EU Court Blocks Brazilian Company From Trademarking Sound Of a Ringing Phone (arstechnica.co.uk)

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EU Court Blocks Brazilian Company From Trademarking Sound Of a Ringing Phone (arstechnica.co.uk)

Posted by msmash on Tuesday September 13, 2016 @02:10AM from the nope-can't-do-that dept.

The standard ringing from an alarm clock or a telephone is too boring and banal to be registered as a trademark within the EU, a top court has ruled. The judgment was handed down by the EU General Court (EGC), blocking a Brazilian company that had tried to claim ownership of the sound, Ars Technica reports. From its story: In 2014, the Brazilian mass media company Grupo Globo applied to register the globally familiar "ring-ring" sound "for the dissemination of information electronically, orally, or by means of television" -- guarding its use on all electronic devices and in media representations. The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) at the time refused to register the jingle on the grounds that it had "no distinctive character," and that it was "a banal and commonplace ringtone which would generally go unnoticed and would not be remembered by the consumer." Globo -- the biggest media company in Latin America -- appealed EUIPO's decision at the EU General Court, which has today ruled that the sound is indeed too boring to register.

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Reading too much /. by Minupla · 2016-09-13 02:13 · Score: 4, Insightful

Sounds like someone read the comments on here where people are forever saying they just patented and you owe them money, and said "Hey! Good idea!"

--
On the whole, I find that I prefer Slashdot posts to twitter ones because I don't get limited to 140 chars before
1. Re:Reading too much /. by Opportunist · 2016-09-13 02:19 · Score: 1
  
  It's cheaper to hire someone to eliminate you, then wait for your successor's decision whether he learns the lesson or needs to be removed as well. Eventually someone will get the hint and drop the copyright.
  Remember, kids: When trying to extort money, you should first ensure you don't ask for more than you're worth.
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
2. Re:Reading too much /. by shortscruffydave · 2016-09-13 02:27 · Score: 2
  
  I hereby patent everything. Give me all your money.
  I've already patented patents. You give me all of your money
3. Re:Reading too much /. by Chrisq · 2016-09-13 02:29 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  I hereby patent everything. Give me all your money.
  I've already patented patents. You give me all of your money
  I've patented money, give me all your .... umm
4. Re:Reading too much /. by Calydor · 2016-09-13 03:29 · Score: 1
  
  The mob patented hired killings.
  Are you SURE you want to get in a patent dispute with the mob?
  
  --
  -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
5. Re: Reading too much /. by parkinglot777 · 2016-09-13 03:58 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Their mistake was trying to trademark it in the EU. They should have done it here in the states; you can trademark just about anything here. Hell, there's a company that successfully claims ownership of the word "monster", a very common word that they claim trademark infringement on everything and anything from minigolf to movies.
  Then you have no idea of differences between trademark, copyright, and patents... You can't trademark sound or lyric because they belong to copyright category. Also, protections are different too. If you really want to understand what they are, I suggested you to visit USPTO Trademark page, so that you wouldn't spread your misunderstanding/misinformation to others.
  PS: yes, you can trademark the word "monster" but it has to be tied to certain conditions.
6. Re:Reading too much /. by parkinglot777 · 2016-09-13 04:01 · Score: 1
  
  Sounds like someone read the comments on here where people are forever saying they just patented and you owe them money, and said "Hey! Good idea!"
  I understand that you are talking about something related to intellectual properties (IPs) and make a joke about it, but I just want to clarify, "patent" != "trademark"
7. Re: Reading too much /. by Jawnn · 2016-09-13 04:54 · Score: 1
  
  PS: yes, you can trademark the word "monster" but it has to be tied to certain conditions.
  Oh. So, for example, all I have to do is get people to buy my audio cables and wires for ten times what they're actually worth and I can trademark the word "Monster"? Got it.
8. Re: Reading too much /. by dabadab · 2016-09-13 05:16 · Score: 1
  
  You can't trademark sound or lyric because they belong to copyright category.
  Trademark and copyright are two distinct aspects that have nothing to do with each other so there's nothing to prevent a thing to be both a trademark and under copyright protection (Mickey Mouse is a very prominent example of such).
  And of course you can trademark sound - even the USPTO website displays a collection of trademarked sounds.
  
