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VirtualDub Author Stymied by Trademark Troll

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the did-he-also-register-'lynch-mob'? dept.

trifish writes "The author of VirtualDub wrote on his blog that 'someone has registered "VirtualDub" as a "word mark" in Germany as of June 6, 2006 and is now sending out notices to people in that country demanding money for so much as mentioning the program and linking to the SourceForge download from their website.' Well, I confess that only now I fully understand why Linux, Mozilla, TrueCrypt, and other open source projects register their names as trademarks."

9 of 102 comments (clear)

  1. mod him down! by krell · · Score: 5, Funny

    It'll never be too soon to apply the slashdot moderation system to the patent system and everything else.

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    Where were you when the voynix came?
    1. Re:mod him down! by Snarfangel · · Score: 4, Funny

      Normal -- Average invention, will sit and gather dust somewhere
      Offtopic -- Invention won't do what it claims
      Flamebait -- Violates known laws of physics
      Troll -- Attempt to steal another person's invention
      Redundant -- Has been "invented" before. Multiple times.
      Insightful -- What a cool invention! Also known as troll attractant.
      Interesting -- Not sure what it's used for, but fun to watch
      Informative -- Will be referred to in future inventions
      Funny -- It blows up when someone uses it
      Overrated -- Does something redundant, but with just one click!
      Underrated -- No one knows what it does, but it will form a completely new industry

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    2. Re:mod him down! by eno2001 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Shhh!! That's how most of us got through high school and college...

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      -"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
  2. Virtuadub by Threni · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah, sue me. Oh, only in Germany though. Bigtime. Today Germany, tomorrow.....Belgium!

  3. This is an easy one by arodland · · Score: 2, Funny

    All he has to do is rename it to "V-Dub in da Houze"

  4. Does that mean ... by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...MS Products are usually somewhere between Offtopic and Funny?

    Hmm... kinda correct, if you think about it...

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    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  5. Re:Jawohl! by MarkGriz · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I'm going to start using the word "VirtualDub" as often as I can"

    Be sure to use it as a verb, that really pisses off trademark holders.

    IANAL, so how do I know? I googled it and sure enough, trademark owners hate that.
    Google it yourself and see.

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    Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
  6. Google THIS by The_REAL_DZA · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's good fun, but you should try Googling "Google". When you Google "Google", all the Googles you get back aren't googles but GOOGLES! What's more, I suspect that if Google Googled Google, there'd be a GAGGLE of Googles Googled (and what's more Google than Google Google Google? Google? google...)

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    This space intentionally left (almost) blank.
  7. Re:I'm not one for vigilante justice by dorkygeek · · Score: 3, Funny

    So this IS South Korea?

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