Intel Puts The Squeeze On ... A Yoga Foundation? 389
geogeek6_7 writes: "Intel Inc., everyone's favorite chipmaker, has apparently decided that they own the rights to the word 'Inside.' In proceedings bordering on the line of frivolity, the Yoga Inside Foundation has been tagged with trademark infringment in papers submitted to the PTO by Intel. The article states that Intel will most likely use the Trademark Dilution Act of 1995 in court." Don't worry, Intel doesn't want every instance of the word "Inside" -- only the ones that come right after another word. (Look at the meaning of "Inside" that the YIF is referring to, and the story gets even more absurd.)
Why don't they go after THESE guys? (Score:2, Interesting)
If you ask me, this sounds like a lawyer looking for a way to finance a new BMW and a Caribbean vacation.
Intel, fuck you (Score:4, Interesting)
"We can't let a precedent be set," he explained. " 'Yoga Inside' might not sound bad, but what happens when someone comes along with 'Apple Inside'?"
If its in reference to an Apple being in an apple orchard, that's fucking fine.
Even if its Apple computer, who said you have the right to trademark common words? If Apple came up with an add that said something like:
"Apple Inside"
there's nothing wrong with that either. After all, that's what it is: Its an Apple. Since its also an Apple on the outside, they might say something like:
Apple Outside. Apple Inside.
This is just plain ludicrous. Other people shouldn't be prevented from using the ENGLISH LANGUAGE to their benefit because you assholes can't be original and trademark things that aren't already words.
By the way, you fucking assholes, there's something called the First Amendment. It has constitutional basis, so it trumps any "trademark" laws.
This is no different than IBM trying to trademark the "e" symbol with a circle around it. Come on. That's fucking bullshit.
Suggesting to Intel, IBM, and other lamers who are trying to own the English Language by trademarks: if your going to make a trademark, make up a word/symbol for it. Suggestion to Intel for a REAL trademark:
"Intelliside"
Oh wait, because of assholes like you Intel fucks, MS might sue you for trademark violations of its "IntelliPoint" mouse.
Other assholes include Nike, both for trademarking the word "Nike" and for trademarking the Nike symbol. Nike is the greek god of victory, closely associated with Athena/Minerva. And her symbol was the same symbol that the Nike shoe uses. Sounds like fucking prior art to me. Not to mention, it should be public domain.
I understand... (Score:2, Interesting)
Considering this and the nature of the group using the trademark (read the article) I think they should say "no, you can't use our trademark without approval" and then give them a licence for $1 or some other thing to allow the use.
Now, of course this assumes that Intel even has a trademark. How you can trademark "'blank' inside" is amazing... I think I will trademark "'blank' is", maybe even "'blank' and".
Re:So High Inside (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually, song titles are one of the few things you still can't trademark or copyright.
I used to work at Tower Records, and let me tell you, take any common word or cliche, like, say, "Broken" or "Not this time", and run them through the database, and you'll find 15 or 20 songs of the same name.
In fact, the band Death Cab for Cutie lifted its name directly from the title of an old Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band song - and, believe it or not, Bonzo had absolutely no legal remedy.
Some Googlevidence (TM!!) (Score:4, Interesting)
Yoga Inside has been active since 1999 based on work done in 1995 by Mark Stephens in LA juvenile detention camps with six Tibetan monks sent by the Dalai Lama. here [yogajournal.com]
That book has a website, www.yoga-insideout.com, here [yoga-insideout.com]
"Inside and Out" is a popular way of describing holistic health, and the phrase "yoga inside" is commonly used to describe the experience, like the site here [yogaexperience.com].
There is a travel company called Inside India which works with several Yoga therapy centers for health tours, here [inside-india-travel.com].
Barbara Kallir directed an instructional video guide to tantric yoga, "Inside Westside". Recommended for the Lawyers after those free courses, here [earthlink.net].
Couldn't find a link between the Dalai Lama and Intel, unless you count that both are successful exiles. Although Apple struck the Dalai Lama from their Asian billboards so maybe ..nah.
The fourth most popular use of the word conjunction "yoga inside" on the web, after the prison project, the video, and general discussions of yoga and health experiences, is Intel's suit. How many hundreds of millions of dollars of PR is this costing Intel I wonder? Maybe the defendant should get the video publisher to join in, seems like they are making lots of money with their domain name.
What about Energizer? (Score:2, Interesting)
C-Grade Lawyers vs. Groucho Marx (Score:4, Interesting)
Warner Brother's staff counsel made the mistake of threatening Groucho Marx because he had announced a new movie with the name "Casablanca" in it. Here is Groucho's initial response... [princeton.edu] What's truly amazing is that Warner Brother's didn't understand how stupid they looked after getting Groucho's initial letter. The exchange continued for several more letters until somebody at Warner Brothers finally got the message.
Need a sig? Here, have this one...
Intel Hires Idiots [slashdot.org]
Re:Intel, fuck you (Score:3, Interesting)