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Dept. of Homeland Security Enforces Expired Patent
Fouquet writes "Apparently the Department of Homeland Security does not have enough to do in keeping the US safe, and now is enforcing copyright law as well. The AP reports that a toy store owner in Oregon was requested by Homeland Security officials to remove a potentially copyright-infringing Rubik's cube-like toy from her shelves. The patent for Rubik's cube was issued in 1980, and so it is expired."
It's probably a typical case of government spending. If you don't spend the funds allocated to you this year, you don't have them next year. This perpetuates so much government waste. So they probably ran out of leads on terrorist cells and went after this person so they have a reason to request another million dollars in extra funding next year.
What makes this so sad is that slowly the terrorists are winning. I don't mean that as a joke. Their goal seems to have been to make our lives as shitty as theirs and they're are making progress.
And no, John Kerry in office isn't going to change anything because you still have Republicans in the house and senate. And yes, I am a Republican and no I don't agree with everything that they do.
Trademarks don't expire. Trademark, copyright, and patent are entirely different things. Reading the summary you can't tell which of these areas of law was involved and you get the impression that the action was taken on expired IP.
The article states that the action was taken on the basis of a trademark. With a name like "Magic Cube" if the toy is anything at all like a Rubic's Cube then it almost certainly does infringe on the Rubic's Cube trademark.
And why all the fake wonderment about the department of Homeland Security handling the case? In case anyone missed the press release the department is not some niche organisation that deals specifically with terrorism. It's a big tarball of a whole bunch of departments and old law enforcement angencies that used to deal with all manner of federal law enforcement issues. They do lots of things besides deal with terrorism.
Patents expire. Copyrights nominally expire, but even if they don't you can make other stuff that does the same thing from scratch (unlike patents). Trademarks never expire, but they're only supposed to be for names/designs/similar. (Supposed.)
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
These are US Customs agents. Customs agents enforce, among other things, import regulations against counterfiet goods.
The Customs Service is now part of Homeland Security. Ergo, DHS agents were the ones who investigated this incident.
(This is cut and pasted from below. It should be near the top... or in the summary)
a prayer for dubya
Dear God:
Wassup? How's it hanging? Yeah, I know it's been a long time since we talked. This probably stems from my belief that you do not exist. Anyway, the reason why I'm calling you is because last night, President Bush said that he could feel it every time we prayed for him, and since he apparently doesn't listen to anyone but you, Lord, I thought you might pass this along to him.
If you do a little research on the web, you can find this page, which explains that such work is the
responsibility of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a part of the Department of Homeland Security. They received a trademark infringement complaint, and they followed up on the complaint. That's their job. Why are you getting your knickers in a bunch because some federal agents are doing their job? Nowhere does the inflammatory and poorly written article suggest that they accused the store owner of being a terrorist. Get a grip.
Guns don't kill people -- people kill people.
But the guns seem to help a bit. (apologies to Eddie Izzard)
Your job is to read the article. You didn't do so, because if you did you'd know that no trademark was infringed, and the patent's already expired.
... the Magic Cube did not infringe on the rival toy's trademark." Of course the manufacturer said that. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the owners of the trademark who filed the complaint obviously disagree.
Which article did you read?
The article said, "...Agents went to Pufferbelly based on a trademark infringement complaint...." So, this is a trademark issue -- the patent expiration is irrelevant. It also said, "A representative [of Magic Cube's manufacturer] told her that
Please U[understand]TFA before you tell me to RTFA.
The only evidence the article presents that no trademark was infringed is "a representative" of the manufacturer, via hearsay testimony from the owner of the store, both of whom presumably have some interest in claiming not to be breaking the trademark.
Unfortunately, the only evidence the article presents that a trademark was infringed was a spokesperson for DHS stating there was a complaint. There is a lot we don't know - it's quite possible the Magic Cube does infringe on Rubik's trademark. Contrary to the title of the
But, beyond that, nowhere in the article does it say Rubik was the one complaining. People just jumped to that conclusion. There is a live trademark on "Magic Cube" for a "manipulative puzzle" filed in December, 2001 by Atico, International. It would seem reasonable to me that Toysmith's product violates this trademark. There is no information in the AP article to conclude "no trademark was infringed," in fact the reporter seems to have done no research at all but calling DHS and the toy store operator. It's a terribly done article that is mostly about how weird it is that the people who enforce trademarks now work for DHS. But that's hardly new or news.
Can I point out two things?
Here's a clue boy: go get yourself an education, you seem to need it.
Mart"I know I will be modded down for this": where's the option '-1, Asking for it'?
Imagine you get a speeding ticket. You follow 'due process' and fight the ticket. Let's say you win (I have done this). You will be made to pay court costs, which are probably as much as the ticket. If you lose, the fine will be outrageous and the judge might slap community service or some incarceration atop of that if you piss him off too much.