  --
  Real life is overrated.
9. Re: Reading too much /. by turbidostato · 2016-09-13 05:29 · Score: 1
  
  "You can't trademark sound or lyric because they belong to copyright category."
  Of course you can trade mark a song or lyric. All the requirement is for them being part of your Trade Mark. See how easy is it?
  On the other hand, what I don't understand is the justification of this rule -unless it has been misrepresented in the summary: the problem for the ring-ring sound to be trademarked by this company cannot be that it is "too boring" (or even commonplace) but that it -by being both common place and previous *related* art, can't in any way or form be related to the trade mark requestor. I.e.: you see the Nike "smiling" logo and you think "Nike", even "just do it", despite being a common phrase, was context-less before Nike trademarked it but the standard ring tone is both common *and* bound to a known specific circumstance (a phone call) and, to add insult to injury, this company tried to tie it to its own corporate branding *in that very same realm*.
  The question is, who's the stupid executive officer that even tried it? -and who's the brilliant (but sociopathically cynic) attorney that found the way to get apart said executive from his company's money that easy?
10. Re: Reading too much /. by omnichad · 2016-09-13 05:32 · Score: 1
  
  successfully claims ownership of the word "monster"
  In a certain market. For example, I couldn't tell if you were talking about the cable manufacturer or the job search web site that owns monster.com. The idea behind trademarking generic words is that you do it for novel/memorable uses rather than what the word actually means.
  So you can call your computer Apple and own a trademark, but you can't trademark the word "phone" or a ringing sound for a telecommunications company.
11. Re: Reading too much /. by omnichad · 2016-09-13 05:34 · Score: 1
  
  all I have to do is get people to buy my audio cables and wires for ten times what they're actually worth and I can trademark the word "Monster"? Got it.
  Yes, you can. But if some other company wants to run a jobs board under the name "Monster" you have no rights to sue under trademark infringement.
12. Re: Reading too much /. by GrumpySteen · 2016-09-13 05:44 · Score: 1
  
  You can't trademark sound or lyric because they belong to copyright category.
  
  Except that there are many companies which have obtained trademarks on distinctive sounds that they use for branding. There's a list of commonly-known examples in this Wikipedia article on the subject:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
  
  I suggested you to visit USPTO Trademark page, so that you wouldn't spread your misunderstanding/misinformation to others.
  Because being wrong just wasn't embarrassing enough, you had to go and be all condescending about it as well. How's that egg on your face feel?
13. Re:Reading too much /. by oji-sama · 2016-09-13 06:44 · Score: 1
  
  I hereby patent everything. Give me all your money.
  I've already patented patents. You give me all of your money
  I've patented money, give me all your .... umm
  You will get my.... your... money over my dead body. Please don't patent my dead body.
  
  --
  It is what it is.
14. Re: Reading too much /. by ArmoredDragon · 2016-09-13 16:41 · Score: 1
  
  Then you have no idea of differences between trademark, copyright, and patents... You can't trademark sound or lyric
  Before correcting me on this, you might want to get an education, because you obviously lack one. Seriously. You can in fact trademark sounds. Want proof? How about a link directly to the government office that grants exactly those kinds of trademarks:
  http://www.uspto.gov/trademark...
  Seriously haven't you ever seen the beginning of MGM movies with the roaring lion, with the words "Trademark" written on it? Lo and behold, the roaring lion sound is trademarked. And, much more relevant to TFA, an example of a trademarked ringtone is the Nokia jingle. You'd have to be living under a rock to miss either of these, and both can be found on that page I just linked, including their relevant trademark case numbers just for the sound and nothing else.
  Furthermore, look at what Monster cable has sued for. It goes WELL beyond the domain of any marks that they currently own, and I even provided examples, such as suing a miniature golf company.
  http://gizmodo.com/393365/mons...
  I am completely aware of the differences, however it seems that you are not aware of (and thus are uneducated about) what all a trademark covers, nor are you aware of what people have sued for outside of their trademarked domain. Yet somehow I got modded troll and you got modded insightful in spite of the fact that I'm very clearly right and you're very clearly wrong, with proof to back that statement up. Slashdot's wonderful moderation at work. And yes, I'm irked at that, hence the tone of my post.
15. Re:Reading too much /. by Opportunist · 2016-09-13 18:40 · Score: 2
  
  Why sue myself?
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
16. Re:Reading too much /. by Minupla · 2016-09-19 01:07 · Score: 1
  
  Good point, usually I'm a stickler on that too, but I waved my comedic license at myself and gave me a pass. Glad to see someone call me on it tho (riiiiinnnnngggg :))
  Min
  
