Slashdot Mirror
Smell Of Fresh Cut Grass Trademarked
outlier writes: "One of the few things that couldn't be trademarked or patented has been scents. This has allowed companies to produce inexpensive perfumes that smell like expensive ones. That may change soon, as this article in The Times of London points out. A company just received a trademark for the "smell of fresh cut grass." They're making smelly tennis balls... "
Clearly, this patent stuff is getting out of hand. A patent on fresh-cut-grass-smell? So are you in violation if you mow your lawn? What's next, a patent on BO? I know plenty of people who are going to get sued if that one goes through. Come on, when will this maddness stop?
Cheers,
Toby Haynes
Anything I post is strictly my own thoughts and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the opinions of IBM.
tcd004
Check out Jant RenoMargolis, the least downloaded woman on the Internet.
I haven't seen a lot of tennis players sniffing their balls, so they might have a limited market for this...
The Unfettered Mind: Takuan Sôhô - ISBN: 0-87011-851-X
My contact details are here.
henry [ w i r e t r a p . n e t ]
My dog figured this out years ago. Fresh pile of cut grass. Roll in it. There you go. Now you smell like grass. Whoo. My dog deserves royalties now, you corporate whores. Of course, he also does the same thing with dead birds and other really gross stuff.
Of all the stupid things I've seen, this is probably the absolute stupidest in a very long time. If there is a god, I hope he or she has deep pockets or else patents like these are going to put him or her out of business.
Of course, I suppose gods could claim prior-art.
---
icq:2057699
seumas.com
That means people who live in the desert and miss out on the scent of freshly cut grass can now get it in a can. Now if only they could figure out how to package Florida Sunshine...
This space for sale
To head the list of smells that will no doubt arise from this topic ... I shall patent the smell of a fart. All producers will owe me royalties.
shouldn't there be some sort of fine just for picking such a horribly puntastic name?
-------
-------
"It was people! People soiled our green!"
I'm no legal expert, but I thought trademarks applied to identifying symbols, etc... unless this company is claiming that the scent of freshly cut grass causes people to think of them. Sort of like microsoft trying to trademark "windows". :-) I would think that a patent on the process of creating the scent would be much more appropriate... but then again, I'm not a lawyer and don't speak the language.
Humorless sig goes here.
When I cut my lawn I have to post a sign "Smell Trademarked SenatorInPocket, Inc"?
What happens if my body odor is similar to a trademarked scent? I have my wages garnished to pay licensing fees?
Am I going to have to learn to fart a "TM" symbol?
--
Have Exchange users? Want to run Linux? Can't afford OpenMail?
Linux MAPI Server!
http://www.openone.com/software/MailOne/
(Exchange Migration HOWTO coming soon)
I have applied for a few patents to prevent others from smelling like me. I find it very offensive and criminal. I should be the only person to produce my own body odor. It is my intellectual property.
I wonder if these people are going to replace the world's grass with astroturf. No more lawn mowing. Woo Hoo!
This is a BAD THING. It's not bad enough everyone's fighting over copyrights and trademarks as is, that we have to allow yet another market into the fray. Especially since the scent in question is a natural occurance. What are they going to do, sue mother nature for infringment?
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.
Hey! They're bootlegging my "peach smell!"
Am I going to need to pay royalties whenever I cut the grass after a light rain?
Seriously, how can somebody own the rights to a smell that they had no participation in creating? I do see the difference between a famous perfume created by Chanel or some other big fat-cat corporation, but the smell of freshly mown grass. This is a monstrosity of the seriousness of trademarks and patents.
Why would anyone in their right and sane mind need a tennis ball that costs more because it has a funny smell on it. Just go down to Wal-Mart where they are sold 3$ a half-dozen.
the and the 'sound of a modem connecting'
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
Patents != Trademarks != Copyrights
I see a lot of posts about "you can't patent farting!"--and no one is. They are TRADEMARKING a scent. Totally different legal concept. Read, understand, post.
--
Have Exchange users? Want to run Linux? Can't afford OpenMail?
Linux MAPI Server!
http://www.openone.com/software/MailOne/
(Exchange Migration HOWTO coming soon)
Finally, an excellent excuse to not cut the lawn.
It'd make a neat deoderant.
Well, 3M has a trademark on "Canary Yellow" so I guess this isn't quite so odd.
----
Oh my god, Bear is driving! How can this be?
ADVENTURERS! - ANTIHERO FOR HIRE - CARDMASTER CONFLICT
Does this mean that I'll have to pay some British tennis ball manufacturer every time I mow my lawn, because I'm producing that "fresh cut grass" smell? The idea of patenting something that already exists in nature is absurd. This would be like genetically engineering a bluejay and then trying to get a restraining order against God (or whoever/whatever) for manufacturing bluejays without your permission. They'll probably patent the "scent of a woman" next...
To die, to code, perchance to sleep; aye, there's the rub. For in this code of grep what sleep may come?
the sound of a Harley and the 'sound of a modem connecting'
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
I disagree with copyrights in general, but this one is more lame. Not because some dollar-perfume company is going to go out of business, but what about companies that are working on creating scents for virtual reality or motion machines? Now they will be required to license the scents.
And then what, apparently the smell of grass can no longer be duplicated. What next, shit?
Frij
-Frijoles-
Scents are a very subjective thing. Surely too sujective to be able to trademark? The same applies to taste.
The point of a trademark is to be something which readily distinguishes your product. I don't see how a scent can do that - our [human] sense of smell is just not refined enough to distinguish a scent well enough for it to be instantly connected to a product.
