Dept. of Homeland Security Enforces Expired Patent

Fouquet writes "Apparently the Department of Homeland Security does not have enough to do in keeping the US safe, and now is enforcing copyright law as well. The AP reports that a toy store owner in Oregon was requested by Homeland Security officials to remove a potentially copyright-infringing Rubik's cube-like toy from her shelves. The patent for Rubik's cube was issued in 1980, and so it is expired."

Fear of powers

In normal cases, people will just consult a lawyer (the shop owner did call her supplier, later), or at least ask for supporting documents before they complied to requests from officials. For example, you tend to ask for a search warranty if someone wants to search your house.

However with all the terrorism and patriotism nowdays, peasants can't afford to not cooperate, "just in case" you got blamed for being terrorist or unpatriotic.

Next thing we know, IRS burst into a kindergarten arresting several 5-year-old's for not calculating and paying proper tax while playing Monopoly, just to protect the integrity of the economy and nation's financial systems. "If they can't do tax at age of 5, will you trust them to pay tax 20 years later?!"

Getting back on topic:

"... Expired Trademark" + "...now is enforcing copyright law as well" + "The patent for Rubik's cube..." = WHAT THE FUCK

This is the most illinformed shit I've seen on Slashdot in a while. A Slashdot while that is, which is not very long. Sometimes people make a little mistake and think say for instance a trademark is covered under the same laws as copyright. Pisses me off, but it's never the end of the world. But this? The End of the World .

end of the world

The Red Sox won the World Series under a total lunar eclipse. The leader of the moderate Palestinians is on his deathbed. The Israeli coalition government is about to fall apart over the Gaza withdrawal plan. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has a serious case of thyroid cancer. All this less than a week before one of the most contentious US Presidential elections in history.

And now, Slashdot editors confuse copyright, trademark, and patent law all together at once, creating a sort of Grand Unified Theory of IP Confusion which was obviously the purpose of Slashdot.

So yeah, the end of the world.

Absolutely the worst writeup I've seen too

Definitely my award for worst slashdot writeup And that's saying a LOT.

A Rubik's cube can't be copyrighted - there's no text. The INSTRUCTIONS could be...

A trademark on it could be valid - but only if it was confusingly similar - ie, if a reasonable person buying it might THINK they were buying a Rubik's cube, or something from the same company.

The patent is apparently expired, at least if can trust the article. Which we can't.

Patent law != copyright law != trademark law != trade secret law. THEY ARE ALL TOTALLY SEPERATE.

*sigh*

Re:Absolutely the worst writeup I've seen too

A Rubik's cube can't be copyrighted - there's no text.

Wrong, copyright covers more than text. Copyright covers any fixed expression in a tangible medium. Thus, it covers text, but it also covers sculptures, bike racks, scribbles on paper, computer code on disk, and potentially, Rubix cube designs.

If the mods/editors need a quick refresher on what trademark/patent/copyright/trade secret really is, they can check out my blog. [smiglaw.com] So many people mess this up, I have to keep pointing this out. I'll gladly volunteer to review submissions concerning IP- I'm an IP attorney, and it really bugs me that people use these terms interchangeably.

*sighs louder*

Re:Fear of powers

it was a crime in progress, in a public place

Bzzzzzt! Wrong. It was in a shop, which is private property. Members of the public are admitted strictly by invitation of the rightful occupier -- and can be excluded for any reason they like.

I don't know about US law, but in the UK, trespass goes from being a simple civil offence to a full-blown criminal offence once you start disrupting a lawful activity {Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 s.61, from memory}.

Re:Fear of powers

These are US Customs agents. Customs agents enforce, among other things, import regulations against counterfiet goods.

The Customs Service is now part of Homeland Security. Ergo, DHS agents were the ones who investigated this incident.

(This is cut and pasted from below. It should be near the top... or in the summary)

Re:Fear of powers

Even if that's true, and it's somehow OK for customs agents to enter a business to stop their selling an item without a judicial process, and even if they distributor is somehow wrong that they are legally selling this toy, does that really sound like the kind of activity we need Homeland Security doing, when they're supposed to be catching terrorists? While they're screaming about otherwise imaginary terrorist threats to the election? Or is it exactly the kind of unaccountable abuse of government power, without due process, that will be excruciatingly bad when they come for an accused "terrorist" in a store, with the same disregard for due process?

Re:Fear of powers

If you do a little research on the web, you can find this page [ustreas.gov], which explains that such work is the
responsibility of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a part of the Department of Homeland Security. They received a trademark infringement complaint, and they followed up on the complaint. That's their job. Why are you getting your knickers in a bunch because some federal agents are doing their job? Nowhere does the inflammatory and poorly written article suggest that they accused the store owner of being a terrorist. Get a grip.

Re:Fear of powers

Why are you getting your knickers in a bunch because some federal agents are doing their job?

Because they weren't doing their job. Their job was to determine the validity of the complaint, which they utterly failed to do. Hence, they failed to do their job.

If anything, the infringer was the manufacturer -- not the retailer. They did not go after the manufacturer, they went after a retailer. Again, they failed in their duties.

Re:Fear of powers

No one gives a shit when perception overrules fact.

It's perceived that Homeland Security's job is to protect the nation from terrorists. That's how the administration billed the agency when it was created. Whether they have additional (or even completely different) duties or not is lost on about 99% of your audience.

In any event, I think the government has too much time on its hands in some respects, and this incident highlights that.

Re:Fear of powers

So basically you're advocating that their job is to respond to a complaint by immediately forcing whoever the complaint is made upon to stop doing whatever was complained about? Thats an interesting approach. So if my competator sells a competing product line, I should file a complaint and have the Department of Homeland Security come shut them down without first performing even the most cursory research? Even if they were right, which in this case they obviously were NOT, they should be stopping infringing products well before they hit retail shelves.

Re:Fear of powers

The trademark infringement complaint, according to the article, ....

Sigh. I guess dealing with the caliber of typical posters on slashdot is a waste of time. The author of the article didn't even grasp the difference between patents and trademarks. On top of that, the source that denied the existence of trademark infringement was the distributo of the infringing goods. Hello????

Of course, what else would you expect from the likes of an Associated Press reporter?

