Net Neutrality and the FCC: What's Being Done to Preserve It
Posted Mar 29th 2007 2:17PM
Legal analysis by Neal Hannan, Seth Kertzer, and Zach Sharpe, and edited by Trevor Adler and Jonathan Coronel
Net neutrality has quickly become a hot-button topic in online tech media (and increasingly in mainstream media) -- and for good reason. In an era defined by free information exchange via the wide open, largely unregulated internet, the concept of federal bodies in the United States stepping in on behalf of monied interests and redefining the way users, businesses, and information all interact is a grim and severe issue for the new world economy. On the internet everyone's presence and business is (and should be) equal; currently protecting that kind of equality is the FCC, some flimsy policy statements, and a smattering of senators who've yet to lock anything down. Read on to better understand net neutrality, and why we may not have it in the future.
Read More...Apple / Cisco iPhone Litigation Primer, Part 2
Not posted on Engadget because a settlement was reached.
Legal analysis by Sarah Calvert, Jason McInnes, and Scott McMillan, and edited by Trevor Adler and Jonathan Coronel.
I. The Trademark and the Players
On January 10, 2007, Cisco Systems filed a lawsuit against Apple alleging infringement of its iPhone trademark. Cisco acquired the iPhone trademark from Infogear in 2000 and uses it to market products that combine Internet access and telephone functions. Infogear had originally registered the trademark in 1996. As early as 2001, Apple approached Cisco regarding use of its iPhone trademark. In following years, additional requests concerning use of the trademark were made, including a number of requests in 2006. Eventually, Cisco and Apple entered into negotiations that would allow both companies to use the iPhone trademark. The agreement included plans for interoperability between Cisco’s products and Apple’s cell phone. The companies were reportedly close to finalizing the agreement when, on January 9, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the Apple iPhone - a device that functions as a telephone, Internet device, and iPod - at the Macworld Expo. In response, Cisco filed a lawsuit against Apple, seeking damages and an injunction to prevent Apple from using the iPhone trademark.
Read More...Apple / Cisco iPhone Litigation Primer, Part 1 - What's in a trademark?
Posted Feb 8th 2007 2:41PM
Legal analysis by Sarah Calvert, Jason McInnes, and Scott McMillan, and edited by Trevor Adler and Jonathan Coronel.
We're all pretty well familiar with the term trademark, and what it represents: a unique "mark" used to identify a product's source, and to distinguish the product from goods made by others. But before we can get into iPhone vs. iPhone (in part 2), we have to dot our Is and cross our Ts, so to speak, when it comes to the finer points of trademark law. More specifically, a trademark can range from something simple, like a word or symbol, to something more abstract, like a sound, fragrance, or color1; trademarkable products can include material goods (like Coca-Cola), services (like Engadget), and their corresponding images and appearances.2 Read on.
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