Just my two scents worth... (sorry - couldn't resist it!)
(Spudley Strikes Again!)
Did they include a whiff of lawnmower gasoline as well?
does that mean i have to pay each time i want to practice my habit of sniffing my front lawn each time i mow it?
Be you Admins? nay, we are but lusers!
Oops, I forgot to shower this morning - Microsoft just emailed and asked for a $2 license fee to cover 'Armpits 2000'. Just hope they don't find out about that spicy burrito I had last night.
Chris Worth (not an AC; just on the wrong PC)
chrisworth.com
Read The Microsoft Matrix and tell me what you think
Ironically enough, *you* were 5th.
The Unfettered Mind: Takuan Sôhô - ISBN: 0-87011-851-X
My contact details are here.
henry [ w i r e t r a p . n e t ]
This has got to be the most absurd abuse of patents yet.
Don't tell me nobody could come up with a prior art on smells.
Somebody needs to try to overturn this...
I ain't caring! I'm still gunna make my grass scented perfume. I thinks it could be a big sella. I love the smell of fresh cut grass in the morning. Makes me feel like a man and wishin I wuz cuttin grass right now. So come on ya big lawyer boys, howya gunna stop me when I bottle the dew off my freshly cut lawn? Bring it on mofo!
--
myMusic: www.mp3.com/nybbles
I make a quip about somebody patenting a dog, and a few days later, I see this article about someone trademarking the scent of grass. Anybody got a killer virus handy, I think that extinction is the only way we can keep from looking like even bigger buffoons.
Marxism is the opiate of dumbasses
Is it just me, or is there a serious lack of thought put into legal systems these days? Has humankind finally built up so much history, tradition, and legal mish mash that we have totally abandoned common sense? I'm no legal expert but the point of patents are to protect IP for a certian amount of valuable time. Patent abuse is on a worldwide high because as I see it - with a population of 6 billion there is bound to be someone, or a group, or an entire species with your ideas. I really think that the patent laws need to be stripped out and rewritten in the USA. I know little about G.B. - but it sounds similar.
"The Dutch marketing firm Senta has secured the first EU-wide trademark for a fragrance and registered the "smell of fresh cut grass". "
Senta, I beg your pardon, but I have a smell for you to trademark... Pull my FINGER!!!
Ceci n'est pas une sig.
Sheesh! They didn't get a patent, they got a trademark. And it only applies to tennis balls, so you're free to get a trademark on computers that smell of newly-mown grass, if you want. There's fourty-some-odd fields of enterprise, each of which has its own trademark namespace, so to speak.
-russ
Don't piss off The Angry Economist
Well, if we can patent smells now, I think I'll try for the odor of a frying hard drive. Then, I can sue M$ every time they crisp somebody's computer for patent infringement.
Wouldn't it be nice?
I'm going to patent the smell of a wet dog then sue god.
This could get more interesting with a few dyslexic lawyers.
134340: I am not a number. I am a free planet!
"The court hereby orders the defendant, Rob Malda, to remove this smell from Slashdot..."
Am I gonna owe them 6 cents every time I cut the grass or are they going to start going after my lawn for trademark infringement?
Spunk
sorry, that link should have taken you here I appologize for any inconvenience.
Marxism is the opiate of dumbasses
...but it cracked me up when I read anyway.
Surely when the whole IP area descends into farce like this it can only help promote and change of peoples attitudes & reform.
${YEAR+1} is going to be the year of Linux on the desktop!
Okay everyone take a deep breathe and reread the article. They aren't giving patents for natural smells but instead allowing companies to trademark the combination of their product and a particular smell (e.g. the smell of beer on a dart, the smell of grass on a tennis ball and smell of roses on tyres). This is very different from the company being giving a patent on the smell of grass.
PS: It is still an unsavory practice that may lead to an unwelcome trend in the future but in its current incarnation it isn't as bad as most slashdotters are making it out to be.
This is not a patent, dammit. It's a trademark. They're completely different types of IP.
A patent protects an invention or process. A trademark protects the marks which identify a business or its products. In this case, the company treats their tennis balls to smell like freshly cut grass. The trademark protection basically protects them from somebody else trying to pass off their tennis balls as this other company's. I agree that it's a silly thing to trademark, but it's NOT A PATENT.
/peter
THe article indicates that this is already done in the US -- anyone have details on that?
So, if I patent the smell of horseshit, will Microsoft owe my a royalty for each of their press releases?
numb
I think I'll patent the odor of pizza, beer, and sweaty sex. I'll make a bundle!
...but a trademark only applies to something sold in the same field as the trademark holder. Hence Microsoft can't sue glaziers for trademark infringement - they're installing a completely different type of window.
No-one is going to sue you for mowing the lawn. You'd only get into trouble if you tried to sell a tennis ball that smelt of freshly-mown grass.
To be honest, it doesn't seem that surprising a decision at all - words, logos, etc are all used as trademarks to identify something with a particular vendor, why not smells?
(I am not a lawyer, etc...)
Unfortunately, a lot of people here are going to trip over this wording. The scents in question have not been patented. They have been trademarked. Please stop to consider this before rushing to post your flurry of claims for royalties and absurd patents. Dammit. The logo for this article doesn't help either.
I wouldn't be surprised even if scents were patentable. Harley-Davidson has long since patented their motorcycles' rumbles, no? Sounds, scents, visual art, music - they are the same in one "sense", no?
Sreeram.
----------------------------------
Observation is the essence of art.
