It'd appear that The Hollywood Hardass™ herself, Deadline Hollywood Daily's Nikki Finke, has trademarked one of her very loud, angry catchphrases. Can you guess which one? And can you guess what practice Ms. Finke has rallied against in the past?
People was kind enough to check in with the cast of MTV's Jersey Shore today to find out how they hope to capitalize on their insta-fame. Snooki and J-WOWW are both following reality TV tradition and launching clothing lines; Ronnie says he may open a tanning salon with his dad as well as introduce a beverage line;…
Interested in a beach bag that says "Westhampton Beach?" An Southampton-branded umbrella? A wallet with "East Hampton Beach" stamped on it? We can't imagine you would be. Nevertheless, we're also guessing the powers that be on the East End of Long Island won't be happy to hear that they no longer control their own…
No one has been more shameless about self-branding and self-marketing than Donald Trump. Over the past few years, he's stamped his name on everything from a line of steaks and bottled water to a collection of golf wear, accessories and watches. But not every Trump-related project gets off the ground, as was the case…
The financial news of the past year has provided plenty of inspiration to entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on the misery. But will the public rush to stores to scoop up a video game called "Bailout Wars" (above)? Will people bypass their chewing gum of choice and seek out "Meltdown Gum" instead? And would anyone in…
Kimora Lee Simmons owns the word "fabulosity." (Really, she does.) The definition, though, appears to have changed a bit. Back when the going was good, such fabulosity might have included a Perrier-Jouët champagne pedicure. Now? "Fabulosity is being able to buy an outfit for under $100," she explains WWD. Fortunately,…
Facebook settled a long-running trademark suit from Aaron Greenspan (pictured), the Harvard student whose "Universal Face Book" system predated Facebook and was used heavily by its founder before he publicly branded his own social network. Greenspan is just the latest mess Facebook has tidied up.
This much is provable: G.ho.st, a hosted service that dubs itself the Global Hosted Operating SysTem, uses a slogan, "No Walls." Microsoft's new Seinfeld-powered Windows campaign pushes several slogans, including "Imagine No Walls." Sleep-deprived superreporter Kara Swisher tells us the G.ho.st gang claims trademark…
Michael Dell will not get paid every time you say "cloud computing." The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has finally shut down Dell's attempt to trademark the phrase "cloud computing" late last week. Earlier in the week, the USPTO reversed a decision letting Dell proceed with its trademark request. [The Register]
Dell's recent attempt to register the term "cloud computing" as a trademark has taken on one small hitch. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently reversed its decision to grant a "Notice of Allowance" — a written notification that a specific mark has survived the opposition period following publication — and is…
The PC megamaker quietly obtained trademark protection last month for the term "cloud computing." U.S. law says that as soon as Dell begins using the term, it owns the trademark and can force other companies to stop using it. But realistically, would you try to sell "cloud computing" to Wal-mart shoppers? Dell's…
Facebook lawyers want to bar Aaron Greenspan, a Harvard chum of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, from marketing his new book, Authoritas: One Student's Harvard Admissions and the Founding of the Facebook Era. Their rationale: It uses the company's trademarked name improperly in the title. But their real goal is…
Fark.com LLC, Drew Curtis' company which operates the zany headlines site, has applied for a trademark on "not safe for work" with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Given how long "NSFW" has been around, we suspect it might be difficult getting the mark granted, never mind how Fark founder Drew Curtis proposes…
