International House of Prayercakes
If I told you that IHOP was looking forward to the "great end-time harvest of souls," would you find someplace else to have breakfast? If so, then there might be something to the new lawsuit by IHOP against IHOP —…
Intellectual Property
Geek Squad Sends Cease-and-Desist Letter to God Squad
Although there seems little danger of confusion.
Patent No. 4,656,917: Eddie Van Halen’s Guitar Support
It's actually just called "Musical instrument support," but the inventor is indeed "Van Halen, Edward L.," of Los Angeles, California. The present invention relates in general to a stabilizing support for a musical instrument of the type having a body…
Patent No. 3,216,423: Apparatus for Facilitating the Birth of a Child by Centrifugal Force
Why yes, it is just what it sounds like: [T]here is provided rotatable apparatus capable of subjecting the mother and the fetus to a centrifugal force directed to assist and supplement the efforts of the mother so that such…
Men at Work Must Hand Over Five Percent of “Down Under” Royalties
The judge who ruled in February that Men at Work wrongfully copied part of its 1980s hit "Down Under" ruled this week that the group would have to pay the copyright holder five percent of all royalties earned on the…
Naked Cowboy in Trademark Battle With Naked Cowgirl
There is nothing so ridiculous that somebody won't try to copy it. Robert Burck has reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter to Sandy Kane, accusing her of infringing on his trademark. Because Burck is better known as the "Naked Cowboy," who strolls…
Unicorn-Meat Slogan Draws Cease-and-Desist Letter From Pork Board
According to the people at the ThinkGeek blog, they got a cease-and-desist letter recently from lawyers telling them they would have to stop using the phrase "the new white meat" in connection with one of their products, because it could…
“Carlos the Jackal” Still Worried About His Image
Convicted terrorist and murderer Carlos Ilyich Ramirez Sanchez, also known as "Carlos the Jackal," is still upset about how he is portrayed in the new movie, "Carlos," which premiered at Cannes in May. Ramirez is fuming about the movie from…
Hulkster Sues Post Cereal Over “Degrading” Cocoa Pebbles Ad
Apparently unhappy with an ad for Cocoa Pebbles in which a Hulkesque character gets his ass kicked by Bamm-Bamm Rubble, Hulk Hogan has sued the manufacturer for allegedly misappropriating his likeness. In the ad, called "Cocoa Smashdown," a character identified…
North Face Settles With South Butt
Last December, as you may recall, the North Face Apparel Co. sued The South Butt LLC, a company started by Missouri teenager Jimmy Winkelmann. North Face alleged that South Butt was infringing and diluting the famous North Face trademark. The…