This can only mean that Microsoft will follow by attempting to get a trademark on the scent of Bull Shit.
"We decided to invest in the scent emitted by the bull feces due to the fact that this is an odor most-often associated with Microsoft products."
-- "Complacency is a far more dangerous attitude than outrage." -Naomi Littlebear
I remember back then listening to Howard Stern's show, and he would always mention how Pam Anderson taking a dump probably smell like roses. Is it possible that this exclusive right is just made for Pam Anderon's car? (tires smelling like shit just makes much more sense than roses)
Go get your free Palm V (25 referrals needed only!)
Sheesh! They didn't get a patent, they got a trademark. And it only applies to tennis balls, so you're free to get a trademark on computers that smell of newly-mown grass, if you want.
Doh, you're right. So I'd have to patent paper that smells like horseshit. No chance I could get a royalty on electronicly published releases then, even if they still smell like horseshit?
numb
Okay. So they've trademarked tennis balls that smell of grass.
But surely all tennis balls smell of grass?? Well, once they've been used on a grass court, that is.
"Look - a used tennis ball. Let's sniff it. Noooo!!!! Arrgh! It's a swarm of trademark lawyers! Help!"
Just another two scents worth! (that's a great gag, isn't it?)
(Spudley Strikes Again!)
I claim trademark rights to the combination of a noxious odor and software. This will put Microsoft out of business, as they will no longer be permitted to sell software that stinks.
And, as the Slashdot headline confirms, it's a trademark, not a patent.
Now, unless they've actually trademarked "The smell of fresh cut grass" as a slogan, then the journalist who wrote this piece needs a clue. Trademarks are for brands and slogans. "Coca-Cola," along with their logo, using the Coke font, is a trademark. The recipe for Coca-Cola, however, is not patented.
Objects and cannot be patented. Methods for implementing ideas can be. The recipe for Coke, COULD be patented, but never trademarked.
I don't see how a scent could ever be patented (let alone trademarked). Perhaps the method for reproducing this scent could be. Perhaps the recipe for the exact mix ingredients for this scent could be. But a scent can't be patented. Same as a colour can't be patented. The good folks at Pantone can register trademarks that correspond with certain colours. The can also patent their methods for creating those colours, but to try and patent a colour would be futile.
I'm assuming that this is the question that kept them from granting trademarks on scents up to now.
Presumably, every variety of grass (bluegrass, zoysia, etc.) smells slightly different. If I make a product that smells like a different variety of grass, am I violating their trademark? Or do they have a patent on the smell of every variety of grass?
If someone violates the trademark, how does a judge or jury decide whether that product smells exactly like the trademarked product?
What sort of documentation did they have to file with the patent office? Descriptions of the smell of new-mown grass? Srcatch-and-sniff cards?
... it a trademark and not a patent, but still, the implications are ludicrous. How exactly do you tell the difference between the smell of one type of grass from another? Are you going to have a smell expert determine the difference? Smell is a very, very subjective sense. Although this is far better than a copyright or a patent.. I believe trademarks are only protected for 15 years in Europe. But I can't be sure. Infingement in these cases is going to be a nightmare for the courts. I hope they realize what they're doing.
So their balls smell like grass, what is the big deal?
"`Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.'" -THHGTTG
It's a trademark, meaning that that particular recipe is protected. Same as going out and buying "l'eau de skunk" from Macy's. Anyone is allowed to duplicate that scent and sell it where they want, as long as they don't use the exact same formula.
Sheesh. Nothing wrong with this at all. Well, except for the fact that a tennis ball now smells like a lawn....
-- Ever notice that fast-burning fuse looks exactly the same as slow-burning fuse? I didn't... (Edgar Montrose)
What?!?!?!
"The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness."
I can say this is true! I was just out cutting my grass and this lawyer pulls up in a big limo and asks me if I could please step over there for a minute. So I turn of my John Deer and walk over and ask him what's up. He tells me that I can't use John Deer's to cut my grass because it smells like damp freshly cut grass (which it did, I admit) without paying him. So I politely tell him where he can stick his trademark, and now I'm typing this in jail. Man, life sucks! Well, gotta go.. my girlfriend (Bubba) wants to see me.
Sure, this sets a precedent, but it's not any more dangerous than any other trademark. "Athlon" is also a brand of public toilet partition, and, even though Warner Brothers owns several trademarks on the word "Acme", there are literally thousands of "Acme" companies all over the planet.
Don't get so excited; don't be so exciteable.
- A.P.
--
"One World, one Web, one Program" - Microsoft promotional ad
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
After a lengthy court battle, judges ruled in favor of CK, as a result, Mother Nature must phase roses out of the echo system.
In rebbuttial, Mother Nature threatened to phase lawyers out of the echosystem.
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
I will patent stupidity!! Then they must either stop making stupid laws/patents/etc... or they must pay me royalties!
No doubt I will be rich.
Therefore, they decided, "why don't we make our tennis balls smell different than all the other ones? The smell of fresh-cut grass will remind people of the Wimbeton tournament, let's go with that. Oh, and we better get a trademark for tennis balls that smell like fresh grass clippings, or the market will be flooded with cheapie knock-offs."
That's all there is to the story... no need to get your undies in a bunch over smells being "patented". It ain't happening. The editors at /. should be a little embarrassed that they ran this.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
As has been repeated...it's NOT a patent.
And they haven't trademarked the "scent of grass". They've trademarked "grass-scented tennis balls". So you'll only be in violation if your lawnmower runs over a tennis ball, the ball emerges unscathed but for a grassy aura, and you then try to sell it. So relax...
