Gutted ... looks like Apple is the company to sue these days! Well, they do have plenty of cash ;) I wonder if the words iPod, iSight, iPad, or anything with an "i" in front isn't going to exclusive to Apple.
"Brazilian regulators have ruled that Apple does not have exclusive rights to use the "iPhone" trademark in the country. The decision is the result of a local company, Gradiente Eletronica, registering the name in 2000, seven years before the US firm. A spokesman for Apple declined to comment.
But the Institute of Industrial Property told the BBC it understood Apple was pursuing an appeal. The INPI added that its decision only applied to handsets, and that the California-based company continued to have exclusive rights to use the iPhone name elsewhere including on clothing, in software and across publications.
Apple can also continue to sell iPhone-branded handsets in what is Latin America's biggest market - however, Gradiente has an option of suing for exclusivity."
What is gdgt? ... Well, it's a place where you can get reviews from people who actually have the product you're looking for. Sounds like another Amazon, Pricegabber, Pricerunner etc ... I wonder how much AOL paid for them?
"We’ve got some big news: we couldn’t be more excited to announce that gdgt has been acquired by AOL! As you might recall, last year we started a fruitful partnership with the fine folks at Engadget to provide structured product data to their site. We got to talking further and realized that gdgt, its team, its technology, and perhaps most importantly its DNA, were a natural fit for AOL’s world-class lineup of tech sites. Well, one thing led to another, and here we are. We honestly couldn’t be more excited about adding gdgt to what is easily the most powerful, influential group of technology media brands in the world."
Now America Express cardholders can pay for purchases via a "tweet" ... nice! Err, does anyone own an America Express card by any chance? I want to give it a try.
"American Express (Amex) has launched a purchase-by-tweet service for its US-based customers. Credit-card holders post a specific hashtag on Twitter to trigger payments from their accounts. Products from Amazon, Sony and Microsoft are being offered at a discount to entice shoppers to use the new service.
However, one retail expert dismissed the initiative as a "gimmick" that was unlikely to catch on. This is not Amex's first tie-up with social media. It already operates a voucher-free discount scheme with Foursquare - a location-based network - in the UK and US.
It has also offered savings to users who tweet promoted hashtags - such as #AmexWarby - listed on its Twitter account. An Amex spokesman was unable to provide any detail of when it might extend the latest scheme to other countries."
Facebook is in hot water again, this time they're being sued by a patent-holding company acting on behalf of a dead Dutch programmer who claims patents over the "Like" button.
"Facebook is facing legal action over its use of the "like" button and other features of the social network. It is being sued by a patent-holding company acting on behalf of a dead Dutch programmer called Joannes Jozef Everardus van Der Meer. Rembrandt Social Media said Facebook's success was based, in part, on using two of Mr Van Der Meer's patents without permission.
Facebook said it had no comment to make on the lawsuit or its claims. A lawsuit has been filed in a federal court in Virginia by Rembrandt Social Media.
"We believe Rembrandt's patents represent an important foundation of social media as we know it, and we expect a judge and jury to reach the same conclusion based on the evidence," said lawyer Tom Melsheimerfrom legal firm Fish and Richardson, which represents the patent holder.
Rembrandt now owns patents for technologies Mr Van Der Meer used to build a fledgling social network, called Surfbook, before his death in 2004. Mr Van Der Meer was granted the patents in 1998, five years before Facebook first appeared. "
Microsoft made evens on the Xbox ... wasn't really their thing, but copied the Sony business model (PlayStation).
"Recalls Mr. Kempin, "I went out to several PC manufacturers and tried to beg them to do the Xbox thing and keep the device manufacturing out of Microsoft. The guys were smart enough not to bite, because they studied the Sony model and saw that Sony could not make money on that hardware model, ever. So they supplemented it with software royalties, and Microsoft copied that model."
As for Xbox profitability, he argues that developers have always been the winners; that Microsoft has managed to break-even, but not do much better than that. He comments, "They’re just maybe a little bit above breakeven, that’s all there is. This is not a big money-making machine for Microsoft."
Games Workshop Warhammer has a HUGE fan base. When I was a just wee little lad back in the UK, I remember playing Warhammer's Space Marines tabletop miniature wargame. You buy little miniature figurines and you would painstakingly paint them ... I loved it.
"UK toymaker Games Workshop has been criticised for asserting a trademark claim to the phrase 'space marines'. The claim emerged when it was used to get an American ebook about the futuristic soldiers taken off Amazon. Science fiction writers have called the firm "absurd" for saying it has a trademark to the use of the term in fiction. A UK media lawyer said more and more firms were using trademark law to protect their creations.
The row started in December 2011 when US writer Maggie Hogarth found out that her novel called "Spots the Space Marine" had been removed from the Amazon ebook store following a complaint from Games Workshop.
In emails sent to Ms Hogarth this week, Games Workshop claims that its entry into digital publishing gives it a "common law trademark claim" over the phrase."
The future is bright, the future is SONY ... especially when the PS4 gets announced later this month and the uptake of 4K TVs.
"Signs that Sony's recovery plan may be working came with news that the struggling electronics group has cut its quarterly losses. Net losses for the October-December period fell to 10.8bn yen ($115m; £73m), from 159bn yen for the quarter in 2011, with sales up 6% to 1.9bn yen.
The maker of the Playstation games console and Bravia televisions has lost money for the past four years. Sony has faced tough competition, plus a high yen that makes exports dearer.
The latest quarterly figures brought total losses in the nine months to end-December to 50.9bn yen, a 75% fall on the previous nine months. Sony made record losses of 557bn yen for the whole of 2011 financial year. The news saw Sony's shares rise 2.5%."
Geeks and Nerds get a real bonus ...well, $150,000 dollars worth. It turns out, they managed to find a highly unsual 17-million digit number - prime number.... err OK, so what do we do with that?
"A Missouri professor, one of a team of nearly 100,000 volunteers, has found a highly unusual 17-million digit number -- and brought a prime-hunting project closer to a $150,000 prize."
He's buying back his baby ... but it'll cost Michael Dell $24.4 billion USD. Why make money for share-holders when I can make money for myself! Ain't that right, Mr. Dell? What's odd is that Microsoft loaned him $2 billion ... mmm, I wonder why?
"Michael Dell has said that he will buy back the world's number three PC manufacturer that he founded and that carries his name for $24.4bn (£15.5bn). Mr Dell, together with private equity firm Silver Lake, will offer $13.65 per share - a premium of less than 3% over its closing price on Monday.
The buy-out will be financed by loans from four banks, as well as a $2bn loan from Microsoft. Mr Dell already owns just under 16% of the company."
Odd way of promoting your product. The commercial is titled ... "What BlackBerry 10 CAN'T Do: 2013 Big Game Commercial" Well, one thing's for sure, the commercial reached out to over 150 million viewers!
"If you tuned in for the Big Game on Sunday, February 3, 2013, you saw all that the BlackBerry 10 device CAN'T do (turn a truck intro rubber ducks, turn a man into half-elephant). It CAN, however, turn back time when editing photos, house all of your messages from every single account in one hub, and access data, apps and contacts in work mode or personal mode, all on one device with BlackBerry Balance on BlackBerry 10."
