When the big boys come out and play
To begin with, I have nothing against big companies in general. The free market system is a great idea but sometimes companies can be real bastards.
Anybody who knows me is bound to know that I'm a big whisky lover, you have even got a link to my whisky tasting club on the right hand side of this page. On our web page we've got a small web shop where we sell whisky related items such as tasting glasses. Quite recently, the Glencairn glass became recognized as the standard whisky tasting glass by all Scottish whisky manufacturers. Naturally we try and sell that glass but demand was high and production just couldn't keep up, that's why we in the board of our club decided to make our own whisky tasting glass. It had the same kind of foot as the Glencairn glass but it was both higher and wider. The cup itself had straight walls instead of curved ones and last but not least, it was significantly shorter than the Glencairn glass. We contacted the Swedish bureau of patents and registrations just to make sure that this was an original design. They just told us that one can't copyright a design and the dimensions of our glass alone would be enough to make it an original design.
Today we received an e-mail from a Scottish law firm which represents Glencairn, they threatened to take us to court if we didn't stop selling our glass. This raises many questions, the first being how the hell they found us, the second (and more important) question is why they even bother? We produce and sell our glasses in Sweden, therefore Swedish laws ought to apply and since the government has already given us an OK, this shouldn't be an issue. We don't even sell all that many, there's just this one guy in Mantorp who hand makes these things for us.
Unfortunately, since we're just a small club, we don't have the money to take this to court even though we'd love to do it. We'll just have to bend over and obey, sad but true.
To finish this post off in a slightly more cheerful manner,
Chucklemonkey had this great thing on his blog:
Music Survey
Using only song titles from ONE artist, answer the following questions:
1.) are you a male or female?
2.) describe yourself:
3.) how do you feel about yourself?
4.) describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend:
5.) describe your current boyfriend/girlfriend:
6.) describe your current location:
7.) describe where you want to be:
8.) your best friend is:
9.) your favorite number is:
10.) you know that:
11.) what's the weather like?
12.) if your life were a television show, what would it be called?
13.) what is life to you?
14.) what is the best advice you have to give:
15.) if you could change your name, what would you change it to?
I loved it straight away and posted a reply using only song titles from the artist Yello:
1.) are you a male or female? Rubberbandman
2.) describe yourself: Lost again
3.) how do you feel about yourself? Let me cry
4.) describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend: Tremendous pain
5.) describe your current boyfriend/girlfriend: I love you
6.) describe your current location: Planet Dada
7.) describe where you want to be: Beyond mirrors
8.) your best friend is: Dr Van Steiner
9.) your favorite number is: 3rd of June
10.) you know that: Of course I'm lying
11.) what's the weather like? Moon on ice
12.) if your life were a television show, what would it be called? Prisoner of his Mind
13.) what is life to you? Tied up
14.) what is the best advice you have to give: Get on
15.) if you could change your name, what would you change it to? Don Turbulento
And then I did it using Barenaked Ladies:
1.) are you a male or female? Fastest man on the planet
2.) describe yourself: The king of Bedside Manor
3.) how do you feel about yourself? Unfinished
4.) describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend: Thanks that was fun
5.) describe your current boyfriend/girlfriend: Light up my room
6.) describe your current location: The old apartment
7.) describe where you want to be: Grade 9
8.) your best friend is: Brian Wilson
9.) your favorite number is: If I had $1000000
10.) you know that: It's all been done
11.) what's the weather like? Upside down
12.) if your life were a television show, what would it be called? Conventioneers
13.) what is life to you? I live with it every day
14.) what is the best advice you have to give: Everything old is new again
15.) if you could change your name, what would you change it to? Uncle Elwyn
Try it, it's fun! Even more fun that almost getting sued!
Anybody who knows me is bound to know that I'm a big whisky lover, you have even got a link to my whisky tasting club on the right hand side of this page. On our web page we've got a small web shop where we sell whisky related items such as tasting glasses. Quite recently, the Glencairn glass became recognized as the standard whisky tasting glass by all Scottish whisky manufacturers. Naturally we try and sell that glass but demand was high and production just couldn't keep up, that's why we in the board of our club decided to make our own whisky tasting glass. It had the same kind of foot as the Glencairn glass but it was both higher and wider. The cup itself had straight walls instead of curved ones and last but not least, it was significantly shorter than the Glencairn glass. We contacted the Swedish bureau of patents and registrations just to make sure that this was an original design. They just told us that one can't copyright a design and the dimensions of our glass alone would be enough to make it an original design.
Today we received an e-mail from a Scottish law firm which represents Glencairn, they threatened to take us to court if we didn't stop selling our glass. This raises many questions, the first being how the hell they found us, the second (and more important) question is why they even bother? We produce and sell our glasses in Sweden, therefore Swedish laws ought to apply and since the government has already given us an OK, this shouldn't be an issue. We don't even sell all that many, there's just this one guy in Mantorp who hand makes these things for us.
Unfortunately, since we're just a small club, we don't have the money to take this to court even though we'd love to do it. We'll just have to bend over and obey, sad but true.
To finish this post off in a slightly more cheerful manner,
Chucklemonkey had this great thing on his blog:
Music Survey
Using only song titles from ONE artist, answer the following questions:
1.) are you a male or female?
2.) describe yourself:
3.) how do you feel about yourself?
4.) describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend:
5.) describe your current boyfriend/girlfriend:
6.) describe your current location:
7.) describe where you want to be:
8.) your best friend is:
9.) your favorite number is:
10.) you know that:
11.) what's the weather like?
12.) if your life were a television show, what would it be called?
13.) what is life to you?
14.) what is the best advice you have to give:
15.) if you could change your name, what would you change it to?
I loved it straight away and posted a reply using only song titles from the artist Yello:
1.) are you a male or female? Rubberbandman
2.) describe yourself: Lost again
3.) how do you feel about yourself? Let me cry
4.) describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend: Tremendous pain
5.) describe your current boyfriend/girlfriend: I love you
6.) describe your current location: Planet Dada
7.) describe where you want to be: Beyond mirrors
8.) your best friend is: Dr Van Steiner
9.) your favorite number is: 3rd of June
10.) you know that: Of course I'm lying
11.) what's the weather like? Moon on ice
12.) if your life were a television show, what would it be called? Prisoner of his Mind
13.) what is life to you? Tied up
14.) what is the best advice you have to give: Get on
15.) if you could change your name, what would you change it to? Don Turbulento
And then I did it using Barenaked Ladies:
1.) are you a male or female? Fastest man on the planet
2.) describe yourself: The king of Bedside Manor
3.) how do you feel about yourself? Unfinished
4.) describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend: Thanks that was fun
5.) describe your current boyfriend/girlfriend: Light up my room
6.) describe your current location: The old apartment
7.) describe where you want to be: Grade 9
8.) your best friend is: Brian Wilson
9.) your favorite number is: If I had $1000000
10.) you know that: It's all been done
11.) what's the weather like? Upside down
12.) if your life were a television show, what would it be called? Conventioneers
13.) what is life to you? I live with it every day
14.) what is the best advice you have to give: Everything old is new again
15.) if you could change your name, what would you change it to? Uncle Elwyn
Try it, it's fun! Even more fun that almost getting sued!