You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake.
Time to cut off your nose to spite you bank manager, folks.
take a triptonica to subthunk
A trademark only means that you have linked your product together with a particular symbol. The company in question is claiming that their use of the freshly-cut-grass smell is theirs exclusively to link to tennis balls. It does not mean that they have a copyright on the smell of grass or that they've patented the process for creating that smell. If at this moment you decide to create a perfume that smells like freshly-cut-grass, I doubt that this trademark would prevent you from doing so. I am not a lawyer, but as far as I can tell, this trademark only applies to the specific use of the scent on tennis balls. Their acquiring the trademark means that no other company can attempt to sell tennis balls with a marketing campaign that emphasize the scent.
Other common trademarks include the name "Walkman" for Sony's small portale stereo. Even though just about everybody calls the things "walkmans," only Sony can market the product using the name. "Kleenex" and "Popsicle" are also trademarked, even though these are also commonly used by your average Joe to indicate the type of product rather than the particular brand. Having a trademark protects you against competitors who may try to name their product in order to confuse consumers in the marketplace.
What makes this so interesting is that it's apparently the first attempt to trademark a scent by linking it to a product rather than an image or a name.
the smell of fresh farts... (You know... the kinda after eating nice chili mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm)
It turns out that phosgene (aka mustard gas) smells just like newly mown hay. Fortunately, if you accidentally make phosogene, and it is within your smell threshold, you're probably dead, and they will be unable to prosecute you for trademark infringement. ;)
--->OBQT
I'm trademarking the taste of my cock! I will serve notice on these lawyers and since I'm required to identify the taste in a reasonable manner, so that it may be identified, well, ON YOUR KNEES! zzzzzip
I wonder what sort of smells they'll come up with to go along with software. Java is a pretty easy call, but what should they use for M$? Freshly print money, or brimstone :)
What do penguins smell like?
Dana
OK, so we can use cut grass smell on other stuff. But what happens if someone gets an obvious fragrance on an air freshener? What if they got the trademark for "new car" air freshener? Yes, it could be rejected on the grounds of prior art, but we know there are loopholes in the system. I could see if someone trademarked a perfume, that's original. But trademarking stuff that already exists can lead to abuse. What would happen if someone trademarked the smell of fruit into a food additive? Trix smell fruity, they may have to stop.
I always wanted to patent unscented perfume, much in the same thought as unscented deodrant. More as just proof that people will buy anything given the marketing monkeys do their job.
If we don't make light of everything, we are just stumbling in the dark - Blank
All in the name of world peace. Now I'll be able to sue stinky bastards for violation of trademark. Only problem is, I'll have to have smelly armpits for the trademark to remain vaid :{ Ah well, world peace is worth it.
If your'e going to make any money in litigation I think you should get a copyright on the smell of dogslobber (preferably labrador) on tennis balls. Then you can go after all the manufacturers in the parks producing illicit copies of slobbery smelling tennis balls.
I'm going to trademark the taste of boogers in conjunction with my finger.
White Castle should trademark their one-of-a-kind steam-grilled odor. Then the millions of White Castle Consumers would unintentionally be advertising the trademark everywhere they go for days after eating there. Mmmmmm...
----
Celebrate the finer things in life
As I happen to be the owner of TheSmell.com.
-- James Dornan
-- Prepared at the direction of, or to be sent to Legal Counsel, in anticipation of litigation. Attorney Client Pri
I am really interested in these stupid laws stories since I have my website oversea in the good Ol' US ; see the "made with pride in the USA" picture.
Why?
Because there is no real free speech in europe, and we depend on the US for free speech. Will EU have to rely on the US to fight stupid patents?
We can't since america already has software patents.
Last week the EU parliement considered keeping ban on software patents, following the Germany advice.
Damn good idea, and a real advantage over the US (that and free crypto) but the brits are alas part of the EU, and want to stick their crappy patents deep in my throat.
Why fighting software patents if any company can trademark smells. What will be next? Color patents? Or maybe music patents?
I can imagine this : "Mr MP3.com artist, your musing sounds too much like metallica, even if it is completely different, so cease&desist&go hell
Joe Lawyer".
Maybe I should trademark foot smell and foul words to get $$$$...
Uhm, how the hell can you trademark coumarin the ester? We made this in high school chemistry class.
The patent in question is titled "THE PRODUCTION METHOD OF AROMA ESSENCE OF REFRESHING GRASS SCENT"
The application number is PL19880272003 19880420
There are hundreds and hundreds of patents for scents and methods of making scents in the patents literature. Try a search for the word Scent at http://gb.espacenet.com/
And you were credulous enough to react to something a Rupert Murdoch paper published.
Guys, Gals. You have the whole net at your disposal. Use it.
SalesDude:"Hello, Sporting Goods ...how may I help you?"
Caller:"Do you have fuzzy green smelly balls?"
SalesDude:"Urk..."
Caller: *click*
Rats, it's only a trademark. When I read the cover story, I was thinking:
At last! I can patent the smell of body odor!
Then I could sue everyone at the gym with BO. That would teach the bastards to shower.
sigh, foiled again.
--
What happens when you outlaw guns
OK, this is utterly ridiculous. A smell on an object is copyrighted.
Now, how many kinds of cut grass smells are there? Did they get them all or some? What about people who don't like it or can tell differences others can't?
