Thinking about buying a netbook, you might have to call it something else. Psion trademarked the name 'netbook' back in the early 2000s on a series of notebook computers. They didn't sell well and the line was ultimately discontinued in 2006. Now other companies such as Dell, HP, MSI, Asus, Acer and others are selling small notebook computers and calling them Netbooks. Psion is claiming this infringes on their trademark. Intel and Dell have insisted that the name "netbook" has been abandoned and should be considered generic and have made a legal request that Psion be stripped of the trademark. Psion is counter suing.
See Psion's countersuit here.
Posted by Jon Lutz
One of the library's new acquisitions is Seed Wars, a book about plant genetic resources and intellectual property rights. It can be checked out from the Florida State Law Research Center and will be found on the first floor at K 3876.A65 (2008).
"Seed Wars is a comprehensive overview of the current domestic and international legal 
controversies regarding intellectual property protections for plant genetic resources (PGRs) over the past three decades. This book examines these controversies on 3 fronts: (1) the rise of intellectual property protections for plant varieties and the enclosure of the genetic commons; (2) the subsequent move of the agro-chemical industry from manufacturing fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides to manufacturing seeds in the context of industrial agriculture; and (3) the emergence of overlapping regimes of domestic and multilateral treaties such as the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS, 1994), the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD, 1992) and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources (ITPGR, 2004) from the 1990s on. Finally, this book speculates on possible directions that intellectual property protection for PGRs may take in the 21st century." (Excerpt from the back book cover)
Posted by Marin Dell
The US Supreme Court ruled on April 30 that Microsoft cannot be forced to pay for patent infringement which has occurred when copies of Windows are made or installed on computers abroad. 
Excerpt:
It is the general rule under United States patent law that no infringement occurs when a patented product is made and sold in another country. There is an exception. Section 271(f) of the Patent Act,adopted in 1984, provides that infringement does occur when one “suppl[ies] . . . from the United States,” for “combination” abroad, apatented invention’s “components.” 35 U. S. C. §271(f)(1). This case concerns the applicability of §271(f) to computer software first sentfrom the United States to a foreign manufacturer on a master disk,or by electronic transmission, then copied by the foreign recipient for installation on computers made and sold abroad.
Read the opinion here.
See an overview of the case here.
Posted by Jon Lutz