A little research turns up the fact that not only has Seven Towns Limited trademarked Rubik and Rubik's Cube, they have trademarked its appearance. You might want to check out this [rubiks.com], this [rubiks.com], and this [brinkshofer.com] before continuing your sophistry. Realizing that one might actually have to search a bit on the last referenced page to find the relevant commentary, I'll post it here:

March 2004

Section: 7th Circuit.

Gary Ropski was quoted in the March, 2004 publication of Corporate Legal Times in an article discussing the Seven Towns v. Hazco lawsuit concerning the Rubik's Cube. Mr. Ropski, counsel for Seven Towns, commented on Hazco saying that, "they know how valuable the Rubik's Cube trademark and trade dress are because they tried to get a license from Seven Towns to use it. . . After being refused permission, they used it anyway." He continued by saying, "The U.S. Patent and Trademark Association granted Seven Towns a trademark for the appearance of the Rubik's Cube. It's a violation of federal law to infringe that trademark by making a product that's confusingly similar."

So it turns out that the Customs agents knew their job and were doing their job, just as I stated. I'm sorry if you don't like the facts.

Re:Fear of powers

No. I'm advocating that they do their job, which they did. It turns out that Seven Towns Limited has a trademark on the terms "Rubik" and "Rubik's Cube" as well as on the appearance of the Rubik's cube. So the "Magic Cube" mentioned in the story was probably infringing on the appearance trademark. A little research reveals that Seven Towns had already won a lawsuit over this very issue. It's highly likely that the Customs agents had all the relevant information they needed to take their course of action.

I think you are the one who needs to do some cursory research before jumping to inaccurate conclusions and flaming professionals who are competently performing their jobs.

Re:Fear of powers

Their job was to stop the sale of an illegal knockoff. They did so. Kudos.

Your job is to read the article. You didn't do so, because if you did you'd know that no trademark was infringed, and the patent's already expired.

Being /. though, this still earns you kudos, or at least karma.

Re:Fear of powers

Your job is to read the article. You didn't do so, because if you did you'd know that no trademark was infringed, and the patent's already expired.

Which article did you read?

The article said, "...Agents went to Pufferbelly based on a trademark infringement complaint...." So, this is a trademark issue -- the patent expiration is irrelevant. It also said, "A representative [of Magic Cube's manufacturer] told her that ... the Magic Cube did not infringe on the rival toy's trademark." Of course the manufacturer said that. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the owners of the trademark who filed the complaint obviously disagree.

Please U[understand]TFA before you tell me to RTFA.

Re:Fear of powers

Well, the patent's a total red herring, anyway, it has nothing to do with the raid. The government never said they were enforcing a patent, whether it's expired or not seems to have nothing to do with it.

The only evidence the article presents that no trademark was infringed is "a representative" of the manufacturer, via hearsay testimony from the owner of the store, both of whom presumably have some interest in claiming not to be breaking the trademark.

Unfortunately, the only evidence the article presents that a trademark was infringed was a spokesperson for DHS stating there was a complaint. There is a lot we don't know - it's quite possible the Magic Cube does infringe on Rubik's trademark. Contrary to the title of the /. article, it's not expired; they're running around suing people [brinkshofer.com] for violating it.

But, beyond that, nowhere in the article does it say Rubik was the one complaining. People just jumped to that conclusion. There is a live trademark on "Magic Cube" [uspto.gov] for a "manipulative puzzle" filed in December, 2001 by Atico, International. It would seem reasonable to me that Toysmith's product violates this trademark. There is no information in the AP article to conclude "no trademark was infringed," in fact the reporter seems to have done no research at all but calling DHS and the toy store operator. It's a terribly done article that is mostly about how weird it is that the people who enforce trademarks now work for DHS. But that's hardly new or news.

Re:Fear of powers

The AP story said "the lead agent asked Cox whether she carried a toy called the Magic Cube, which he said was an illegal copy of the Rubik's Cube". Clearly the name isn't infringing the Rubik's Cube trademark, since it's distinctly different. We don't know whether there was a trade dress or other claim though. Which is part of the point: it's nice to tell people what they are supposed to have done wrong, specifically and accurately.

Cached Copy of the toystore page showing the item. [216.239.41.104] That doesn't look to me as though it's infringing anything I associate with the Rubik's Cube, other than the now unprotected puzzle itself.

My own personal impression, based on the story and the press release you cited, is that the trademark holder is seeking to use the law to harass others for the purpose of stifling competition in the marketing of an item no longer covered by an expired patent.

It would be interesting to know what the basis for the complaint was. Knowing that might cause me to change my current personal opinion.

Re:Fear of powers

There is a live trademark... for a "manipulative puzzle"

So they've trademarked my girlfriend's personality?

Re:Fear of powers

Uh this is how it always works. If there is reasonable suspicion you stop the action until through due process things can be resolved.
This is the same thing as arresting a person, then going through due process. You don't wait to have a trial before arresting somebody in a shooting. You arrest the person, arrange bond (to secure the person's appearance at trial) then go through the trial process.

due process costs money

Imagine you get a speeding ticket. You follow 'due process' and fight the ticket. Let's say you win (I have done this). You will be made to pay court costs, which are probably as much as the ticket. If you lose, the fine will be outrageous and the judge might slap community service or some incarceration atop of that if you piss him off too much.

That ticket is just a cop telling you he accuses you of doing this. The DHS people were doing the same thing. If they want to fight it, go to court. Expect to pay a lot of money and really be screwed if you lose, though.

Re:Fear of powers

Ah, but has anyone noticed that the Slashdot article contains THREE DIFFERENT IP GROUPS in it?

First, the title says "expired TRADEMARK", the article takes about the DHS enforcing COPYRIGHTS, then lastly it mentions that the PATENT for the rubik's cube is already expired.

So, like... did anyone bother to go over this and at least make sure that the article was at least talking consistantly about the specific IP protection being applied here?

Re:Fear of powers

I noticed it, as did several other posters in these subthreads. It's obvious to any regular Slashdot readers that the "authors" who actually accept submitted stories for publishing apply some cryptic, personal and inconsistent criteria to the selection process, which does not include fact or consistency checking. At least it's not a dup' of another story from a few days ago, which seems fashionable around here.

Re:Fear of powers

Have you read the article on Yahoo news? I know it's not typical for Slashdot readers to do so before commenting, but I'm just asking.