  --
  On the whole, I find that I prefer Slashdot posts to twitter ones because I don't get limited to 140 chars before
However boring and banal it is by Big+Hairy+Ian · 2016-09-13 02:15 · Score: 4, Funny

It's still more interesting than the latest Apple Conference

--
Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.
1. Re:However boring and banal it is by WallyL · 2016-09-13 05:04 · Score: 1
  
  And is still a better love story than Twilight!
  And no, I'm leaving right now. But I'll be back to accept your thanks later.
Good by JonnyCalcutta · 2016-09-13 02:19 · Score: 1

Story too boring to read!
1. Re:Good by Blue+Stone · 2016-09-13 02:55 · Score: 1
  
  I dunno.
  The idea that our cultural landscape is essentially a frontier where corporations are prospectors and land-grabbers who seek to enclose certain areas, which they can then monopolise, lease back or otherwise own and exploit, whilst depriving others of the ability to do so, is something that isn't really given the consideration it's due, in my opinion.
  
  --
  Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
2. Re:Good by JonnyCalcutta · 2016-09-13 03:47 · Score: 2
  
  Fair point. At least this time common sense prevailed.
  The concepts you talk about are really why I'm no fan of conservatives (the UK variety, who I have more experience of) - to me they are just saying that civilisation peaked with feudalism and being a rentier is the loftiest of goals.
3. Re:Good by Blue+Stone · 2016-09-13 06:22 · Score: 1
  
  Word.
  
  --
  Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
Is this Opposite Day? It's not on my calendar by mykepredko · 2016-09-13 02:22 · Score: 1

Usually this is the type of situation where the decision is made to allow the "trademark" to go through.
Nice to see that somewhere on this planet there's a judge that understands how to reasonably apply the law when it comes to patents and copyrights.

--
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
It's not theirs by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-13 02:26 · Score: 4, Interesting

Boring, Banal, and NOT THEIRS TO TRADEMARK.
It reminds me of the Kraftwerk claim, someone used a repeated snare drum copied from one of their tracks, and they persued him for 19 years for copyright infringement. Eventually their claim was thrown out.
They are a synthesizer band, they didn't make that drum sound, their synth did, if anyone owns that sound it would be Roland or Yamaha, not Kraftwerk. Yet they pursued and pursued it, all the way up through appeals court till they were finally told to f** off.
Here the same, a company thought it could trademark two shrill 'G' tones if only they tried and tried long enough to wear down the system, (a la 'one click' ordering).
1. Re:It's not theirs by JonnyCalcutta · 2016-09-13 04:05 · Score: 2
  
  I would but I don't think its the real Anonymous Coward.
2. Re:It's not theirs by swb · 2016-09-13 05:58 · Score: 1
  
  What if it was theirs -- ie, they contracted with a bell manufacturer to create a set of bells with some kind of unique sound (ie, not bell #345 from the catalog), they attached them to a ringer mechanism and recorded the sound of *their* bells ringing.
  I wonder if that would pass muster, or if the idea of a mechanical bell ringing (ie, a brass hemisphere getting hit by a little hammer) is so common that not even a custom bell with a non-standard tone could count, as mechanical ringers are so ubiquitous (or at least were...) that no modification of tone/timbre/pitch of a mechanical ring can be said to be unique.
  It also makes me wonder if the common "ringing phone" ringtones were recorded from old Western Electric models and if they would have a claim on copyright to those sounds.
Too boring to register by PPH · 2016-09-13 02:30 · Score: 3, Funny

Well, there goes the entirety of Justin Bieber's work.

--
Have gnu, will travel.
1. Re:Too boring to register by Hodr · 2016-09-13 03:12 · Score: 1
  
  Is it too late to say sorry?
2. Re:Too boring to register by JonnyCalcutta · 2016-09-13 04:06 · Score: 1
  
  Yes
the TPPA will over ride this by Joe_Dragon · 2016-09-13 02:32 · Score: 2

the TPPA will over ride this
I patent using the letter E on networked systems. by Joe_Dragon · 2016-09-13 02:34 · Score: 1

I patent using the letter E on networked systems.
That will be $0.002 per use GIVE ME YOUR MONEY!!
Re:I patent using the letter E on networked system by 110010001000 · 2016-09-13 02:35 · Score: 5, Funny

Scrw you, buddy!
Neener neener by RogueWarrior65 · 2016-09-13 02:38 · Score: 2

Is that copyrighted too? Seriously, though, why did it need to get to the court level? Why didn't the copyright flunkies say, "Sorry, prior art. Tough noogies."?
1. Re:Neener neener by TWX · 2016-09-13 04:45 · Score: 1
  
  Why didn't the copyright flunkies say, "Sorry, prior art. Tough noogies."?
  This is what I'm wondering, that and since a phone itself is a manufactured device that originated from a specific entity, if anyone could legitimately claim any kind of rights, that entity should have any copyrights and trademarks, not some media company attempting to use it.
  
