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Russian Hopes To Cash In On Emoticons

Posted by timothy on from the but-cyrillic-is-full-of-emoticons dept.

drewmoney writes "According to a BBC article, Entrepreneur Oleg Teterin said the trademark for the ';-)' emoticon was granted to him by Russia's federal patent agency. 'Legal use will be possible after buying an annual licence from us,' he was quoted by the newspaper Kommersant as saying. 'It won't cost that much — tens of thousands of dollars,' added the businessman, who is president of Superfone, a company that sells advertising on mobile phones. The president of Russian social networking site odnoklassniki.ru, Nikita Sherman said: 'You're not likely to find any retards in Russia who'll pay Superfone for the use of emoticons.'" Teterin may have gotten the idea by catching up on some old news about Despair, Inc., which in May 2000 was awarded a US trademark on the "frowny" emoticon (Slashdot story).

45 of 213 comments (clear)

  1. Provocation by MadDogX · · Score: 5, Funny

    :-) ... Am I doin it rite?

    1. Re:Provocation by sadgoblin · · Score: 2, Funny

      KGB is watching you.

    2. Re:Provocation by Haley's+Comet · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hey Oleg Teterin, "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..." ;-)


      The IP patent race is the new 'Special Olypics'...

      --
      The Illuminati would kill me, but I'm not rich enough to take notice of.
    3. Re:Provocation by iammani · · Score: 2, Funny

      Redundant? Its strange that some mods think :-) = ;-)

  2. Patent Office == Zoo filled with Idiots? by theaveng · · Score: 4, Informative

    What lame-brain dummy would think that either :-( or ;-) are trademarkable symbols??? They both originated circa 1980 and therefore are public domain.

    --
    FOX NEWS.com should be BANNED from television and internet. Have the Congress take it over and give us Truespeak.
    1. Re:Patent Office == Zoo filled with Idiots? by Sebilrazen · · Score: 4, Funny
      There's a popular meme around here that applies, I just can't figure out which one:
      • Does it run linux?
      • I, for one, welcome our new ? overlords.
      • In Soviet Russia, ? you!
      • ?????
      • Profit.
      --
      "There are no facts, only interpretations." --Friedrich Nietzsche.
    2. Re:Patent Office == Zoo filled with Idiots? by JJJK · · Score: 5, Funny

      you forgot "you insensitive clod", you insensitive clod!

    3. Re:Patent Office == Zoo filled with Idiots? by Grimbleton · · Score: 4, Funny

      You must be new here.

    4. Re:Patent Office == Zoo filled with Idiots? by cpt+kangarooski · · Score: 2, Informative

      What lame-brain dummy would think that either :-( or ;-) are trademarkable symbols??? They both originated circa 1980 and therefore are public domain.

      I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. Perhaps Russian trademark law is different, but in the US, at least, it doesn't matter who creates the mark, or when it was created. What basically makes a mark protectable is that it is being used to identify goods or services so marked as originating from a particular source.

      The word 'apple' has been around for hundreds of years, and wasn't coined by the two Steves but it is a trademark for computers. The name 'Levi' has been around for thousands of years, but it is a trademark for jeans.

      Assuming that someone makes :-) brand something-or-others (or offers services under the :-) brand) and people recognize that the smiley is actually a mark in that context, meaning that so-marked goods or services come from a particular provider, then sure, it can work.

      But it wouldn't affect other uses of it, like people talking about emotional states, any more than the APPLE mark for computers prevents people from using the word freely with regard to fruit.

      --
      -- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
    5. Re:Patent Office == Zoo filled with Idiots? by Chrisq · · Score: 2, Insightful

      May be true, but that's got nothing to do with trademarks.

    6. Re:Patent Office == Zoo filled with Idiots? by Catiline · · Score: 3, Funny

      In Soviet Russia, new smiley overlords profit??? from YOU! Oh, wait....

