
Subscribe to Techdirt's Daily Email Newsletter

Techdirt's Daily Email Newsletter

Related Stories
Close
E-mail It