The Yahoo news article is consistent. "Immigration and Customs Enforcement" only claimed that they were protecting a trademark. The manufacturer of the Magic Cube _also_ claims that the patent on the Rubik's cube has expired, which is interesting but not very relevant.

Only the Slashdot article submitter throws in the word "copyright", which is completely wrong and not relevant to the article. It's a bit sad that CowboyNeal didn't catch this before putting the article on Slashdot.

- Erwin

Re:Fear of powers

The Department of [Whatever] marching in and "requesting" that someone do something or not do something 'just in case' is itself a form terrorism, by definition. People are genuinely afraid of what might happen if they don't fully comply, regardless of morality or legality. Many suppose that by 'going along to get along', they'll be rewarded with special favor.

This is exactly what you get when you trade freedom and liberty for the illusion of security. Security is always a future risk issue, and only a fool thinks the future is can be controlled by people. Of course there are general precautions, but history has shown that the most effective methods are simply to treat your neighbor as yourself, then only the profoundly selfish, sadistic and crazed are at issue. In which case, you're sunk anyway.

For example, why not empower the State to do daily inspections of every single home to root out 'terrorist cells'? Of course, if this were to be undertaken some "cells" would be found, but the proven reliable sociological effect would yield only the sadistic domination by the very 'security' people responsible for the enforcing the policy. And from the evidence I've seen this behavior cannot be predicted by any level of psychological screening. It's a matter of flawed human nature. And the effect is seen in less than a week, so for all those who think this is slow and unusual and is easily managed, you're simply wrong -- the effect propagates through all echelons of such organizations and is quite thorough and complete.

For those of you following along with the true issues involved, liberty has been redefined by Presidential decree three times in the last 50 years (see EO13083, et al). Of course, the US consitution itself hasn't been changed, but the dictionary used to decode it sure has.

It's a case of priorities

95% of shipping containers coming into this country aren't being inspected, yet we have law enforcement agents to spare to make sure Pufferbelly Toys pulls those subversive Magic Cubes off their store shelf? Has our government gone completely f'ing insane?

It's a matter of priorities and if this our current administration's idea of a law enforcement priority, then we need change really, really bad.

Re:It's a case of priorities

What you need to do is to stop terrorists at their source not after they've gotten their goods into the harbours.

Exactly. What you need to do is to stop terrorists at their source, and not terrorize your own people by hurting their privacy rights.

Tough statement, I know, but really just a logical conclusion from your argument...

Besides that (and back more on-topic, sorry), I think in this case the nomenclature is just unfortunate with the customs department being part of the DHS. On the other hand, look what this did to the shop owner... scare tactics at work.

Re:It's a case of priorities

What you need to do is to stop terrorists at their source not after they've gotten their goods into the harbours.

Yes, we all know that locking your door is pointless. You need to stop the criminals at their source, not after they've walked into your house.

So, you're saying that scanning containers is impossible, but somehow it is possible to find every single terrorist hiding spot?

Re:It's a case of priorities

Well the one with an AK47 or an M16 would do it he's bulleproof vest will certainaly stop your puny 22 mm toy gun.

Do you really want to live in a country where everyone have to wear a AK47 and a bulletproof vest if they go outside ?

Re:It's a case of priorities

No. What we need to do is make america safer. Not fucking expend resources trying to enforce expired patents/copyrights.

Pal I have to break you the news, but if we dont start figuring out a way to inspect the containers most of the seaports in this country could be blown to kingdom-come. There wont be any products left to buy.

The Terrorist threat has been blown way the fuck out of proportion by the bush administration. We were attacked (and also had several failed attempts) several times before 9/11. 9/11 was the most succesful for sure, but what exactly made it seem like all of a sudden the terrorists got more well organized, or more well financed than they were before 9/11 ? Need I also remind everyone that we were aware that 9/11 was being planned ? The intelligence was there. The government however is to bloated and bureaucratic to handle things like this, and hence dropped the ball.

Want to be secure ? Leave everyone else the fuck alone. You dont see every country in the world being attacked by militant islamic extremist foreigners now do you ? Its because most countries mind their own fucking business.

Oh ... and regarding this comment in specific:
"What you need to do is to stop terrorists at their source not after they've gotten their goods into the harbours."
You think searching the harbours or container ships is a problem ? Take a look at a fucking map, searching and securing the entire globe would be a bit harder. I think you can wait an extra month for your digital camera. The economy will adjust if it has to.

Re:It's a case of priorities

You dont see every country in the world being attacked by militant islamic extremist foreigners now do you?

Not every country, but there are a lot of them. Here are a few terrorist attacks from 2003 (the 2004 report isn't out yet). I excluded attacks on Americans, British, and Jews, because everyone knows we are evil and deserve it. I also left a lot of others out because I got tired of typing. All told, there were 208 significant terrorist attacks in 2003 resulting in 625 deaths and 3646 injuries. None of them occurred on U.S. soil. (source: Patterns of Global Terrorism 2003 [state.gov])

2/25/03 - Venezuela - 2 bombs explode simultaneously at spanish and columbian embassies. 1 Columbian and 3 Venezualans killed.

3/4/03 - Philippines - bomb explodes at airport. 21 killed, 149 injured.

3/20/03 - Lebanon - bomb explodes in apartment building. 2 killed, 9 wounded.

3/22/03 - Greece - bomb explodes at ATM.

3/24/03 - India - 11 men, 11 women, and 2 boys shot execution style by armed militants

3/25/03 - Serbia - 4 bomb attacks on UN interim administration

3/26/03 - Chile - bomb explodes at bank

3/29/03 - Greece - hand grenade tossed into a McDonalds

3/31/03 - Cuba - plane carrying 46 passengers hijacked

4/2/03 - Philippines - bomb explodes on passanger warf. 16 killed, 55 wounded.

4/5/03 - Lebanon - two bombs explode at restaurant. 10 wounded. undetonated C-4, TNT, and gas containers found.

4/8/03 - Algeria - 1 Swede and Dutch citizen kidnapped

4/11/03 - Algeria - 2 Austrians kidnapped

4/12/03 - India - multiple grenade attacks kill 1, wound 43.

4/12/03 - Venezuala - C-4 bomb explodes at OAS office

4/14/03 - France - militants set fire to car and destroy restaurant

4/15/03 - Turkey - bombs explode at 2 different McDonalds. 1 injured.