      --
      Do you like Japanese imports?
  3. Fine with me by Golddess · · Score: 3, Funny

    I never put noses on my emoticons anyway ;)

    --
    "I'm not sure I like the fugnutish tone you used in your post!" -RogL (608926)-
    1. Re:Fine with me by Andr+T. · · Score: 5, Funny
      RTFA. You're doomed.

      He also said since other similar emoticons - :-) or ;) or :) - resemble the one he has trademarked, use of those symbols could also fall under his ownership.

      --

      Any life is made up of a single moment, the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.

    2. Re:Fine with me by danieltdp · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Just put a mustache on it, like this ;-} Syntacticly is similar, but semantically different: it's not someone blinking, it's a guy with a mustache blinking!

      --
      -- dnl
    3. Re:Fine with me by suggsjc · · Score: 4, Funny

      I had a couple of mod points, but I honestly couldn't decide between funny and insightful. Either way, I'm going to start using this one: =[:~;X(---[

      I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I think there is a top hat and a bowtie in there somehow.

      --
      When I have a kid, I want to put him in one of those strollers for twins and then run around the mall looking frantic.
    4. Re:Fine with me by SharpFang · · Score: 5, Funny

      You asshole, I ran this as a Perl program and it erased my hard drive.

      --
      45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
  4. Imagine the scene by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 5, Funny

    Judge: Oleg Teterin?
    Oleg Teterin: Yes? :-)
    Judge: We have ruled that you don't have a patent on the emoticon
    Oleg Teterin: Oh :-(
    Everyone else: lol! :-P

    --
    Summation 2
  5. Its a PR Stunt, not about trademark by MindKata · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "What lame-brain dummy would think that either :-( or ;-) are trademarkable symbols"

    The kind of person who would think of trademarking these symbols, would be a businessman who wanted to use this cheap stunt, to get a lot of publicity for his business. Its not about the trademark. Its a stunt, to generate free publicity for his business.

    --
    There are 10 kinds of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't.
    1. Re:Its a PR Stunt, not about trademark by EdZ · · Score: 4, Funny

      Are you sure you're, using commas correctly?

    2. Re:Its a PR Stunt, not about trademark by ideonode · · Score: 5, Funny

      They're not commas but apostrophes that fell of the "it's" and wandered upstream like salmon.

    3. Re:Its a PR Stunt, not about trademark by rastilin · · Score: 2, Insightful

      There is a saying that there's no such thing as bad publicity. This is wrong. Just ask Michael Jackson or OJ Simpson.

      --
      How do you kill that which has no life?
    4. Re:Its a PR Stunt, not about trademark by MBGMorden · · Score: 4, Funny

      Tack "Captain's log, stardate 1234, " onto the front of his post and it flows much more naturally.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    5. Re:Its a PR Stunt, not about trademark by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 2, Funny

      Those were supposed to be ";-)" but he couldn't afford the licensing fee for anything except the ","

      --
      It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
  6. This trademark is already invalidated by Cyberax · · Score: 4, Informative

    Rospatent has already invalidated this trademark because it's a generic image and doesn't offer Superfone any brand recognition.

  7. Patent THIS: by AndGodSed · · Score: 5, Funny

    :-*

    my

    (_|_)

    >:-(

    --

    Seven Days with Ubuntu Unity

  8. "Entrepreneur"? by NorQue · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why not call him the fraud that he is?

    1. Re:"Entrepreneur"? by Sockatume · · Score: 2, Insightful

      He owns an advertising company. Whatever else he may be, entrepreneur fits as a label.

      --
      No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  9. Patent by loonycyborg · · Score: 5, Funny

    You keep using that "patent" word. I don't think that it means what you think it means.

  10. In Soviet Russia... by Cornwallis · · Score: 3, Funny

    :) owns all of us.

  11. Re:Couldn't the folks who patented the typewriter. by pm_rat_poison · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hello? Is this the patent office? Good. I'd like to file a patent please. It's called "Use of organic materials for human energy acquisition"

  12. In soviet russia C-: own you by Tei · · Score: 5, Funny

    Two counterfeigted version:
    C-:
    (-:

    --

    -Woof woof woof!