  I wish they'd ruled for the right reasons, but at least the ruling itself is better than if it'd gone the other way.
  
  --
  Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
2. Re:Neener neener by gsslay · 2016-09-13 04:58 · Score: 2
  
  Never fails on Slashdot. People simply do not understand trademark is not just another word for copyright, yet are happy to flaunt their total lack of understanding.
3. Re:Neener neener by ljw1004 · 2016-09-13 08:59 · Score: 1
  Is that copyrighted too? Seriously, though, why did it need to get to the court level? Why didn't the copyright flunkies say, "Sorry, prior art. Tough noogies."?
  Either you've made a deliberately subtle joke by misusing three unrelated parts of Intellectual Property law (like talking about a film called "Trek Wars") or you've misunderstood all of it...
  Copyright is for an original creative work, e.g. a book, a song, a creative way to order or layout existing non-copyrightable facts like a recipe. The concept of "prior art" is meaningless.
  Patent is for original inventions that are non-obvious to a notional worker who's skilled in the field but has zero originality. The concept of "prior art" applies here.
  Trademark is for a distinctive sign/logo/sound as used in a particular line of business. So although Nike trademarked "just do it" with the swish for their business, folk can still say "just do it" in other contexts.
4. Re:Neener neener by Maritz · 2016-09-14 01:01 · Score: 1
  
  "copyrighted too"? This is about trade marks. "prior art" - this is about trade marks.
  
  --
  I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
What about I Got You, Babe at 6AM over and over by Joe_Dragon · 2016-09-13 02:43 · Score: 1

What about I Got You, Babe at 6AM over and over?
Re:Plim plim... by rworne · 2016-09-13 02:53 · Score: 1

This is news to me. Just about anyone in the US has heard one of these commercials (relevant part):
AAMCO
I know their logo is trademarked in the EU, but cannot find anything about the sound.

--
I tried every decent and legal way I could think of to resolve the issue w/the business before I rented the chicken suit
Don't think it's a generic ring by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-13 03:06 · Score: 1

Brazilian here.
Since it's Globo we're talking about, i doubt it's a generic "ring ring" that they're trying to trademark. Globo has a characteristic jingle sound that they've been using for decades and that goes along with all their trademarks, commercials and other stuff. It sounds (and is described as) a "plim plim" and it's hard to hear that sound here in Brazil and not associate it with the their TV channel. You can hear it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
My bet is that this is what they're trying to trademark.
1. Re:Don't think it's a generic ring by digitig · 2016-09-13 03:56 · Score: 1
  
  Sounds like a lower-pitched version of the Trimphone ringtone from the 1960s. I'm not convinced changing the pitch is a sufficiently creative contribution to warrant a trademark.
  
  --
  Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
2. Re:Don't think it's a generic ring by parkinglot777 · 2016-09-13 04:06 · Score: 1
  
  I don't think sound should be included in trademark. It has been in copyright category and should stay there. If they allow trademark for sound, they will open a can of worms that will result in many nasty consequences...
Re:I patent using the letter E on networked system by Joe_Dragon · 2016-09-13 03:06 · Score: 1

You copy of the topic had 5 "E" in it + the 3 in the replay area that will be 0.014.
Re:Plim plim... by Stormwatch · 2016-09-13 03:09 · Score: 1

But that sounds nothing like Globo's chime.

--
Circumcision is child abuse.
It's not too late for them to trademark Zika by JoeyRox · 2016-09-13 03:11 · Score: 1

Best to strike while the iron is hot.
1. Re:It's not too late for them to trademark Zika by Maritz · 2016-09-14 01:03 · Score: 1
  
  Make Zika Great For The First Time
  
  --
  I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
what if they use it to lower the drinking age? by Joe_Dragon · 2016-09-13 03:33 · Score: 1

what if they use it to lower the drinking age and or casino age?
Not a ringing phone sound by Trikoloko · 2016-09-13 03:36 · Score: 5, Informative

Brazilian here. This is what they tried to trademark (The last sound in the video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

In Brazil, This is known as the "plim-plim". They have been using the sound for many (30+) years. I don't see how this can be compared to the sound of a ringing phone.

