Nieuwsbericht

B9 11816. Monopoly was stolen from socialist land-reformers and perverted. Christopher Ketcham's beautifully written Harper's feature on the history of Monopoly, "Monopoly Is Theft," traces the idealistic socialist land-reformers who created the game and modified it over decades, and the unscrupulous "inventor" who claimed to have created it and sold it to Parker Brothers. Monopoly's forerunner was "The Landlord's Game," created by Lizzie Magie, inspired by Henry George, who believed in the abolition of land-ownership and created a powerful movement to make this a reality. Lees hier meer (BoingBoing).

Reverse product placement Budweiser. Anheuser-Busch Asks Paramount Pictures To Remove Budweiser From Denzel Washington Movie 'Flight'. Denzel Washington's character in "Flight" drinks a lot throughout the film, but his portrayal of a highly functioning alcoholic pilot isn't going down well with brewing company Anheuser-Busch or the distributor of Stolichnaya vodka. Lees hier meer (HuffPost).

Apple klaagt Apple aan. ‘IPad Mini lijkt verdacht veel op iPhone‘. Lees hier meer (De Speld).

NL Octrooicentrum verhuist naar Den Haag. Op 21 december 2012 verhuist NL Octrooicentrum van Rijswijk naar Den Haag. Onze nieuwe locatie is bereikbaar met openbaar vervoer, (OV-)fiets en auto. Brengt u een bezoek aan NL Octrooicentrum? Vergeet dan niet een geldig legitimatiebewijs mee te nemen! Lees hier meer.

Red Bull-drinkers stemmen Obama, Duitse herder-liefhebbers stemmen Romney. Leest een Amerikaan Harry Potter, eet hij Oreo’s of luistert hij Michael Jackson? Dan stemt hij waarschijnlijk Obama. Maar wie van de Bijbel, Guinness en Duitse herders houdt, stemt vandaag Romney. Amerikaans onderzoeksbureau Engage en website BuzzFeed voorspellen in de laatste uren voor de verkiezingsstrijd aan de hand van merkvoorkeuren hoe Amerikanen zullen stemmen. Lees hier meer (NRC).

Sabam wou auteursrechten overmaken aan personeel Ford.  Auteursrechtenvereniging Sabam wil een eventuele vergoeding voor optredens aan de poorten van Ford Genk terugbetalen aan de organisatoren als steunbetuiging voor de werknemers die door de sluiting van de vestiging worden getroffen. Lees hier meer (Express).

Death in Venice for Crocs shape mark. Italian update from Venice, this time concerning a shape mark for those gorgeous plastic clogs.  Result: trade mark invalid as the shape, though ugly, added value.  Crocs lost the trade mark but won the case because unfair competition was found.  Lees hier meer (Class 99).

Lil Wayne loses copyright battle. The Lollipop hitmaker sued Quincy Jones III over allegations he used the rapper's music in an unauthorised 2009 documentary, but he failed to represent himself well in court last week - appearing to find the whole matter amusing in a video deposition he filmed with his attorney in June - and the judge was far from impressed. Lil Wayne was chastised for displaying "unreasonable conduct in the deposition" and "irresponsible behaviour". Lees hier meer (Torontosun).

EPO: concerning the problems caused by Hurricane Sandy. Notice of the President of the European Patent Office dated 5 November 2012 concerning the problems caused by Hurricane Sandy. In view of the problems caused by Hurricane Sandy (…) Rule 134(5) EPC offers a safeguard in the case of non-observance of a time limit as a result of a dislocation in the delivery or transmission of mail caused by an exceptional occurrence such as a natural disaster, affecting the locality where an applicant, a party or their representative resides or has his place of business.  Lees hier meer (EPO)