4/22/03 - India - bomb explodes at dairy. 6 killed, 12 wounded.

4/25/03 - India - bomb explodes at courthouse. 3 killed, 34 wounded.

5/5/03 - India - bomb and grenade attacks kill 1, injure 26.

5/16/03 - Morocco - 5 bombs explode simultaneously damaging Belgian consulate. 33 killed, 101 wounded.

6/4/03 - Belgium - Letters found containing the nerve agent adamsite. 10 hospitalized.

6/9/03 - Peru - 71 workers of an Argentine company kidnapped

6/17/03 - Italy - bomb explodes in front of spanish school

6/18/03 - France - militants destroy 2 villas with bomb blasts

6/26/03 - Kenya - aid workers attacked with hand grenades

7/3/03 - Columbia - 5 swiss citizens kidnapped

8/5/03 - Indonesia - bomb explodes in front of hotel 12 killed 149 wounded. Al-Qaida claims responsibility.

8/8/03 - Spain - mail bomb sent to Greek consulate

10/5/03 - Malaysia - 3 Indonesians and 2 Filipinos kidnapped. 1 escaped, 4 found executed.

11/11/03 - Greece - bomb found outside bank

Re:It's a case of priorities

just out of curriosity, does it say that all of these were commited by islamic foriegners ? Cause I dont see that information anywhere on that list.

You will also notice that a large number of those countries have a significant oppressed class/religion/whatever. Then quite a few are also just as guilty as the US regarding trying to control the world.

You know what you wont see on that list are any nuetral countries that dont have their own internal problems. Every single one of those countries has there own internal issues, was/is a significant ally of the US or is involved in the middle east on there own.

The criteria for that list is bullshit. The bloods and crips would be on that list if they were shooting at mcdonalds instead of each other, that doesnt make them terrorists, it makes them plain old criminals.

Re:It's a case of priorities

4/14/03 - France - militants set fire to car and destroy restaurant

Wow, serious terrorism. Let's look at what the report said:

14 France On 14 April 2003, in Sergy [sic] , France, militants set fire to a car parked outside the rear entrance of a McDonald's restaurant. The blaze partially destroyed the restaurant. No one claimed responsibility.

"militants... no one claimed responsibility"

Huh? Someone sets fire to a car in a "difficult suburb" (read ghetto) and all of a sudden it's "militants"?

From the Reuters report:

A police source in Cergy declined to speculate on whether the incidents were related, adding that there was no graffiti or other immediate clue to indicate why [ or even if ... ] the McDonald's might have been a target.

Re:It's a case of priorities

Terrorism? TERRORISM? You think terrorism is the biggest threat this country faces? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

The Center for Disease Control (the CDC) keeps odds on what you will most likely die from over the span of your life.

Do you know where terrorism ranks? Your more likely to die from lightning than die from a terrorist attack. That's right. Go to the CDC site and see it for yourself.

Your 8 times more likely to die in your own bathtub than die from a terrorist attack. TERRORISM?

You are 18516 times more likely to die in a car wreck than you are in a terrorist attack at the mall you were driving to. TERRORISM?

Do you know how many children in this country die every year because of no healthcare and no food? Do you know how many homeless people there are across the country?

TERRORISM?

You are THOUSANDS of time more likely to get shot, stabbed, hung, hit by car, flambayed, gored, frozen, drown, bludgeoned, and electrocuted during your life than die in a terrorist attack.

The amount of fear-mongering in this country is completely revolting. VOTE FOR BUSH BECAUSE HE PROTECTS US! Bullshit. How about making the roads safer. That would save thousands of lives as the average peron has a 1 in 81 chance of dying in a car wreck during their life.

I've read articles on how parents fear for their childrens safety in this "age of terrorism", while ignoring the fact that their child is thousands of times more likely to die just around their own homes than in a terrorist attack.

TERRORISM? The only real terrorism I know is the fear-gospel being spewed forth by the media.

"One terrorist attack is one too many." You have a 1 in 197 chance of being murdered in your lifetime. Compare this to a 1 in 88000 chance of being killed by the terrorist. I'm a little more concerned about being murdered.

TERRORISM? With 45 million people being uninsured for health, I really don't think that terrorism should be up at the top of the list. You are THOUSANDS of times more like to die from disease over your lifetime than you are to die in a terrorist attack over your lifetime.

No my friends. Terrorism is not the biggest threat to this country. Ignorance is. This country has real domestic problems of its own that DWARFS terrorism on all fronts.

We've spent billions on a war that didn't need to be fought, but we have millions of starving kids in our own backyard. We've spent billions to precision bomb a country that didn't even have clean drinking water, while thousands die every year in our country because they can't afford health care. Billions have been spent on Homeland Security, while homeless shelters have been packed to gills here in our own country.

Think about it.

~X~

sorry...

...tha's just wrong. Completely absolutely wrong. I distinctly remember when we had a great, viable economy, a GOOD one, BEFORE almost everything was imported. BEFORE. When any random Joe Normal blue collar job was enough for a house and a car and a flock of kids and benefits and vacations and savings. Not even a high paid white collar, just a normal middle of the road blue collar, and yes, it might even have been making inexpensive toys. Just because you don't remember it doesn't mean it didn't exist. They not only could inspect the containers, they could change the laws back to where the bulk of the containers were going OUT like they used to be when we had a REAL economy that wasn't skewed towards the globalist elite millionaire crowd and calling massive debt, deficits and credit a "strong economy".

That "not be able to inspect" the containers jazz is a load, OF COURSE they could if they wanted to, they don't want to. They manage to "inspect" 80 year old ladies and crippled vets in wheelchairs at the airport. They manage to "inspect" a heap of countries over yonder, to the tune of billions of dollars a WEEK using hundreds of thousands of dudes, some of them making in excess of 600$ a day to just tote a rifle. The "war on terrorism" is a complete fraud. It's war to terrorise americans,oh, that's true, that's really true, but it's being waged by the government, and this article proved it in yet again another small way.

You had to watch it grow ever since the 60s to see it,but it's been creeping incrementalism, and a lot of folks have been warning about it for years. The past few years they have hit the nitrous button, that's the only difference. And they show no sign of relenting, or rolling anything back for that matter, just ever onward. And people have been eating it and sucking it up every step of the way. Can't look at a news site anymore without seeing more and more evidence of it. A FAN at a baseball game shot and killed by getting hit in ther eye with a riot paintball pellet? Huh? Random "courtesy" checkpoints? Huh? Cameras all over staring at you? Huh? Even that name "Homeland Security" WHAT WW2 B war movie did they drag that from? What is all this crap BUT big brotherism and state terrorism?