--
My cellphone ringtone is a ring tone.
1. Re:Not a ringing phone sound by enriquevagu · 2016-09-13 03:57 · Score: 1
  
  Thanks for the link! (no modpoints, sorry). It sounds similar to an POTS traditional phone to me, though.
2. Re:Not a ringing phone sound by phantomfive · 2016-09-13 04:12 · Score: 1
  
  Nice link! To Europeans, it might sound a lot like this one, or this one.
  
  --
  "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
3. Re:Not a ringing phone sound by Solandri · 2016-09-13 06:19 · Score: 1
  
  That sounds like a slightly electronic version of the two-short-rings used on old PBX equipment to indicate an internal call (i.e. from a co-worker). External calls had the regular long ring. While Grupo Globo may have been using it for 30+ years in Brazil, it's been in use in the rest of the world as long as I can remember (40+ years). If it's associated with "them" in Brazil, I would guess that that's because they probably had a near-monopoly on PBX equipment in your country.
  
  I agree with the court. It's too generic to be trademarked. If you want to trademark a ring, make a ringtone jingle.
4. Re:Not a ringing phone sound by Maritz · 2016-09-14 01:04 · Score: 1
  
  I don't see how this can be compared to the sound of a ringing phone.
  That's really, really weird. Because it sounds to me like a ringing phone. I wouldn't compare it to that sound, in the same way that I don't compare a bark to the sound a dog makes. They're the same thing.
  
  --
  I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
Brazilians know that sound by dafradu · 2016-09-13 03:41 · Score: 1

Ask any brazilian and they tell you that is Globo's "plim-plim" (thats how we call it). I don't know where the phone related claim comes from, i only know it from TV, not ringtones...
Here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
It is decades old (since the 70s) and marks when the commercial breaks start and end. Thats how they used to signal to all regional re-transmitters when to switch to/from commercials. It is a very recognizable branding of Globo TV.
"She stated, in particular, that that mark consisted of a simple and banal ringing sound and that it could not be perceived as an indicator of the commercial origin of the goods. The examiner therefore requested that the applicant submit its observations to her within a period of two months."
Like i said, that is wrong, just because you don't know it doesn't mean it is not their branding...
1. Re:Brazilians know that sound by hagnat · 2016-09-13 03:50 · Score: 1
  
  this is one of the few times where a big business trully has the right to trademark a simple sound.
  
  --
  "life is a joke, and someone is laughing at me"
2. Re:Brazilians know that sound by dafradu · 2016-09-13 04:00 · Score: 2
  
  Some other simple sounds that appear to have a trademark: Intel pentium sound, espn 6 notes, NBC chimes
3. Re:Brazilians know that sound by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-13 04:16 · Score: 1
  
  this is one of the few times where a big business trully has the right to trademark a simple sound.
  maybe in brazil. In Europe however, that sound is widely used as a generic telephone ring sound. If they had applied 30 years ago, before that style of telephone ring sound became a common option, they might have had a leg to stand on, but not now.
4. Re:Brazilians know that sound by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-13 06:17 · Score: 1
  
  I'm from Brazil as well and I gotta acknowledge that it is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE for **anyone** here not to immediately recognize Globo's "plim plim" sound. It's a brand that seems almost hardwired to every Brazilian brain for the last 3 or 4 decades. I can attest that this is a truly distinctive sound sample.
  On the other hand, it seems foolish to expect it would have sufficient relevance on other countries to justify a trademark to be filled abroad.
5. Re:Brazilians know that sound by rubycodez · 2016-09-13 08:17 · Score: 1
  
  sorry it sounds like generic touch-tone phone ring tone, I've two phones in a carboard box in the closet at home that make that noise
6. Re:Brazilians know that sound by rubycodez · 2016-09-13 08:19 · Score: 1
  
  sorry, tens of millions of the POTS line phones made from 1980s onward where I live make that sound. I'm suspecting Globo ripped the sound off of AT&T
7. Re:Brazilians know that sound by Godwin+O'Hitler · 2016-09-13 20:26 · Score: 1
  
  Jesus wept. They aren't trying to invalidate the trademark in Brazil. They are simply pointing out that the sound might well be part of one country's pop culture, but here in Europe a ring-ring sound, whatever its pitch or interval, has been synonymous with telephone calls ever since Adam was a lad, so sorry Globo, you are at least sixty years too late.
  
