Interesting Links for 31-07-2014

[andrewducker]

• Passport office won't allow "Skywalker" in a name - because it infringes a trademark
  (tags: intellectual_property trademark starwars passport )
• Victory: format shifting and right to parody clear last hurdle
  (tags: copyright parody uk )
• Some great comments on Amazon’s latest volley in its war on Hachette
  (tags: publishing Amazon )
• We Don't Play

Comments

[gonzo21]

I wonder if there has ever been a study into what reading material makes children ~more~ bigoted?

[andrewducker]

I hear that reading Dan Brown novels makes you hate Dan Brown.

[cartesiandaemon]

I don't know, the control group seems to hate Dan Brown an awful lot already :)

[gonzo21]

I hear Dan Brown is a leading cause of Satanism in the under-7s.

[spacelem]

It's quite amazing how long William Hartnell played The Doctor -- not far off Tom Baker, who did it for 7 years. I'm not surprised he had to leave due to ill health.

[a_pawson]

William Hartnell only played the Doctor for 3 years, but they used to make 45 episodes a year back then, which dropped to about 22(ish) by the time Jon Pertwee came along.

What I don't quite understand is why Patrick Troughton was on screen for so much less than William Hartnell, as Troughton appeared in 127 episodes to William Hartnell's 126, all of which were presumably 25 minutes long.

[spacelem]

I knew it was hectic. People go on about how we need younger actors to play The Doctor, because the older ones were too sedate, but I think even Matt Smith would have been exhausted trying to keep to the schedule of the first few years. We don't give them anywhere near enough credit.

[cybik]

It seems like almost every day I find a new reason to adore JK Rowling.

Trademarked names

[fanf]

That must cause problems for the Guinness family (etc etc)

Re: Trademarked names

[major_clanger]

The issue seems to be that it's a made-up character name, not a real name. You might be able to get a trademark in your own name (if you are genuinely trading under it), but that won't then stop anyone else from using that name in general. The point was settled clearly in English law by the late Mr Justice Laddie in Elvis Presley Enterprises v Sid Shaw Elvisly Yours:

"Even if Elvis Presley was still alive, he would not be entitled to stop a fan from naming his son, his dog or goldfish, his car or his house “Elvis” or “Elvis Presley” simply by reason of the fact that it was the name given to him at birth by his parents. To stop the use of the whole or part of his name by another he would need to show that as a result of such use, the other person is invading some legally recognised right. This also is reflected in many cases in the law of passing off."

I still think it's an odd decision by the passport office, but I can sort of see why they made it.

Re: Trademarked names

[fanf]

A quick search on the IPO website shows that there are trademarks in Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, and Shi Skywalker which I assume are what one would expect. There are a couple of trademarks in just Skywalker: one for "medical apparatus and instruments" and one in rubber goods.

So I wonder which trademark they think she is infringing.

Re: Trademarked names

[del_c]

I wonder if Martin and Collins could cause trouble for a lot of Daenerysses and Katnisses later on by trademarking those names today?

[del_c]

Brace Runner!