I know what you're thinking, but this inventor is not just talking about the usual method of swinging on a swing, which he himself notes has been "known for generations." It would be stupid to try to patent that. This…
That's one way the court described the question before it in this case (click for the full opinion): More specifically, the plaintiffs sought an injunction against the enforcement of a San Antonio ordinance that required their dancers to wear more…
A reader (Prof. Steve Kass) who was intrigued by yesterday's intellectual-property tale did a little research and uncovered some potentially relevant evidence. First, as you may recall, the plaintiff is seeking a declaratory judgment that it did not infringe on a…
1. A recently filed complaint contains the following statement: "U.S. Pat. D557,478 is a design patent for the ornamental design of a visor with simulated hair." 2. Said patent includes sketches of the proposed visor, to wit: 3. In the…
Here's how utterly ridiculous this story is. In the UK, unshelled peanuts are called "monkey nuts," as depicted here, but although this story therefore involves people being "warned not to eat roasted monkey nuts," THAT IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH BY…
"I thought it would never happen to me," said Judge Raymond Voet, who is the chief judge in Ionia County, Michigan. He was referring to the fact that his cellphone made noise in court on April 13 during a trial….
That's the title of this short video (1:13) in which Professor Jeff Karlin of Golden Gate University explains that the IRS distinguishes between killer whales and great white sharks, although both are big giant swimming things that could potentially eat…
Susannah Breslin, who is a contributor at Forbes.com, has posted her interview with Dan Kapelovitz, who is currently a criminal-law attorney but previously worked at Hustler magazine. See "How A Porn Magazine Editor Became A Criminal Law Attorney," Forbes.com (Apr. 17, 2003)….
On top of everything else, Monday was tax day, and while we were just reminded that tax gripes are relatively minor in the scheme of things, of course, that doesn't mean we should stop griping entirely. If you failed to…
Me in 2010, on Stayart v. Yahoo: “Like many,” this opinion begins, “Beverly Stayart was curious about what she would find when she put her name into a search engine.” And like many, Beverly Stayart was not happy with what…