Steve Jobs just announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference that they are dropping “phone” from the name “iPhoneOS” to become, simply, “iOS”. This is a smart move. Uh oh. Seems like Cisco Systems runs a big chuck of the Internet on some thing called iOS. It’s deja vu all over again: you may recall back [...]
Posts tagged: trademarks
iOS therefore iAM (taken)
June 7th, 2010 · 1 Comment
→ 1 Comment | Categories: intellectual property (IP) · product names
Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman!
March 31st, 2009 · No Comments
Clever title, huh? Just Snark Hunting making a lame joke out of a cheesy pun? If only. Incredibly, the title of this post is, verbatim, an actual recent trademark filing by Sony! Here are the Goods & Services listed for this mark on the USPTO: Video game software; Software for computer games; Optical disc recorded [...]
→ No Comments | Categories: WTF · taglines
A really, really, really, really, really, rainy day. Really.
July 14th, 2006 · No Comments
Next time you find yourself cooped up with a bunch of bored kids some rainy day, fear not. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has put your tax dollars to work creating a treasure trove of online games and quizes that will keep your kids engaged all day. In the “Mouse Traps” section kids will [...]
→ No Comments | Categories: pop culture
Strategic name development?
April 10th, 2006 · 1 Comment
A Google search for naming consultants serves up both of the following “sponsored links”. The first is from a group of naming consultants that named their company, “Strategic Name Development”, abbreviated in the ad as “SND”: SND Name Consulting Exceptional names. Guaranteed. Strategic and linguistically sound. www.namedevelopment.com Underneath Strategic Name Development’s ad is an ad [...]
→ 1 Comment | Categories: Uncategorized
American Express renames financial division: Ameriprise
May 24th, 2005 · 7 Comments
Reports the Twin Cities Pioneer Press: After nearly four months of research and thousands of options, American Express Financial Advisers on Wednesday plans to unveil a new corporate name to its employees and independent advisers. Company officials are keeping the moniker close to the vest, but they say it won’t include the three letters “IDS,” [...]
→ 7 Comments | Categories: company names · name changes
Be careful what you name your dog
April 21st, 2005 · No Comments
Why? Because if you happen to name your business after your family beagle, and you named your beloved pooch Macy, for instance, sooner or later you’re going to get a letter from the legal department of a very large company asking you to find a new name pronto. Then what do you do? First, plead [...]
→ No Comments | Categories: company names
Stadium name a two-headed Monster
September 29th, 2004 · No Comments
The naming rights to San Francisco’s Candlestick park have been sold. Again. Now it’s up to local voters to decide what to call it. As reported in today’s San Francisco Chronicle: The agreement, worth at least $6 million over four years, splits the proceeds evenly between the team and San Francisco’s Recreation and Park Department [...]
→ No Comments | Categories: pop culture
Mongolian naming beef
June 18th, 2004 · No Comments
About eighty years ago the ruling communists forbade the use of surnames in Mongolia as part of an effort to destroy the political power of the traditional tribal system. It took seventy years for the effects of tens of thousands of people having exactly the same name to get really annoying, so in 1997 a [...]
→ No Comments | Categories: language · pop culture
Latin lovers: Redactive vs. Red Active
May 4th, 2004 · No Comments
Nothing communicates an idea better than a dead language that no one speaks. From MediaWeek: Centurion Publishing Group has revealed why it chose to change its name to Redactive Media Group after almost 24 years in the business. Chief executive Brian Grant said altering the company name came at a logical point in its history. [...]
→ No Comments | Categories: company names · identity
UnLinspired new software name
April 15th, 2004 · No Comments
UnLinspired: The story that refuses to die, Lindows, is back again, as the company announces its new name, at least for the European market. After an exhaustive global search, the company has finally found a name even worse than Lindows: Linspire. Seriously. We don’t make this stuff up (we’re not that cynical). Lindows CEO Michael [...]
→ No Comments | Categories: company names · product names
Lindows update: company name change
April 6th, 2004 · No Comments
OK, we’ve said it before, but it looks like we’ll have to say it one more time. When Lindows first came out as a Linux OS competitor to Microsoft Windows, we thought the name so weak and fraught with potential MS litigation that we contacted the company and offered to rename them. For free. As [...]
→ No Comments | Categories: company names · product names
Window dressing
March 19th, 2004 · No Comments
Linux operating system purveyor Lindows has drawn a lot of legal heat from Microsoft for its Windowsesque name. But undaunted and still taunting, ZDNet reports that the company has slightly altered its name and all systems are operating down low: The software company, in the midst of a wide-ranging dispute with Microsoft regarding trademark rights [...]
→ No Comments | Categories: company names