And what about something ala the dialectizer - would it be illegal to re-scent the balls? If someone made new tennis-ball scents would that infringe on their rights as it COULD cancel out their scent?
Copyrighting sensory inputs - highly subjective experiences that I'd figure were uncopyrighted. I'm truly stunned.
I mean, I figured scents were public domain . . .
"The Sage treasures Unity and measures all things by it" - Lao Tzu
I'm heading right down to the patent office to patent the smell of my ass after I fart =) Use for biological warfare *G* =)
I'm gonna trademark dayold cut grass and give them a run!
So I'm all for it.
In fact, I propose that all current trademarks be hereby abolished, and ONLY scents may be trademarked in future. Well, maybe tactile sensations too...
Dibs on hot wet slippery & pungent!
Maybe there's a problem with someone trademarking the smell of freshly cut grass... Maybe it's wrong to patent a smell...
What gets me is WHY IN GOD'S NAME would anyone want lawn-scented tennis balls in the first place? What the freak is the point of scented tennis balls? I mean, their default rubbery smell is just fine.
I have to figure this out - bear with me. If I were an avid tennis player (and I'm and SO not!) I would tend to keep my tennis balls in my gym bag - along with socks, a towel, sneakers, whathaveyou. It would probably get pretty rank in there after a few days in the trunk..
Maybe deodorant scented tannis balls wouldn't be such a bad idea - but grass? Why? The smell of grass does nothing to offset the smell of sweat and feet. Lemons maybe, perhaps 'Summer Meadow' or some other MegaMarketting BS... Possibly the ubiquitous PINE. But grass? I just don't get it.
[rant=on]
On a side note: I saw something in the super market the other day, that I found both fall-down-funny, and horrific at the same time.
Vanilla-scented-candle-scented-air-freshening- spray! Think that through for a minute. A spray scented to smell like a candle, scented to smell like vanilla. My GF had to drag me out of the chemical isle, because I couldn't stop staring at this stupid thing...
In retrospect, it was a great way to make a geek's head explode. It's just one of those things, like an endless loop or an infinite recursion - like telling a [insert ethnic group] to stand in the corner of the Oval Office...
WHY?? Why make something that smells like something that smells like something else?? Why artifically scent something to smell like something that is artficially scented to smell like something natural?
And isn't the point of an air-deodorizer to de-odorize the air? How can you de-odorize something by adding new odors to it?
[rant=off]
Sometimes I think people come up with these ideas on a bet. "Hey Joe, I bet you can't get people to buy tennis balls that smell like their LAWN!" "Oh yeah, Frank? I bet I can!!"
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
Everytime 'The Times' is quoted, it is as 'the Tiems of London'... This is wrong, it is 'The Times' only!!
I've just applied for a trademark on computer cases that smell like plastic as well as the new car smell. Consider yourself warned.
I still think I'd better hurry and get a patent on hot grits before the trolls beat me to it!
Here's a a short checklist for Slashbots wanting to put up instances of "obviously ridiculous features of IP law" to make great jokes at the expense of those silly lawyers (who, miraculously, seem to earn good money for their moronic tweetings).
1. Get the distinction between trademark, patent and copyright clear. If you're not sure that you've got the right one, shut up.
2. If your example took you less than five minutes to cook up, chances are that it didn't get through the four or five stages of drafting that most legislation goes through, and the law doesn't say what you think it says. Shut up.
3. If you example took you less than an hour to cook up, chances are that this point has already occurred to someone else, been litigated and decided by one of those moronic judges who make more genuinely tough decisions in a day than you lot make in a lifetime. The anomaly has been dealt with in precedent. Shut up.
4. If your example is genuinely new (clue: it probably isn't), or if you're criticising the actual outcome of an actual case which is not about to be overturned on appeal (clue: you probably aren't), and you're aware of the actual facts of the case rather than a newspaper report hastily drafted by someone with newspapers to sell (clue: I'd bet good money you aren't), then post away. But remember that there may be legitimately held positions on the other side. Otherwise, shut up.
-- the most controversial site on the Web
Sadly, along with patents, copyrights, English, trees and cockroaches, the act of being an unfunny, unoriginal, tired, desperately lame twat was invented a long time ago, by someone who wasn't you. So you can't even patent that.
-- the most controversial site on the Web
Perhaps you could register the word 'registrate', since you made it up.
Ok my karma is maxed out. When do I become Enlightened?
Even Really Stupid Ones(tm) like:
Where Do You Want To Go Today(tm), whois(tm), & It's The Software, Stupid(tm).
The List Goes On(tm).
See also Verio Trademarking 'Whois'? or google.
All Trademarks are the property of their respective owners(tm).
Thad
Thad
Looks like I hit a nerve there... perfect. YHBT. HAND.
I'm appending this to your post rather than a higher one because it;s the first reaonsable and correct one I've seen. Most of the other patent/trademark/IP whiners are too annoying to deserve this piece of advice -- all these people squealing about "it's so stupid, patenting this, that, the other" are committing the fallacy of assuming that all patents, merely because granted, are enforceable. The US Patents Office is not a court, and they cannot prejudge any future litigation. A patent gives you the right to sue someone -- it doesn't confer magical litigation powers (you have to pay my fee to get those). The cat exercising guy hasn't sued anyone since filing his patent, and would clearly get his ass handed to him if he did.
So the reaction to something like the cat patent should be more like "Knobhead Wastes Money on Filing Unenforceable Patent, Film at 11". That's why the Amazon patent shocked everybody -- because a court upheld a patent which everyone had assumed to be bullshit.
