October 29, 2008

Namestorming - UPDATED

We eventually picked the name for our service.  The process was lengthy and articulated, involving market research, TM clearance, multi-cultural tests, etc. etc.  Anyway - I'll "give you the baby without the pain of the birth": UKINDI - As soon as possible I will uncover the beautiful story of this name...
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After incorporating the company, and before branding the product, it was critical to have some non-biased feedbacks on the name of the service.
Well, some of this feedbacks were not so excited about our name, NexTongue...  Hence we are running a last, final, ultimate and definitive round of name-storming.
We posted our query to a community of creative people, and will grant a reward to the best three names.  If you have a chance, please 
VOTE VOTE VOTE , or post your proposed name and try to win the reward ---- along with our gratitude - you name what's more important :-).

October 16, 2008

Super Powers For the New Officer of Copyright Enforcement

On October 13, 2008, the former "Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act" was passed into law under a new name: “The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act ”.  Such Act aims to consolidate federal efforts to combat copyright infringement under the White House’s direction.  In particular, The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act establishes within the executive branch the position of intellectual property enforcement coordinator (IPEC), who will be appointed by the President and will report directly to the President and the Congress regarding domestic and international intellectual property enforcement programs. If you have chance to read through the Act, take a note of the number of tasks the IPEC will perform...  I suppose this is why the IPEC is already known as the Copyright Tzar .

October 14, 2008

KIDS Act Passed Into Law

The Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act of 2008 is now law.  The KIDS Act provides for an information exchange between the Attorney General and the social networking sites, in order to prevent known sexual predators from accessing such websites.  In particular, Attorney General shall establish and maintain a secure system that permits social networking websites to compare the information contained in the National Sex Offender Registry with the Internet identifiers of users of the social networking websites.  The new law has been promptly embraced by Facebook.     

October 3, 2008

Europe Aims to Lead the Transition to Web 3.0

Somebody may argue that the Internet is a living creature. In fact, instead of following a linear pattern like other sciences and technologies, the rhythm of its evolution progresses in terms of generations. 
In the beginning there was the Web (nobody ever called it Web 1.0...) and, if you 
are nostalgic about it, you may want to travel in the past and check a 2001 vintage "Google!" search . The exclamation mark was a must-have-it, during the age of Web 1.0.
Then Youtube, Twitter and Facebook took over and here you go with the second generation: the Web 2.0 - the most (ab)used expression to describe the articulated variety of internet services involving users' active participation. But this is history, already.  
In fact, despite the eggheads cannot even agree on its precise definition, the Web 3.0 is a reality.
Moreover, such concept of Web 3.0 has already been embraced by the European Commission , which defined it as the Internet of Things, taking place through wireless interaction between machines, vehicles, appliances, sensors and many other devices. "Web 3.0 means seamless 'anytime, anywhere' business, entertainment and social networking over fast reliable and secure networks," said Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media. "It means the end of the divide between mobile and fixed lines. It signals a tenfold quantum leap in the scale of the digital universe by 2015. Europe has the know-how and the network capacity to lead this transformation. We must make sure that Web 3.0 is made and used in Europe."
I personally appreciate and welcome this attitude and look forward to seeing Europe leading the Web 3.0 revolution.  However, if you actually read the Communication , you may notice that the challenges for the implementation of a fully integrated network deeply involve the European local authorities, the EU legislation and - last but not least - significant investments in infrastructures.  Hopefully, the European bureaucracy will be able to keep pace with the Web re-generation cycle because, just in case you nobody told you, there are already more the a hundred thousand results for the Web 4.0.



October 2, 2008

USA Ratifies the Singapore Treaty

The United States of America on October 1, 2008 ratified the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks.
The Singapore Treaty deals mainly with procedural aspects of trademark registration and licensing and introduces greater flexibilities and efficiencies into the delivery of trademark registration services. By eliminating red tape, enabling trademark authorities to take advantage of modern communications technologies, and further simplifying and standardizing trademark office procedures, the Treaty promises to reduce transaction costs for brand owners. 
The Treaty explicitly recognizes that trademarks are no longer limited to two dimensional labels on products and specifically mentions new types of marks such as hologram marks, and non-visible signs, such as sound or taste marks. 
The Treaty also establishes common rules for the recording, amendment and cancellation of trademark licenses. The Treaty also introduces new mandatory relief measures for trademark office procedures in order to alleviate procedural mistakes by trademark applicants, notably, missed time limits, which, if not remedied, could be detrimental to trademark rights.  WIPO Press Room