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Lawyer Trademarks "Cyberlaw"

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the race-to-the-trademark-office dept.

BigTimOBrien writes to mention the EFF is reporting that self-proclaimed cyberlawyer, Eric Menhart, has decided to trademark use of the term "cyberlaw" and is threatening other lawyers with legal action over the term. "I wish I could say I was surprised by this one, but such overreaching invocations of IP rights are all too common -- even where, as in this case, there are no actual "rights" to speak of. But an IP lawyer should know that courts (and trademark examiners, and many tech companies that might be potential clients) don't look kindly on efforts to abuse trademark law to control everyday language. Here's hoping Menhart figures that out fast."

17 of 81 comments (clear)

  1. Google reports 340,000 hits for "cyberlaw" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'll wish the fellow luck on his quest (nothing like taking on a hard problem) but I don't like his chances of succeeding in trademarking the term . . .

  2. I support his efforts entirely by mccalli · · Score: 5, Funny

    Anything to get rid of that horrible "cyber" prefix on ordinary stuff. Please make it all go away. Please.

    Cheers,
    Ian

    1. Re:I support his efforts entirely by RyuuzakiTetsuya · · Score: 3, Funny

      Sounds like a case of cyberfatigue.

      --
      Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
    2. Re:I support his efforts entirely by dbIII · · Score: 3, Funny

      They're giving us far too much cyberlip.

    3. Re:I support his efforts entirely by dna_(c)(tm)(r) · · Score: 2, Funny

      Sounds like a case of cyberfatigue.
      I've decided to trademark the use of cyberfatigue, even though you clearly came up with the term. Now gimme money.

      Oh, cybershut-up® this is a cyberhorrible® and cyberchildish® form of cybernagging®

  3. EFF invented "CyberLaw" by Per+Abrahamsen · · Score: 4, Informative

    At least, the first mention of "cyberlaw" I can find on Google Groups is this EFF newsletter from 1992-04-30:

        http://groups.google.com/group/comp.org.eff.talk/msg/bc39f25662095d9a >

    1. Re:EFF invented "CyberLaw" by gregorio · · Score: 4, Interesting

      At least, the first mention of "cyberlaw" I can find on Google Groups is this EFF newsletter from 1992-04-30
      It doesn't matter. This is not a patent. Trademarks don't care about "prior art", but for registering and "continued usage" of the trademark. If the term can be proven to be generic, that can also disqualify a trademark registration. But if Donald Trump can trakemark "You're fired!" under a specific context, I'm pretty sure that "cyberlaw" can also be trademarked.
    2. Re:EFF invented "CyberLaw" by Zeinfeld · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Exactly: using it for trade. Just saying "omgwtfbbq eff used it first on a obscure usenet post" does not equal to "using it for trade", which is what the law requires.

      Amazon has fifty books for sale with Cyberlaw in their title. None of them refer to this scumbag lawyer. The term is used as a generic, not a trademark.

      My own book has a Cyberlaw tag on the Amazon cloud.

      I think the reason the EFF is upset is that they suspect a lawyer who uses this type of scumbag tactics probably isn't a very good lawyer either.

      Cyberlaw is a clearly generic. Anyone sending cease and desist letters should be disbarred.

      --
      Looking for an Information Security student project suggestion?
      Try http://dotcrimeManifesto.com/
    3. Re:EFF invented "CyberLaw" by tomhudson · · Score: 2, Interesting

      1. He's a lawyer
      2. Lawyers are people (well, sort of).
      3. Many people can be dumb as sacks of shit.
      4. Ergo, many lawyers are dumb sacks of shit.
      Most lawyers will be obsolete within 20 years. Why pay a lawyer to do shit that you can do yourself with a bit of research? Before the web, people couldn't easily do that research, so they ended up paying big bucks for what, in many cases, is filing paperwork and making the same arguments over and over.

  4. linkfix by Per+Abrahamsen · · Score: 5, Informative

    Oops, reading old Usenet groups took me back. Here is a proper link.

    1. Re:linkfix by EddyPearson · · Score: 2, Insightful

      From the above link

      The Matrix
      Cyberlaw
      NetTech
      Networlds
      Wetware
      FutureNets
      TechnoRisks
      Homesteading

      How can you take terms like these, and the people who use them, seriously?

      --
      You feel sleepy. Close your eyes. The opinions stated above are yours. You cannot imagine why you ever felt otherwise.
  5. Quick! by Clueless+Nick · · Score: 2, Funny

    Somebody please trademark "Intellectual Property"! We'd certainly like to hear less of it.

    --
    Chat with other atheists http://secularchat.org
  6. Not Guilty by mtmihai · · Score: 3, Funny

    I don't understand why is everybody focusing on this lawyer.
    The real culprit here is the idiot who approved the claim.

  7. Wikipedia. by WK2 · · Score: 2

    Wikipedia has something new to add to their article on Cyberlaw, which dates back to January, 2003.

    --
    Write your own Choose Your Own Adventure. http://www.freegameengines.org/gamebook-engine/
  8. Related information by Jay+L · · Score: 4, Informative

    1. Eric, who graduated law school around 2005, was one of the lawyers who was scammed in a work-from-home scheme on craigslist.

    2. He is currently suing the scammer, but apparently without success so far; his motion for discovery was denied.

    3. His client successes page consists of, essentially:
      (a) we won an anti-spam appeal... after we lost the initial case... in which we were the plaintiffs when we were in law school.
      (b) A startup needed some startup forms. We drafted some startup forms.
      (c) A journal needed some licensing forms. We drafted some licensing forms.

    4. His "Attorneys" page talks about "the people in the organization", and then lists: Eric Menhart. His two "Appellate Advocacy" cases include (a) his own case, from 3(a), and (b) one other case, which appears to be a TCPA junk fax lawsuit.

    5. His "Alliances" page starts by pointing out that he's only a few blocks from the White House, and "near" the Supreme Court and other courthouses - including being within 100 miles of other circuit courts. It then addresses the actual issue of alliances: They have "numerous strategic alliances with other lawyers and law firms around the nation." That's it.

    6. Among his seven "Practice Areas" pages, the only page actually claiming any experience is the "Litigation" page, which states: "CyberLaw® offers substantial litigation experience. When you retain the firm, your matter will be handled by an attorney with state and federal trial and appellate experience. The firm is also experienced with alternative dispute resolution proceedings, such as before the American Arbitration Association."

    We know from #3 that Eric gained "state and federal trial and appellate experience" by... filing a lawsuit on his own behalf as a law student, losing it, appealing it, and winning on appeal. And one other case. We don't know if he has other experience in a courtroom. We don't know what he means by "substantial".

    7. His "binary logo" - probably mandatory for any firm calling itself CyberLaw - is "11010101011010100101000". That's 23 bits.

  9. Stupid Stupid Word by MulluskO · · Score: 2, Informative

    Am I the only one who things cyber is a stupid, stupid word?
    I never use it, even though it seems I'm sometimes surrounded by people that do.

    I prefer Electronic Crime or eCrime to Cybercrime, for example.
    Internet Cafe or Net Cafe to CyberCafe and so on.

    --

    Too busy staying alive... ~ R.A.
  10. Many companies have done similar things by houghi · · Score: 2, Informative

    Windows, Shell and there will be many others with common words. Walkman however is not.

    --
    Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.