-- the most controversial site on the Web
...and I'm talking with my lawyers now to decide how to pursue all those computer users out there that are using sweaty mice.
------
IanO
------
Objects in Mirror are Losing!
Penthouse will come out with issues that smell like ... well you know ... Mark my words.
spam, spam, spam, spam, e-mail, news and spam.
Oh yeh, and your shitty pyramid scheme is nothing like distributed.net
-- the most controversial site on the Web
Check the inside of any of the Animal books - "The association of the African Dromedary and the book Programming Perl is a trademark of O'Reilly and Associates..." (or something like that). Every single one of their books. They certainly aren't PATENTING a camel, just trademarking the association. Same as the tennis balls.
In Soviet Russia, hot grits put YOU down THEIR pants.
Why can't you trademark water that smells like X? Like cologne?
Ham on rye, hold the mayo please.
thelocust[dot]org
When I read this the first thing that hit me was that smelly tennis balls are yet another example of the ever-growing problem of sensory overload in the world. Every fast food joint pumps its smells out into the street to pull in more business. I was at Home Depot the other day -- they pipe musak out into the parking lot now, so loud you can hear it in the back corners. Magazines have scratch and sniff inserts. If you live in a city, go out late at night and check out the light pollution. Forget trying to see the stars. And on and on.
When the sensory flood is overwhelming and inescapable, and I'm pummelled by it all without my permission, isn't my freedom being infringed somehow?
"Oh God help us. We're in the hands of engineers."
I'm sorry, I already have filed for the smell of my old undershirts as a trademark for my Eau de Love Long Day line of designer scents. You'll be hearing from my lawyers.
Anomalous: inconsistent with or deviating from what is usual, normal, or expected
Anomalous: deviating from what is usual, normal, or expected
Canard: a false or unfounded repor
Sooner or later someone is going to use this freshly-mowed stench on astroturf, mark my words.
Attention all planets of the Solar Federation! We have assumed control! - Neil Peart
Sorry, due to my ingestion of Fajitas and Beer last night, I claim your patent is invalid due to prior (f)art.
/. now), and even I know the synopsis says COPYRIGHT. Jeez, slow down a little folks, it's Friday!
Incidentally, the sheer number of people responding to this story bitching about "patents" show less than Grade 1 reading comprehension. I haven't read the story yet (just loaded
Pope
Freedom is Slavery! Ignorance is Strength! Monopolies offer Choice!
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
If there was something "functional" about the smell of fresh cut grass as it relates to tennis balls, then the smell could not be used as a trademark. If it's a "functional" feature, only a patent can protect it.
In this case, the only "function" of the smell of fresh cut grass here is to identify a particular brand of tennis balls, which is what trademark's all about.
whuppy enjoys smelling like diesel fuel
The system's not perfect, but it does actually make sense. Consider this fact pattern:
(1) SmellyBallCo. introduces the GrassBall, which is the only ball on the market with the smell of freshly cut grass.
(2) The GrassBall is a smashing success on the market.
(3) AnotherBallCo. introduces the LawnBall, which also happens to smell like freshly cut grass.
Why did AnotherBallCo. make the LawnBall smell like grass? Sure, we can all contrive scenarios where they came up with the idea on their own, or where there's some functional reason for making a tennis ball smell like grass. But do you really dispute that AnotherBallCo. is trying to free-ride on the good will that SmellyBallCo. has built with its customers?
whuppy enjoys smelling like diesel fuel
Once again, I'll have to invalidate your patent due to prior art. I can give you her phone# if you want to verify it :)
Pope
Freedom is Slavery! Ignorance is Strength! Monopolies offer Choice!
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
The smell would be "functional," which means they couldn't trademark it.
They could, however, seek patent protection for an air freshener smelling like a new car.
whuppy enjoys smelling like diesel fuel
Good point, but trademarks have to be "distinctive," not "merely descriptive," or heaven help you, "generic."
In this case, the smell of mesquite on a cooked cow would not be distinctive, as it would not serve to identify a particular brand of cooked cow. Hence, their application for a trademark would be refused.
whuppy enjoys smelling like diesel fuel
This is a good thing! Just think about it, now you can claim trademark infringement as an execuse to not cut your lawn!
Woohoo!
(ps - if anybody takes this seriously, then yikes!)
-- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
--
This space left intentionally blank.
-------
CAIMLAS
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
Likelihood of Consumer Confusion is the standard by which all trademark disputes are settled. The "fourty some fields of enterprise," called "Classes," are merely for bureaucratic convenience. The namespace itself is, in fact, global.
BUT! Two businesses can coexist using the same trademark if there's no Likelihood of Consumer Confusion. e.g. Delta airlines and Delta faucets.
Both "Pilots" involve writing; both are, roughly speaking, office supplies. Who's to say that a consumer wouldn't think the famous pen manufacturer branched out into the then-new field of personal digital assistants?
Oh forget it, I'm just playing devil's avacado here. The Pilot pen people shouldn't have gotten their panties into such a bunch.
whuppy enjoys smelling like diesel fuel
I hope that this trademark trend discourages companies from using artificial scents on various products.
That's because I'm highly allergic to the various base chemicals that are used as a scent fixer, and I'd hate to be constantly sneezing and on the verge of nausia every time I try to play tennis or darts in a local bar...
Errr, what kind of grass was that, anyway? Do Cheech & Chong have some prior art?
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
A patent is issued for a limited time. A trademark does not expire until the owner stops defending it.