The goons have proven it, the slow boiling frog, most people will just slurp it down, excuse it, make believe they aren't seeing or hearing what they are seeing or hearing, every step of the way.

Re:sorry...

great, viable economy, a GOOD one

Blessed are the days when the bad and nasty foreign manufacturers had an import quota of 6000 cars per class per year per manufacturer.

Blessed are the days when steel had an import duty of 30+%

Blessed are the days when... We can continue...

One minor problem though, the day these days return there will be the same measures everywhere else around the globe so no effing container is going out anywhere. Example - the recent spat over steel tariffs between US and EU.

So get real.

Re:sorry...

"Homeland Security" WHAT WW2 B war movie did they drag that from?

I dont see the problem - it's a perfectly uber name.

Re:Fear of powers

For example, you tend to ask for a search warranty if someone wants to search your house.

My search warranties always seem to expire right before I really need them.

Re:And why are you people voting for Bush?

"An evil exists that threatens every man, woman and child of this great nation. We must take steps to ensure our domestic security and protect our Homeland." -- Adolf Hitler, on the creation of the Gestapo

Re:And why _aren't_ you voting for Bush?

I'm sorry but I'm missing your point. This was a Custom's action, which just happens to be part of DHS. Nobody said the Patriot Act was invoked. It's a pretty far stretch to say this had anything to do with terrorism. The first time Terrorism came up was when the the /. crowd saw the letters DHS and automatically assumed it was a terorism case.

How do you know the claim is bogus? Nowhere does it even say what the actual claim was. Are you the judge and jury because some slashdot article gave you inaccurate and incomplete infromation, that you can pronounce a claim bogus? For that matter, how do you know they didn't have a warrant? The article doesn't mention it either way.

Re:And why _aren't_ you voting for Bush?

Vote Bush for a better, safer America. Vote Kerry for a wealthier Kerry.

Have you seen the price of oil recently?

go figure

He told her to remove the Magic Cube from her shelves, and he watched to make sure she complied.

She's lucky that she wasn't declared a terrorist and her all human rights voided on sight.

"One of the things that our agency's responsible for doing is protecting the integrity of the economy and our nation's financial systems and obviously trademark infringement does have significant economic implications," she said.

God forbid some terrorists fly some Boeing knock-offs into buildings instead of legitimate ones.

"Aren't there any terrorists out there?" she said.

The war is not meant to be won....

So which is it?

Trademark in the title, copyright in the summary, but a patent on the Rubik's cube. These are all different you know...

Re:So which is it?

These are all different you know... They are? In /. land, all IP is the same, and it is all BBBBBBBAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDD.

Re:So which is it?

Patents expire. Copyrights nominally expire, but even if they don't you can make other stuff that does the same thing from scratch (unlike patents). Trademarks never expire, but they're only supposed to be for names/designs/similar. (Supposed.)

Re:So which is it?

actually trademarks do expire, but only once they fall into disuse, or go undefended, unlike patent and copyright which is a fixed time.

Re:So which is it?

Yeah, it made me want to moderate the story [-1, Confused].
-russ

Ahh, America

Ahh, America -- land of the moron. Where the nation's anti-terrorism forces bravely persecute toy-store owners for "violation" of expired patents.

waste of resources

wait up a second, are you telling me, that the homeland security agents have nothing better to do than take off a rubiks cube clone? surely there must be something.

"One of the things that our agency's responsible for doing is protecting the integrity of the economy and our nation's financial systems and obviously trademark infringement does have significant economic implications,"

a Rubiks Cube Clone??? Seriously, i could eat a bowl of alphabits and crap a better Bullshit argument.

Re:waste of resources

It's probably a typical case of government spending. If you don't spend the funds allocated to you this year, you don't have them next year. This perpetuates so much government waste. So they probably ran out of leads on terrorist cells and went after this person so they have a reason to request another million dollars in extra funding next year.

What makes this so sad is that slowly the terrorists are winning. I don't mean that as a joke. Their goal seems to have been to make our lives as shitty as theirs and they're are making progress.

And no, John Kerry in office isn't going to change anything because you still have Republicans in the house and senate. And yes, I am a Republican and no I don't agree with everything that they do.

Huh?

Dept. of Homeland Security Enforces Expired Trademark
Apparently the Department of Homeland Security does not have enough to do in keeping the US safe, and now is enforcing copyright law as well.
The patent for Rubik's cube was issued in 1980, and so it is expired."

So, are we talking about a copyright, a trademark, or a patent?

Re:Huh?

more a problem with the article than a problem with the government's account of the event...

Either way, it really bugs me that homeland security is even thinking about anything besides terrorism. Why the hell are we paying agents to fly out to bumsville for a da## rubiks cube.. And if we're paying them to do that, why aren't we paying them to research things first? Perhaps the same researchers that decided there were WMD's in Iraq (though I think there must be somewhere.. still intelligence was bad enough we cant find them if they are there)..

rUSsiA

USA seem more and more like a police state. Once I wanted to visit USA but now I wouldn't dream of setting foot in the states. I'd probably be arrested if I said something wrong.

Re:rUSsiA

You think that's bad?

Check this [livejournal.com] out.

Excerpt:

A couple of weeks ago, following the last presidential debate, I said some rather inflammatory things about George W. Bush in a public post in my LJ, done in a satirical style. We laughed, we ranted, we all said some things. I thought it was a fairly harmless (and rather obvious) attempt at humor in the face of annoyance, and while a couple of people were offended, as is typical behavior from me, I saw something shiny and forgot about it, thinking that the whole thing was over and done and nothing else would come of what I said.

I was wrong.

At 9:45 last night, the Secret Service showed up on my mother's front door to talk to me about what I said about the President

Re:rUSsiA

a buddy of mine just came back from Canada, via USA

Zandecks [easyjournal.com]

**Snip--From the end of the Blog**

After about half an hour of searching they let me go and everything was ok. The customs girl who searched me was really nice and I've got nothing against her, but now there is a file on me that they found traces of cocain in my bag. I thought about how the hell this could happen, and when I got home I realised that the lock on my bag was missing (I had noticed earlier but forgot when I was being searched). I opened up my bag again and found a note from US customs. Apparently they had broken open my bag to search it. I guess ing these fuckers searched my bag and accidently contaminated my bag with some cocain they found on an ealier search. Thanks guys...

