Lawyer Trademarks "Cyberlaw" 81
BigTimOBrien writes to mention the EFF is reporting that self-proclaimed cyberlawyer, Eric Menhart, has decided to trademark use of the term "cyberlaw" and is threatening other lawyers with legal action over the term. "I wish I could say I was surprised by this one, but such overreaching invocations of IP rights are all too common -- even where, as in this case, there are no actual "rights" to speak of. But an IP lawyer should know that courts (and trademark examiners, and many tech companies that might be potential clients) don't look kindly on efforts to abuse trademark law to control everyday language. Here's hoping Menhart figures that out fast."
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CC.
Google reports 340,000 hits for "cyberlaw" (Score:2, Informative)
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Predicting life in a trailer park reeeeeaaaaaaal soon for him.
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Scary
I support his efforts entirely (Score:5, Funny)
Cheers,
Ian
Re:I support his efforts entirely (Score:4, Funny)
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Oh, cybershut-up® this is a cyberhorrible® and cyberchildish® form of cybernagging®
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What do you want to remove next?
Re:I support his efforts entirely (Score:4, Funny)
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Also Bush Law (Score:2)
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Side note: IANAL always makes me think of iAnal. I'm not sure what it would be, but I bet it'd be awesome.
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Ridiculous, but unimportant (Score:1)
EFF invented "CyberLaw" (Score:4, Informative)
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.org.eff.talk/msg/bc39f25662095d9a >
linkfix (Score:5, Informative)
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The Matrix
Cyberlaw
NetTech
Networlds
Wetware
FutureNets
TechnoRisks
Homesteading
How can you take terms like these, and the people who use them, seriously?
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It's easier than things like "necessary losses", "intellectual property", and "fresh frozen".
Re:EFF invented "CyberLaw" (Score:5, Interesting)
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The rules are different, but there is an analogous requirement. We got the Linux trademark back from the shit who tried to steal it because he knew Linus had been using it for trade first and continuously since.
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Amazon has fifty books for sale with Cyberlaw in their title. None of them refer to this scumbag lawyer. The term is used as a generic, not a trademark.
My own book has a Cyberlaw tag [amazon.com] on the Amazon cloud.
I think the reason the EFF is upset is that they suspect a lawyer who uses this type of scumbag tactics probably isn't a very good lawye
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Your story sounds interesting. Maybe we can post it here [theconsumeronline.com]. Read this [theconsumeronline.com] for more info. Thanks.
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http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cyberlaw [reference.com]
Maybe we can add his picture to TWO definitions
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Yes, in fact. If someone tries to trademark a word in its dictionary usage, the PTO is probably going to consider the use generic and thus not trademarkable.
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Soap opera (Score:2)
Quick! (Score:2, Funny)
Not Guilty (Score:3, Funny)
The real culprit here is the idiot who approved the claim.
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So (Score:1)
Everyday language? (Score:2)
(TM) Well (Score:1)
Wikipedia. (Score:3)
Wikipedia has something new to add to their article on Cyberlaw [wikipedia.org], which dates back to January, 2003.
Can anyone say... (Score:2)
Cyber... (Score:1)
Cyberlaw, soon to apply to cyberlaw. (Score:1)
And this is a chance to. . . (Score:1)
This is a sign of a rabid lawyer.... (Score:2)
Stupid strategy (Score:2)
Related information (Score:5, Informative)
2. He is currently suing the scammer, but apparently without success so far; his motion for discovery was denied [justia.com].
3. His client successes [washingtoncitypaper.com] page consists of, essentially:
(a) we won an anti-spam appeal... after we lost the initial case... in which we were the plaintiffs when we were in law school.
(b) A startup needed some startup forms. We drafted some startup forms.
(c) A journal needed some licensing forms. We drafted some licensing forms.
4. His "Attorneys" page talks about "the people in the organization", and then lists: Eric Menhart. His two "Appellate Advocacy" cases include (a) his own case, from 3(a), and (b) one other case, which appears to be a TCPA junk fax lawsuit.
5. His "Alliances" page starts by pointing out that he's only a few blocks from the White House, and "near" the Supreme Court and other courthouses - including being within 100 miles of other circuit courts. It then addresses the actual issue of alliances: They have "numerous strategic alliances with other lawyers and law firms around the nation." That's it.
6. Among his seven "Practice Areas" pages, the only page actually claiming any experience is the "Litigation" page, which states: "CyberLaw® offers substantial litigation experience. When you retain the firm, your matter will be handled by an attorney with state and federal trial and appellate experience. The firm is also experienced with alternative dispute resolution proceedings, such as before the American Arbitration Association."
We know from #3 that Eric gained "state and federal trial and appellate experience" by... filing a lawsuit on his own behalf as a law student, losing it, appealing it, and winning on appeal. And one other case. We don't know if he has other experience in a courtroom. We don't know what he means by "substantial".
7. His "binary logo" - probably mandatory for any firm calling itself CyberLaw - is "11010101011010100101000". That's 23 bits.
legal jargon (Score:1)
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7. His "binary logo" - probably mandatory for any firm calling itself CyberLaw - is "11010101011010100101000". That's 23 bits.
11010101011010100101000 is a valid base-2 number.
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But whatever the hell could it mean? The only thing remotely valid I can think of is: 699-3192 might be his phone number, but since it clearly doesn't form a proper "byte" without some padding ... it's an ignorant gibberish.
Not to defend the tool with the website, but... Assuming a binary number must align with an arbitrary byte length (nothing says a byte *has* to be a power of two in length; maybe the system designer had a fetish for prime numbers) is ignorant gibberish.
I'm going to assume you've n
asshole. (Score:1)
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This is different, though. This would be like Microsoft rechristening their office software as 'Word Processor(TM)', then sending "a po
He needs to rethink his strategy (Score:1)
Solve this quickly (Score:2)
Why should he have all the trademarking fun? (Score:1)
Shyster whores himself for attention (Score:2)
Thats ok... (Score:2)
For a lawyer, he's pretty stupid.... (Score:2)
Stupid Stupid Word (Score:3, Informative)
I never use it, even though it seems I'm sometimes surrounded by people that do.
I prefer Electronic Crime or eCrime to Cybercrime, for example.
Internet Cafe or Net Cafe to CyberCafe and so on.
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I like Cybermen.
Heck, I even like Daleks.
Probably tells you what my opinion's worth.
-abs
Comment removed (Score:3, Informative)
Its pointless (Score:2)
Which lawyer (Score:1)
orly? (Score:1)
Cyberlaw? Fuck him, I'll trademark e-law! (Score:2)
The rest of the lawyers should fight back (Score:2)
Uh Huh.... (Score:1)
Later on he should patent the ice cube
From what I can gather from the web, without too researching it too deeply is:
"Generic words that are widely used to describe any number of businesses in the same field may not be appropriated by a single competitor. For exampl