It seems Halifax, NS has banned scents. See: The Smell Test in The Boston Globe 2000/5/26
I don't know if I missed anyone else saying this, but here goes.
I don't think this company is trademarking the smell of fresh cut grass. You couldn't do that. How do people link the smell of fresh cut grass to your company or proudct? They can't, unless there is some other link. I think what these people are doing is they are trademarking tennis balls that smell like fresh cut grass. No one else has manufactured tennis balls that smell like that. They are the first to do it, and that is a way that links the smell of fresh cut grass to the tennis balls they sell.
In the article, it said they tested a number of different smells, and most of them were related to different surfaces you can play tennis on. When you play on blacktop or whatever now, the ball will have the smell of fresh cut grass, making the court smell like that. That is unique and original, and can be trademarked.
A very, very old one.
Body odor is, at least in part, a "design feature" (I know evolved systems don't exactly have design features, but...) not a bug. And the purpose of that feature is to identify individuals. The fact that we don't, in this culture, tend to know people by scent, is beyond the point. The biology is set up for it, we just don't use it much, at least not conciously.
Our secret is gamma-irradiated cow manure
Mitsubishi ad
We apologize for the inconvenience.
the opposite effect is likely.
This means that a company can use a scent as part of the brand identification. A smell-logo.
Look around you. Tell me, how many of the trademarked things that you see (and I can just about guarantee you can see at least five right now without moving your head) are pleasing to the eye or ear? How many are subtle? How many contribute to a harmonious personal environment without massive effort on your part? Pleasing you isn't what it's all about. Grabbing your attention and invading your mindshare with brand identification is.
Be afraid. Be very afraid. The idea is out there now, and every marketer will be trying to use it. The tennis court or pub isn't where these are aimed - the sporting goods store is. But once this catches on, every shop will be as smelly as it now is loud and gaudy.
My defective sinuses suddenly feel less like a liability.
Our secret is gamma-irradiated cow manure
Mitsubishi ad
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Much worse than that.
The IP problem is that yet another item is covered by trademark, restricting design decisions even more than they already are. But that's not really such a big deal - this only applies to artificial scents applied in order to create brand awareness. Not, IMHO, a significant field of artistic expression.
And it is a very, very old thing. Animals have used scent to mark things for millions of years. When you take your dog for a walk and he has to lift a leg at every single tree and post, that isn't a bladder problem, that's his way of saying to the other dogs "This is a {insert dog's name}(tm) Tree" Your dog is basicaly applying his own branding to that tree.
The bad part isn't that this is carving out yet another chunk of IP to be claimed by corporate slime.
The bad part is that this has made every marketing executive in the world aware of a new way to build brand identity and mindshare. And scent is a very direct hardware tweak on the human brain. If the story I heard is correct, the entire frontal lobe is an overgrown organ that was originaly a filter scent signals.
So, while for now all we are getting is a bit of grass and beer aroma in the sporting goods section of the store (kind of odd - neither of those is a distinctive aroma in the product's use arena - tennis courts already smell like grass, and pubs like beer) the potential is that once this catches on, every shop will be as smelly as it now is loud and gaudy, with the marketers trying to blast their new scent-logos into your nose as hard as they now blast your eyes and ears with logos and jingles.
I think this bodes well for Internet shopping.
Our secret is gamma-irradiated cow manure
Mitsubishi ad
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Im going to start selling smells here for footballs and rugby... Really... tennis isnt the smellyest sport around. Why limit your stench to cut grass... Im thinking peppermint golf balls and a chocolate hacky sac... what a great idea... just dip your balls in it and sports can smell so much better!
I'm afraid I've forgotten the company, and can't find a reference to it, in a brief search, but I -swear- that about 6 months ago, I read about someone developing a smello-card add in for your PC. It was based on a cartridge, containing various esthers(sp?) that could be released in various combinations. I seem to recall that they were far off from releasing a product - they were still in the research stage.
Other posters have made a few cracks about the smell os M$, Java etc, but realize - this may actually happen in a year or two. Wrap your mind about the possibilities this may have.....
-Apple sues M$ - Windows 6000 look&smell UI infringes on our MacOS XXIV
- Every BSOD crash now accompanied by the smell of burning electronics
-the Pr0n industry.....let's not even go there
-banner ads for food including the smell, now here's a truly EVIL concept.
I dunno if this has been asked/answered before, but I don't have time to read all the comments. Does this mean that I have to pay this company when I cut the grass or smell fresh cut grass? Does this mean I have to pay extra when I sneeze from it?
:wq! DOH!
C'MON PEOPLE NOW! Patents on smells...might as well patent how the sun looks or patent bird species (oops, I forgot they already pateneted humans, didn't they?). Why I aughhta...patents will pull our society into stagnation the way they want it.....
Roy Miller
--Roy
Of course, some might say that the smell of fresh cut grass is a general feature of tennis balls. Maybe not new ones, but, if they're used on a grass court, they end up smelling that way after a short time. The article makes it pretty clear that the other scents that the company has tried are all tennis court scents. So, they're making tennis balls that smell as if they've already been used on a tennis court. That doesn't seem like such a stretch from trademarking the smell of pizza. In fact, it seems a lot like, for example, developing a scent that makes frozen pizza smell cooked even while it's still frozen and trademarking frozen pizza that smells like cooked pizza. I would also like to note that the original poster did bring up this perfectly valid point with the question about the smell of pizza in a can.