  --
  No, your children are not the special ones. Nor are your pets.
8. Re:Brazilians know that sound by Maritz · 2016-09-14 01:14 · Score: 1
  
  I guess we all have different ideas of what 'paradise' is. Mine doesn't feature quite so many drug-addled child prostitutes.
  
  --
  I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
Jingle Bells by freeze128 · 2016-09-13 03:44 · Score: 1

This is also why Christmas carols are not trademarked.... They're too boring.
1. Re:Jingle Bells by Maritz · 2016-09-14 01:16 · Score: 1
  
  You don't appear to know what a trademark is. There's a very educational post along those lines higher up in the comments. Give it a look if you get a sec.
  
  --
  I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
Most television could fit... by mark-t · 2016-09-13 03:50 · Score: 1

Having "no distinctive character," and being "banal and commonplace" could fit for most of that too. somehow I think there's more to it than that or else tv shows would be public domain

--
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Re: TTIP by dunkelfalke · 2016-09-13 04:09 · Score: 1

By your logic USA does exactly that with the VW lawsuit.

--
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
Re:Is this Opposite Day? It's not on my calendar by Frobnicator · 2016-09-13 04:51 · Score: 1

Nice to see that somewhere on this planet there's a judge that understands how to reasonably apply the law when it comes to patents and copyrights.
Agreed. Good job judge.
A copyright on the sound is just fine, which they all acknowledge. An audio recording deserves full protection under copyright law.
But as a trademark, to say "the sound of a telephone is our distinctive mark", that is too broad. Trademarks need to be distinctive.
As their name implies they are distinctive marks indicating the creator or distributor of goods, they are brand indicators. The generic bell ringing is not a distinctive brand by itself. They could trademark a series of tones for your brand (like the NBC chimes) or a jingle or theme (like the Batman theme or the McDonald's "I'm Lovin It"), but not a simple ringing bell sound.

--
//TODO: Think of witty sig statement
Other uses of the same by DrYak · 2016-09-13 04:57 · Score: 1

This is the sound piece in question >> It's called "plim plim" in Brazil.
And that sounds very close to one of the alternative chimes available on PalmOS devices by Palm Inc. (was it the "SciFi" chime ? I'm not sure anymore),
available at least since the early 2000s (on my Palm IIIc back then).
Probably other PDAs have use a similar chime even earlier (could some e.g. Psion / EPOC user confirm ?)
Though trademark law doesn't have a concept of "prior art", it does have something similar to "defend or lose it".
Currently this sound isn't distinctly associated with their branding (at least outisde of Brazil. Maybe there this "plim-plim" is immediately associated with the brand and is never heard anywhere else). It's not a jingle that is specific to grupo globo, it's something that has been heard around countless times.
It's completely generic and the EU is completely right at laughing them out of the court.

--
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Re:TTIP by Joe_Dragon · 2016-09-13 08:41 · Score: 1

Trial By Combat
Hearts
Bridge
Checkers
Chess
Poker
Fighter Combat
Guerrilla Engagement
Desert Warfare
Air-To-Ground Actions
Theaterwide Tactical Warfare
Theaterwide Biotoxic And Chemical Warfare
Global Thermonuclear War
Re:TTIP by Maritz · 2016-09-14 00:58 · Score: 1

TTIP is dead in the water. French and German govts realise now that TTIP will be appropriated by far-right groups, and the Yanks predictably were asking for their companies to do essentially whatever the fuck they like and conceded very little. So, off they must fuck. At least for the foreseeable, TTIP is dead.

--
I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
Re:VICTORY!!! by Maritz · 2016-09-14 01:17 · Score: 1

Does it kill you that you can't have a george's cross avatar on here? I bet it does. This trade mark was applied for in the EU, by the way.

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I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
Re:Plim plim... by rworne · 2016-09-14 02:12 · Score: 1

I did not mean to make that comparison. It's very similar in another way:
If they cannot trademark the ringing phone noise in the EU, then AAMCO cannot trademark their beep-beep car horn either. In the US it's a protected "sound mark".

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I tried every decent and legal way I could think of to resolve the issue w/the business before I rented the chicken suit
Re:Plim plim... by Stormwatch · 2016-09-14 13:54 · Score: 1

But that's just a car horn, there's nothing really distinctive about it. Unlike Globo's chime, which has an unique sound.

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Circumcision is child abuse.