That ticket is just a cop telling you he accuses you of doing this. The DHS people were doing the same thing. If they want to fight it, go to court. Expect to pay a lot of money and really be screwed if you lose, though.
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
This is part of the Cornerstone Initiative, "Protecting the Homeland through Economic Security". Their site is "being revised", but their newsletter lists what they're up to.
2/25/03 - Venezuela - 2 bombs explode simultaneously at spanish and columbian embassies. 1 Columbian and 3 Venezualans killed.
3/4/03 - Philippines - bomb explodes at airport. 21 killed, 149 injured.
3/20/03 - Lebanon - bomb explodes in apartment building. 2 killed, 9 wounded.
3/22/03 - Greece - bomb explodes at ATM.
3/24/03 - India - 11 men, 11 women, and 2 boys shot execution style by armed militants
3/25/03 - Serbia - 4 bomb attacks on UN interim administration
3/26/03 - Chile - bomb explodes at bank
3/29/03 - Greece - hand grenade tossed into a McDonalds
3/31/03 - Cuba - plane carrying 46 passengers hijacked
4/2/03 - Philippines - bomb explodes on passanger warf. 16 killed, 55 wounded.
4/5/03 - Lebanon - two bombs explode at restaurant. 10 wounded. undetonated C-4, TNT, and gas containers found.
4/8/03 - Algeria - 1 Swede and Dutch citizen kidnapped
4/11/03 - Algeria - 2 Austrians kidnapped
4/12/03 - India - multiple grenade attacks kill 1, wound 43.
4/12/03 - Venezuala - C-4 bomb explodes at OAS office
4/14/03 - France - militants set fire to car and destroy restaurant
4/15/03 - Turkey - bombs explode at 2 different McDonalds. 1 injured.
4/22/03 - India - bomb explodes at dairy. 6 killed, 12 wounded.
4/25/03 - India - bomb explodes at courthouse. 3 killed, 34 wounded.
5/5/03 - India - bomb and grenade attacks kill 1, injure 26.
5/16/03 - Morocco - 5 bombs explode simultaneously damaging Belgian consulate. 33 killed, 101 wounded.
6/4/03 - Belgium - Letters found containing the nerve agent adamsite. 10 hospitalized.
6/9/03 - Peru - 71 workers of an Argentine company kidnapped
6/17/03 - Italy - bomb explodes in front of spanish school
6/18/03 - France - militants destroy 2 villas with bomb blasts
6/26/03 - Kenya - aid workers attacked with hand grenades
7/3/03 - Columbia - 5 swiss citizens kidnapped
8/5/03 - Indonesia - bomb explodes in front of hotel 12 killed 149 wounded. Al-Qaida claims responsibility.
8/8/03 - Spain - mail bomb sent to Greek consulate
10/5/03 - Malaysia - 3 Indonesians and 2 Filipinos kidnapped. 1 escaped, 4 found executed.
11/11/03 - Greece - bomb found outside bank
I don't know about US law, but in the UK, trespass goes from being a simple civil offence to a full-blown criminal offence once you start disrupting a lawful activity {Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 s.61, from memory}.
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
Of course, what else would you expect from the likes of an Associated Press reporter?
A little research turns up the fact that not only has Seven Towns Limited trademarked Rubik and Rubik's Cube, they have trademarked its appearance. You might want to check out this, this, and this before continuing your sophistry. Realizing that one might actually have to search a bit on the last referenced page to find the relevant commentary, I'll post it here:
So it turns out that the Customs agents knew their job and were doing their job, just as I stated. I'm sorry if you don't like the facts.Guns don't kill people -- people kill people.
But the guns seem to help a bit. (apologies to Eddie Izzard)
I think you are the one who needs to do some cursory research before jumping to inaccurate conclusions and flaming professionals who are competently performing their jobs.
Guns don't kill people -- people kill people.
But the guns seem to help a bit. (apologies to Eddie Izzard)
Huh? Someone sets fire to a car in a "difficult suburb" (read ghetto) and all of a sudden it's "militants"?
From the Reuters report:
Watch this Heartland Institute video
Definitely my award for worst slashdot writeup And that's saying a LOT.
A Rubik's cube can't be copyrighted - there's no text. The INSTRUCTIONS could be...
A trademark on it could be valid - but only if it was confusingly similar - ie, if a reasonable person buying it might THINK they were buying a Rubik's cube, or something from the same company.
The patent is apparently expired, at least if can trust the article. Which we can't.
Patent law != copyright law != trademark law != trade secret law. THEY ARE ALL TOTALLY SEPERATE.
*sigh*
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