**Snap**

Re:rUSsiA

Here's the context you so carefully snipped out:

a prayer for dubya

Dear God:

Wassup? How's it hanging? Yeah, I know it's been a long time since we talked. This probably stems from my belief that you do not exist. Anyway, the reason why I'm calling you is because last night, President Bush said that he could feel it every time we prayed for him, and since he apparently doesn't listen to anyone but you, Lord, I thought you might pass this along to him.

Re:Mod Parent Up

You do realize that this is exactly the type of speech the First Amendment was put in place to protect?

Re:rUSsiA

The only reason I would go to the USA would be to help in the next revolution.

And that wouldn't look good on a visa application...

Re:rUSsiA

Can I point out two things?

1. The country code in his URL is .dk. Would it be so hard to look up the ISO country codes before going off on your anti-German rant? Because Denmark suffered as much as the rest of Europe under the Nazis. You know you are not helping if you perpetuate the stereotype of the ignorant American, no?
2. The German anti-Nazi laws are pretty strong, yes. Guess where they got them from? They were dictated to the German Federal Republic by the Allied Powers, and given the relative power levels in those days, that means by the United States of America.

Here's a clue boy: go get yourself an education, you seem to need it.

Mart

Just Wow.

Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said agents went to Pufferbelly based on a trademark infringement complaint filed in the agency's intellectual property rights center in Washington, D.C.

"One of the things that our agency's responsible for doing is protecting the integrity of the economy and our nation's financial systems and obviously trademark infringement does have significant economic implications," she said.

This sounds like really great news. What next? Every person who downloads MP3s is automatically branded a 'terrorist' because they might be threatening the integrity of the economy? Even if they own the CD in question (which is analogous here, because legally there's nothing wrong with the Majick Cube either now that the Rubik's patent has expired)?

--Ryvar

Confusion

The title says, "trademark", the blurb says, "copyright" then takes about "patent". These terms are not interchangeable. The article clearly says this is a trademark issue.

Customs is part of Homeland Security and customs has been enforcing these laws for as long as I can remember. These are imported goods.

Uh huh

This is a surprise? Here [dailytexanonline.com] is a nice quote on abuse of the Patriot Act:

"Within six months of passing the PATRIOT Act, the Justice Department was conducting seminars on how to stretch the new wiretapping provisions to extend them beyond terror cases," said Dan Dodson, a spokesman for the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys. "They say they want the PATRIOT Act to fight terrorism. Then, within six months, they are teaching their people how to use it on ordinary citizens."

Re:Uh huh

Fahreinheit 911 had a good take on the Patriot act with that Senator going "we don't have enough time to read all the bills" etc. I'm sorry but THAT'S YOUR FUCKING JOB. That's why it's called "a reading" before the law is passed - YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO READ IT. During the "reading" if it turns up late and if it takes a week to read it, fine, that'll teach the legislators to publish the draft bills early enough to get them thouroughly read before the reading.

Democracy is quietly dying because a buch of lazy people will happily pass the "Happy fluffy bunny (you'd be a nasty pinko liberal for not passing this) bill" without actually reading it and finding out that it disbands senate & congress and leaves all legislative & executive power in the hands of the president who now has an extended (life) term of office.

Re:Uh huh

Fahreinheit 911 had a good take on the Patriot act with that Senator going "we don't have enough time to read all the bills" etc. I'm sorry but THAT'S YOUR FUCKING JOB. That's why it's called "a reading" before the law is passed - YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO READ IT.

I think this is a bit simplistic. The senate had 735 Bills [state.mo.us]last year according to that site, with language such as:

"A producer member shall submit to the authority an application for the tax credit authorized by this section on a form provided by the authority. If the producer member meets all criteria prescribed by this section and is approved by the authority, the authority shall issue a tax credit certificate in the appropriate amount."

Imagine trying to understand 735 documents composed of such language, some of which can be many many pages, or make "small" adjustments to current laws. Some bills, I'm sure, are written and titled to purposely obfuscate their true intentions as well.

My guess is that's why senators and house members have staffs: to read the bills and tell them what they mean. There's not time enough in the day to read and understand fully all those bills.

But...

I certainly agree that each bill should be fully understood before it's voted on, which would mean a LOT more time between introduction and passing, which would mean fewer bills being passed, which is fine with me except in emergency situations (like aid to hurricane victims, etc.).

Democracy is quietly dying because a buch of lazy people will happily pass the "Happy fluffy bunny (you'd be a nasty pinko liberal for not passing this) bill" without actually reading it...

No, democracy is dying because of fundamental flaws in large scale republics and american culture, and lack of interest and education of Americans.

(Disclamer: I'm an American and I dislike both of the major candidates, but I hate Bush more. Remember though, the DMCA was passed under Clinton.)

Of course!

Puzzles are an atempt to destroy our national security! If our children had puzzels they, they might become smart, and ask questions. We can't have children asking questions now can we? They'll never make good sheeple that way!

DHS seems to have morphed

The American Federal government already has a law enforcement agency, that being the ever-venerated FBI. In addition, the Secret Service also acts in some cases as a law enforcement agency, providing protection for the President, government buildings like the U.S. mints, and, of course, as the chief investigator of counterfeiting schemes.

Now the DHS seems to see its role as more than a simple anti-terrorist investigative agency. They think of themselves as another arm of Federal law enforcement. To some extent, they are correct. The role they play is vital to American national security, and to reach the goals of the agency it is mandatory that they have the ability to use law enforcement tactics.

However, to stretch the fairly narrow initial charter of the DHS to include such things as "defending the national economy" is nothing short of stupid and dangerous. When the DHS was formed, their purview only included possible terrorist attacks. Now it is expanded to include just about any crime that someone deems undesirable.

The government should not have many overlapping law enforcement agencies. Indeed, this is what led to the massive intelligence failure on 9/11 with the lack of communication between the various government agencies. The DHS would be better absorbed into the FBI as a anti-terror division than to continue expanding its powers unabated.

But wait...

