“The music company owned by Apple Corps today lost its legal battle against Apple Computer over the US firm’s use of an apple logo for iTunes.

“The high court in London ruled that Apple Computer — makers of the phenomenally successful iPod music player — had not infringed upon Apple Corp’s trademarks by selling music through its iTunes Music Store.

“Lawyers for Apple Corps — which is owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison — had argued that the iTunes store broke a 1991 deal between the two companies.

Guardian Unlimited. Beatles Label Loses Apple Logo Case to iTunes. May 8, 2006.

See also:

Jefferson Graham. Apple Prevails in Suit By Beatles. USA Today. May 8, 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

“A federal appeals court suggested on Friday that government regulations levying extensive Internet wiretapping requirements on universities and libraries may go too far.

“The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, DC sharply questioned whether the Federal Communications Commission exceeded its legal authority last year when it ordered ‘any type of broadband Internet access service’ and many Net phone services to rewire their networks for police convenience.

“The Bush administration had pressed to extend wiretapping rules to the Internet for years, saying they were necessary to make it easier to catch ‘criminals, terrorists and spies who would otherwise be able to evade detection. But the organizations behind the lawsuit (including the Association of American Universities and the American Library Association) say Congress never intended to force broadband providers — and networks at corporations and universities — to build in central surveillance hubs for the police.”

Declan McCullagh. Appeals Court Takes Dim View of Net-Tapping Rules. News.com. May 5, 2006.

See also:

Ars Technica. The FCC’s Battle With Universities and Libraries Over VoIP and Data Wiretapping Continues. May 5, 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will hold a briefing on May 12, 2006, from 9:00 a.m. to noon in the agency’s Madison building. The USPTO has created a partnership with academia and the private sector to launch an online, peer review pilot project that seeks to ensure that patent examiners will have improved access to all available prior art during the patent examination process.

As a follow-up to the February 16th meeting, this briefing will focus on further developing previously discussed initiatives as well as answering the question of what constitutes valid prior art and a greater in-depth analysis of the peer review pilot project that is under consideration.

An agenda is available online. Registration is strongly encouraged; register by e-mail at OpenSource2006@uspto.gov.

USPTO to Hold Briefing on Patent Peer Review Pilot Project

Friday, May 12, 2006

9:00 am -12:00 noon

Madison Auditorium, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

USPTO Headquarters

Madison Auditorium, South Side

600 Dulany Street

Alexandria, VA 22314

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.

“A peaceful crowd of several hundred gathered at the Place de la Bastille in Paris Sunday afternoon to march in support of ‘digital freedom’ — and against digital rights management and a proposed change in copyright law currently on the floor of the French Senate.

“The demonstrators, many of whom identified themselves as open-source software developers, said they were protesting the bill on two fronts: consumers’ right to fair use and software developers’ freedom to innovate.

“The controversial legislation has come under fire from all sides. Often described as the “iPod law,” the bill has triggered anxiety in the business community here and abroad, which fears the mandate for “interoperability” could shut down Apple Computer’s iTunes service based on its proprietary DRM approach.”

Junko Yoshida. Anti-DRM March in Paris Targets Big Tech Firms. EE Times. May 8, 2006.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.