I can see it now... a rush to trademark all available scents at trademarkyourscent.com
TOP TEN SCENTS NEEDING A TRADEMARK
- warm chocolate chip cookies
- that burning electronics smell when your computer/stereo/tv gets fried
- the smell of gunpowder after you light a brick of firecrackers
- gasoline
- The scent that is added to Natural Gas so you can smell it (does that scent have a name??)
- The smell of warm beer in a fraternity house basement
- skunk
- leather
- popcorn
- coffee
Why are people crying about someone trademarking a smell here, and the other bunch saying it's only connected to tennisballs or sumthin', like that really matters?
/. But have any of you wondered about that we're actually complaining/bitching about something that which we have already given up/lost in another sense?
;-)
Oh yes, it's
It's ILLEGAL in most countries to use certain trademarked logos (graphical icons). So why the fucking hell do we bitch about when we're going to be deprived of certain smells (smell of fresh grass) with certain types of products? (Not like I can sell Coca Cola-shoes anyways so there goes those robo-comments down the drain too..)
You'd think we WERE alive or sumthin'...
You bright people tell me what the fucking difference is between vision and smell... Not that smell matters anymore anyways, humanity is losing it because we don't need it in cyberspace (it seems).
- Steeltoe
fucking WAKE UP people! Don't waste energy debating/fighting this BS. Just live.
(Yes, I'm drunk at this stage. If Microsoft or someone else wants to pull this article plz do so. If it stinks _that_ bad it better
http://www.debunkingskeptics.com/
Theres a good chance I'm wrong but this doesn't seem to be a big deal. I'll admit it is very silly but it is only a trademark. I believe it just means that know one else can market their tennis ball as having the "Smell of Fresh Cut Grass". Other tennis ball companies could actually have balls that smell just like it. Trademarks just protect the consumer from being fooled into buying a different brand than they intended.
I'm really not surprised. After all, in this age of information and technology, the suits have to copyright everything in sight. First it's DVD players, then the Microsoft insanity, now they're going after SMELLS? Good God, I really think people should step back and THINK about what should be copyrighted and if it would benefit EVERYONE, not just the corporations and the government. Before you know it, they'll copyright radio frequencies. - SinisterOrb Email: proc_mail@yahoo.com
... then you could also trademark a taste on a product. Since smell and taste are fundamentally the same thing; smell just happens to react to airborne molecules, while taste reacts to molecules on the substance itself.
Now, let's say I trademark the taste of... oh, I dunno... say the cola nut in a carbonated beverage. Need I be explicit in what companies could be found guilty of trademark violation?
Prior art, of course... how can you trademark something that others have had for decades?
By that token, then, the application for a tennis ball that smelled like freshly mowed grass should have also been rejected because you can't say that no tennis balls ever rolled on freshly cut grass before.
My $0.012 (I'm Canadian)
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Is it my imagination or is marketing being reduced to "let's defend our shitty product by preventing competitors from even being associated with it". When car parts (especially the fragile low-collision parts) have patented connectors, when it costs more to have a logo than the actual shirt, or paying for overpriced coffee just to luxuriate in the yuppie lifestyle. What happened to *real* innovation like coming up with laser-pointers, foldable LCDs, longer lasting batteries. It seems that as soon as we identify an enjoyable experience (the small of fresh leather in a new car, the taste of candy in a fairground, the breeze of salt air in a racing catamaran) someone is out there trying to fence off that memory and trying to make a buck out of selling it back to us. I know the government passes laws to secure IP but what's the limit? Compare walking down a street in a mainstream city and count how many ads there are compared with a country town. It's getting to the stage where some people would classify it as visual or aural pollution. All this jockeying for mind-share is proving to be a royal pain to the pocketbook (after all the ads come out of what you pay for the product).
... next we'll have MS trade-marking the smell of freshly minted cash solely for their CDs.
Humph
LL
What's your rate for eating tinfoil?
That said, I think it's time I changed my
Of course!! Where the hell have you been?!
Now shut up, keep buying stuff, and let us do your thinking for you.
How exact are they going to tell if someone is violating their TM? Some people interperit smells differenly to others. And also some people can tell subtle differnces -- they might smell differnt to someone, but to someone else, they might smell the same. What would happen then?
So it makes some sense that if the "smell of fresh cut grass" labels a brand of tennis balls, that smell is part of their trademark.
That's the philosophy...then there's the law..
That is, someone has to go through the process of registering a trademark. Can you register a trademark for someone else? Sure, with their permission. How about without their permission? Just put their name in the "owned by" space and pay the fee...
Because, if *anyone* should have the trademark on the "distinctive characteristic" of software bugs, it's got to be Microsoft. We should be kind (just like the guy that renewed their domain name) and register that trademark for them: the sensation of rampant software bugs.
Of course, if MS *owns* that trademark (however acquired) "due diligence" requires them to protect that IP and make sure that no one infringes.
That means that no one else can have bugs in their software. Microsoft must be the ONLY one.
Damn, wouldn't that be nice!
Reminds me of a widespread panic song:
Freddie likes the smell of cut grass,
he used to play ball on saturadys, playin in the sun.
If Freddie had his way, he'd give some cut grass to everyone.
It is correct that, by trademarking fresh-cut-grassy-smelling balls, they bar other manufacturers from making that product. It would be more appropriate to identify the smell as the trademark (a device used to identify your product to consumers), and not put a mark on the ball. This would be a true trademark (and not a patent--which is the current effect) because it would allow others to make balls with the same smell, but require them to label them in another way.
I like the idea of using smell as a trademark, but if they disallow others selling that product, what they have is a patent, not a trademark.