...expiration violations aside, shouldn't the order be to stop manufacturing them, not to stop selling them? Also, isn't the owner of this (expired) patent responsible for enforcing it instead of Homeland Security just hunting them down?

Just the facts ma'am

"Aren't there any terrorists out there?" she said.

Terrorists? Do you think we'd be mucking around in Iraq if we knew where to find terrorists??

Now just put down the cubes and nobody gets hurt.

Nothing to see here

These are US Customs agents. Customs agents enforce, among other things, import regulations against counterfiet goods.

The Customs Service is now part of Homeland Security. Ergo, DHS agents were the ones who investigated this incident.

Patents are important for security

Terrorist suppliers cannot be allowed to sell the tools of evil with just one click.

The terrorist must always click twice.

Useless summary.

Trademarks don't expire. Trademark, copyright, and patent are entirely different things. Reading the summary you can't tell which of these areas of law was involved and you get the impression that the action was taken on expired IP.

The article states that the action was taken on the basis of a trademark. With a name like "Magic Cube" if the toy is anything at all like a Rubic's Cube then it almost certainly does infringe on the Rubic's Cube trademark.

And why all the fake wonderment about the department of Homeland Security handling the case? In case anyone missed the press release the department is not some niche organisation that deals specifically with terrorism. It's a big tarball of a whole bunch of departments and old law enforcement angencies that used to deal with all manner of federal law enforcement issues. They do lots of things besides deal with terrorism.

Re:Useless summary.

With a name like "Magic Cube" if the toy is anything at all like a Rubic's Cube then it almost certainly does infringe on the Rubic's Cube trademark.

Yeah, cause how dare they call a six-faced object with square faces a "Cube". I mean, they even capitalized the C!

I want one

Oh man, I want one of those Magic Cubes so bad, which is funny, because I hated the Rubiks Cube (not because it was hard, it was just too popular).
So how about it ThinkGeek? I want "the toy the government doesn't want you to know about".
How cool would that be.

Conspiracy Theory

Perhaps all newer true Rubix cubes are embedded with some sort of micro chips/sensors, (perhaps even microphones and/or cameras!) which can detect if and how long it took a person to solve it, then these individuals are added to some sort of watch list, because they arent the typical dumb sheep the government wishes to rule. But I digress

I'm not sure what's more frightening

Homeland Security raiding toy stores because they've run out of terrorist threats, or the fact that they can't tell the difference between a patent and a copyright. And we're surprised other countries think we're idiots.

You have a chance to do something about it next Tuesday. Go vote.

We're going to have to change our name to the country formerly known as the land of the free.

Abuse of Power

Tom Delay, (R-TX), is under indictment in Texas for abusing his power as leader of the majority in the House of Representatives (ie, a powerful man) to sic Homeland Security on a group of Democrats state assemblymembers as part of a bitter redistricting battle. Regardless of the merit of the Democrat strategy, Homeland Security was clearly not appropriate, though Delay was able to use them for his purposes, without any security component.

If we let these powermad tyrants have power, they will abuse it, and maybe apologize later, after the damage is done. We have to get rid of this unaccountable department immediately, and use our National Security system to protect us. Anyone know what is the difference is between "National" Security and "Homeland" Security? Or the Department of Defense, for that matter? We're turning into squalid East Germany, where every fifth German was a "security" henchman, controlling their neighbors through surveillence and intimidation.

Re:Abuse of Power

Here's a list of abuses from just this week alone. [everythingisnt.com]

>If we let these powermad tyrants have power

We did. They won a long time ago. Thanks to things like the "culture war," conservative media passing itself off as "fair and balanced," Reaganomics, the marriage of Christian fundies to the GOP, etc. The damage that has been done will take decades to fix, if not generations.

POE

I was watching a movie on the american poet Poe and he was impoverished most of his life becasue he was so vocal about copyright (pro copyright) that knowbody would hire him. We have come full circle.

This concerns Trademarks...

The slashdot story confuses copyrights, trademarks and patents: at issue is trademark infringement (or so it seems). Copyrights have nothing to do with the story, and the patent on rubiks cubes was only mentioned by the copycat manufacturer to clarify that the patent had expired.

Specifically, the trademark probably hasn't expired (in principle trademarks don't while you defend them); A rubiks cube (or anything similar) can't infringe upon copyright (unless you're crazy enough to consider it a medium for information).

I don't like whining about bad slashdot stories; but this really is poorly presented...

--Eamon

Submitter and gov't has no clue about trademarks

What the hell? Trademark, copyright, and patent must all be the same according to the submitter. Hmm, why are they called different things then?

OK, so US Customs is enforcing a trademark violation. Fine.

What is wrong is that Customs does not have jurisdiction inside the US only coming and going from it. Once in the US, it is a civil case that would need at least a hearing or court order to remove merchandise from the store. More than likely, an authorized local authority would then execute the court order(not actual agents).

It is disturbing that Homeland Security did think that Magic Cube and Rubik's Cube are similar in name or that they don't understand what a trademark is. Most disturbing is that Homeland Security obviously does not understand the laws they are trying to enforce or how to legally enforce them.

The only 'wrong' thing going on is that Rubik or whoever reported it is intentionally damaging and interfering with Magic Cubes and Pufferbelly Toys businesses. Homeland Security should immediately return the items to Pufferbelly Toys and apologize. I don't think there is much Pufferbelly Toys can do for restitution directly against Homeland Security. It would be nice to be able to sue the government for incompetence, but then there would be no government left.

the real story

The article fails to mention that three of the six sides were arranged to spell out "WMD."

Magic Cube is a trademark

Magic Cube(TM) is an active and fairly famous trademark. The Magic Cube(TM) is a toy for toddlers that makes a crapload of electronic noise when you push buttons on it.

A rubik's cube like toy is fine to import into the US, just don't call it Magic Cube(TM), GameCube(TM), or XBox(TM).

Probably not what it's hyped up to be...

The trademark "Magic Cube", as it applies to "manipulative puzzles", is owned by Atico International USA Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, FL. You can find out stuff like that here [uspto.gov]. The manufacturer/importer of the Magic Cube puzzles in the story is the Toysmith Group of Auburn, WA. This could be nothing more than the rightful owner of a trademark pressing its case against a possibly unwitting party who didn't do any trademark research before naming their product. It probably has nothing to do with Erno Rubik, his expired patent, or any copyrights.