  13. Other Patent by Andr+T. · · Score: 4, Funny

    It seems he patented Times New Roman size 12pt too!

    --

    Any life is made up of a single moment, the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.

  14. Re:Damn by Andr+T. · · Score: 2, Funny
    Here where I live we c_n't type a cert_in letter. You know, the first letter of the _lph_bet.

    D_mn, I'll be p_ying for my sig.

    --

    Any life is made up of a single moment, the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.

  15. Time to opensource emoticons by frenchgates · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm tired of paying the man to use them and I don't have the programming skill to figure out how to make them myself.

    --
    Syntax error: loose != lose, affect != effect, then!=than
  16. Re:In soviet russia C-: own you by PinkyDead · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think you'll find that they are already defined as "User is cat in the dark with Mushroom on Head" and "User is ninja cat in the dark about to perform Sumarai attack", respectively.

    --
    Genesis 1:32 And God typed :wq!
  17. There's No Such Agency... by MRe_nl · · Score: 4, Funny

    Anymore anyway.
    The name of the largest of the Russian successors to the KGB is the FSB, est. 1991.
    AKA the Federal Smiley Bureau ; ).

    --
    "Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
  18. This is Proof that by twmcneil · · Score: 2, Funny

    The Russians do have a sense of humor. It's just a little different than ours.

    --
    "The ferrets, they're every where I tell you!"
  19. Where Have I Seen This Before? by wchatam · · Score: 2, Funny

    This reminds me of the shenanigans of a company closer to home. I'd like to invite these two to work out their emoticon patent issues in the following manner:

    o
    |\__o
    /\/\ /\

  20. Emoticons are funnier by snspdaarf · · Score: 3, Funny

    in the original Klingon.

    --
    Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
  21. Maybe this will stifle use and kill the format by riegel · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe this will stifle their use and kill the format.

    Maybe this is a good use of the patent system.

    I also think any web forum that uses them should pay through the nose to this guy for the revenues he has surely lost.

    This will have the greater effect of stifling all such uses in the future.

    The more I think about it the more convinced I am that this is an excellent use of the patent system.

    ;) , Ooops I mean *wink*.

    --
    http://p8ste.com - Web based Clipboard
  22. In other news, by Alpha830RulZ · · Score: 2, Funny

    I have now copyrighted the word 'fuck', and would like to offer it's use to the world for the low, low price of $0.05 USD. Users may buy a volume license of 30 uses for a dollar. Sysadmins may obtain an unlimited license for $20/year.

    --
    I was taught to respect my elders. The trouble is, it's getting harder and harder to find some.
  23. Prisons happier places... by AmigaHeretic · · Score: 4, Funny

    I am I the ONLY one that see this as a "good" thing?

    I mean, if you ban emoticons then only crminals will have emoticons.

    Think how much cherrier prisons would be!! :-)


    hmmm... or more dangerous...

    ...._______________________
    ..../_==o;;;;;;____________[]
    ''' ), ---.(_(__) /
    '' // (__) ), -"
    ' //__//
    //__//

  24. Who gives a flying f**k anyway? by quadrofolio · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Who the hell cares. As if Russians give a damn about western laws. Same goes the other way round. What a lame sod he is. Good luck enforcing your lame copyright dude. :-) Wanker

  25. Not so fast by Futile+Rhetoric · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The rademark institution said that the smiley is an integral part of the "Superfone" logo, is not a trademark in and of itself, and is in fact incapable of being one.

    Sorry to ruin everybody's party, but here is a source for those who can read Russian or are awesome enough for Babelfish.

  26. The supposed use is wrong by jgoemat · · Score: 2, Informative

    Trademarks apply to branding products. If your use wouldn't cause brand confusion with his advertising company, 'Suprafone', then you wouldn't be infringing on the trademark anyway.