Right agents to enforce TM, but didn't do homework

Yup, it's the customs agents who are responsible for trademark violations for imported goods. Not sure who if the goods are domestic, which is the case here.

The problem here is the agents didn't do their homework. They MERELY ACCEPTED THE COMPLAINT ON FACE VALUE. This makes the agents look stupid.

If they'd done their homework, they'd know that the only potentially valid claim is a trademark claim, and in order to be clear-cut, they'd have to be something so close to "Rubik's Cube" as to cause confusion. If they'd been misspelled as "Rubick's Cubes" or even "Rubick's Boxes" I could see the feds having a case, but "Magic Cube" has no confusion. The "Cube" part is "merely descriptive" and not worthy of protection.

obligatory monty python...

Nobody expects the homeland security! Our primary weapons are expired copyrights, and rubik's cubes...

oh damn, let me come in again.

National Intellectual Property Rights Center

There really is a National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center [ice.gov] in the Department of Homeland Security. They even have a convenient online form [ice.gov] for reporting "intellectual property violations".

This is part of the Cornerstone Initiative [ice.gov], "Protecting the Homeland through Economic Security". Their site is "being revised", but their newsletter [ice.gov] lists what they're up to.

are trademark cases normally like this

Are trade mark cases normally looked into via the gov. Its my understanding that for patent and trademark issues the owner has to launch the law suit to follow it up...

Not Patent! National Security!

Everyone knows Rubik's Cube is a smart toy that helps kids train thinking and generally extends intelligence.
Now, if kids start using it, they grow smart and intelligent. And intelligent people start to question questionable orders from the government, protest against warfare, lobby towards upbringing that makes smart kids, may listen to reason instead of blindly following propaganda...

This toy is definitely danger to homeland security.
(but such reasons can't be stated clearly so the dept had to think of some other bogus reasons like the patent or such...)

patent? copyright? trademark?

The summary is going all over the place, talking about "enforcing copyright law", "expired patents", and "trademarks".

• the three kinds of IP are based on entirely separate bodies of law
  
• trademarks don't expire
  
• copyrights do, but not for a long time
  

Please try to keep the three concepts apart. One thing is clear: the DHS should have no business enforcing any of them.

Civil vs Criminal

I'm no attorney, but it appears any department enforcing patents, copyrights, and trademarks like this is overstepping their jurisdiction.

These laws are written to protect products and ideas in CIVIL cases. If your protected idea or product is infringed upon, you go to CIVIL court, sue someone's ass off, get a cease and desist order and walk away with a nice fat stack of cash.

Disobeying the court's ruling might land you some criminal charges, but that requires a court order and cops.

If my understanding of this is wrong, hopefully an attorney will correct me.

-ted

Back to Basics

Many of the specifics of this case don't really matter, I think. What everybody in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) needs to realize is that they now work in the most intimidating department of the federal government, because of stories like this and worse ones... whether true or not, the stories of people being taken away and held without bond, the blanket superuser authority of DHS officials is scary to anybody.

Because of the fear involved in their department, they need to be very careful the way they deal with the public, especially when the public they're dealing with is obviously and completely unrelated to a serious threat against the Homeland (and I'm not talking about a minor "economic" threat like selling cheap copies of toys). Of course, this won't matter to many of them, because unfortunately there are many in law enforcement at all levels who do it because of the power they can yield by flashing a badge, turning on a blue light, or calling somebody on the telephone and dropping the name of their agency.

I am voting for Bush next Tuesday for a variety of reasons (please try not to get inflamed about my choice, which might be different than yours) and I often defend the actions of the DHS (although I wasn't convinced and am still not convinced that we needed a new cabinet-level department to keep us safe) and I often defend the Patriot Act (though I have an open mind about parts of it that might need to be ammended). But I'm not going to be partisan and find an imaginary way to defend anybody from the DHS contacting a retailer and making them remove an item from their shelves without clearly and kindly demonstrating the reasons for the removal, just because I think that's supporting my candidate. These guys would have gotten all the response that they wanted from the retailer by simply saying they were with the Customs Service. Suddenly everybody who is a part of the DHS (which is a LOT of people) wants to go around name-dropping so they get an extra little fear out of everybody. It's completely unneccessary and ridiculous. I would say that many, many people in the DHS should never have to tell the public in their introductions what cabinet department they're in. It will inevitably generate more fear and intimidation than is necessary.

I believe this is not a policy problem, though. This is that rampant problem with the lower levels of law enforcement, the name dropping and ego trip problem. Unfortunately, there's little that can be done about this, except for a change in the culture, which can take decades.

RP

Wow, IP is confusing!

So the toy would have been copyright-infringing, except that its patent was granted 24 years ago, which means that its trademark is now expired.

And I thought I had figured this whole IP thing out. Man. *scratches head*

This post really stinks ...

The writer utilizes every form of intellectual property as if they were interchangeable. It demonstrates that the writer does not understand any of them. Its kind of sad for such an intriguing story to make it to slashdot on such a poor introduction. Doesn't anyone edit these things?

I think there should be a mechanism to mod down an entire story when it is presented like this. Pretty sad.

WTF?

This is the most insane thing ive read this week, Is this even true? why havnt any big media sources (ie TV) picked it up? how come its not even one of those "and now for a strange story" items where they send a reporter around to do a quick interview? did she have a security camera? Have any other shops been aproached? has the company been contacted by HS? has HS been contacted to actually confirm this? Was it a prank? so many questions and so few answered. I'd really love to believe this and see some more reporting on it because if its true its just insane and scary and makes no sense and would make great news.

Re:But we all know...

Ok, who modded me troll?

Come one now, this is /. I have to stand up for my right to make totally asinine posts completely devoid of any relevant subject matter related to the article which I haven't even read.

Re:Uh... yeah.

I've figured it out. The Rubiks cube was actually invented by some commie, wasn't it? So the All-American Majick Cube would actually be HELPING our economy, by making sure part of the profits didn't go to those godless communists.

So, if the Dept of Homeland Security confiscated the American cubes.... they must be agents of the Soviet Government. Thats the only thing that makes sense.

Re:Oh come on

That's right, "boys will be boys". OK if I call DHS on you, for that suspicious glow from your basement around Midnight every night? You can explain it all to the press properly when they get there to pick through the wreckage.