IP Couture: "Gelatin Slim" diet pills

This is a bit of a departure for IP Couture, but this image from the San Francisco History Center's I. Magnin records collection is too excellent not to post:

(Image courtesy of I. Magnin Records (SFH2), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library)

That's right, shopper's at high-end (and now defunct) San Francisco Department Store I. Magnin and Co. could, if they were unhappy with the way the garments were fitting, buy a pack of these diet pills. According to the trademark registration, Gelatin Slims were produced by the Gelatin Plus Corporation of Santa Monica.

Does anyone else think of Cathy cartoons when they see this?

DVD-ripping software debate goes to court in SF

U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel (of Napster case fame) is hearing a case today between RealNetworks, a company from Seattle, and the Motion Picture Association of America regarding a DVD-copying software product briefly released by RealNetworks back in September.

According to the Chronicle, RealNetworks had a notion that their software, which allows users to circumvent copy-protection coding in DVD's to make one (an only one) copy of a movie, would draw a lawsuit from the MPAA, so they filed a preemptive lawsuit against MPAA. That suit, in turn, drew a counter suit.

I wonder why RealNetworks didn't skip the preemptive suit and just let MPAA sue them? I guess that's why I'm a librarian and not a lawyer.

My lack of legal knowledge notwithstanding, I'm interested in this case because it's providing an opportunity for close examination of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the controversial 1998 law that expands intellectual property rights for copyright holders and that many folks argue gives copyright holders the lion's share of rights. Among other provisions, that law makes it a crime to circumvent anti-piracy code in commercial products.

We may be waiting a while for a verdict. I'll keep you posted.

Shepard Fairey goes after AP for reprinting pictures of HOPE poster

You know that old saw about how the best defense is a good offense? Well, artist Shepard Fairey appears to be giving that approach a try with his recent suit against the Associated Press, alleging that AP reprinted his now-iconic HOPE poster without his permission.

The AP, if you recall, recently filed suit against Fairey alleging that he infringed their copyright by basing the HOPE poster on an AP photo without permission.

IP Couture: Initiation Apparatus

I say! Those chaps holding up that gent in the middle both have concerned looks on their faces. Now that's the kind of fraternal sentiment intended to come from the use of patent 819,814, invented by Milton Sebert of Pekin, Illinois! The Initiation Apparatus is appears to be a pair of shoes connected to an electrical source that will shock the wearer, presumably envisioned as a high-tech alternative to The Gauntlet. Bully!


INITIATION APPARATUS MILTON SEIBERT

Those other "pirates" in the news

Though perhaps not as alarming as the reports of piracy off of Africa's eastern coast these past couple of weeks, reports regarding another type of piracy have set off a wave of controversy that seems to have reached a head today.

Earlier today, a Swedish court found four people associated with Swedish BitTorrent site The Pirate Bay guilty of copyright infringement. In addition to paying $3.6 million in damages, the court sentenced the four defendants to a year in jail. Despite the news, the operators of the site seem upbeat: "Don't worry - we're from the internets. It's going to be alright. :-)"

I wrote a little about the case here.

IP Couture: Garment Having a Buttocks Cleavage Revealing Feature

It's hard to believe that several millennia of the development of fashion had to pass before this innovation surfaced. After all, chest cleavage has proven an enduring feature in fashion trends from the Renaissance up through Marilyn Monroe. It's only logical that the same principal be applied to the buttocks via these pants.

Two notable things about this patent, 6,473,908. First, the background section of the specifications includes a passage about the meaning behind fashion that's written with a flair for critical theory that is unusual in utility patents.

Second, this is a utility patent, which could mean that any pants incorporating "buttocks cleavage" may be subject to infringement. I wonder if the inventor, one Thomas Bontems of Tempe, Arizona, sent out cease-and-desist letters to plumbers across the nation.


Garment having a buttocks cleavage revealing feature Thomas A. Bontems

Happy birthday, safety pin!

Courtesy of Runner's World, a piece in praise of the unassuming yet essential safety pin, for which Walter Hunt received a patent 160 years ago yesterday.

The story how Walter came to invent the safety pin is both funny and sad -- he needed to repay a $15 loan, took a long look at a piece of brass wire, and invented the safety pin. Then he sold the rights for $400! Wired has a piece about it here.

IP Couture: Pet Display Clothing

What's that kid wearing? Is it a leaf-blower? A rocket-pack? Ah, it's his pet hamster. Brice Belisle, of Brooklyn, New York, was granted patent number 5,901,666 for a garment that may be the only animal clothing that even PETA would probably approve of.

The artist of the patent drawings here used an ingenious technique to ensure that the patent would be granted. Look at the look on that kid's face. He is so happy! Could you say no to that face?


Pet display clothing Brice Belisle

IP Couture: Method of Concealing Partial Baldness

Patent number 4,022,227, invented by Frank and Donald Smith of Orlando, Florida, is for a method for balding folks to cover up their scalps using extra long hair that they've grown on the sides of their heads. You may recognize this technique, known commonly as the "comb-over."

This is a real head-scratcher, both from the examiner's angle (non-obvious? really?) and from the inventor's side (I wonder how they planned to enforce it?). I suppose there's a certain cache associated with holding a U.S. patent. And, the Smiths were awarded the 2004 Ig Noble Prize for engineering.


Method of concealing partial baldness Frank J. Smith et al

IP Couture

In honor of the upcoming Main Library exhibition, "House of Nat: Fashion Tips from the Schmulowitz Collection of Wit and Humor," I'm going to post some fashion-related tidbits from the intellectual property world over the next couple of months.

Beginning April 1, and running through May, look for IP Couture posts. These will generally include an amusing patent that is in some way related to the, ahem, interesting things that people come up with to revolutionize the way we dress, wear our hair, paint our faces, and so on.

Also check out the "House of Nat exhibition" if you're in town. I guarantee you'll get a kick out of it. It's running in April and May, and includes contributions from not only Book Arts and Special Collections (home of the Schmulowitz Collection) but also the SF Photograph Collection and the Art, Music and Recreation Department, and the Fisher Children's Center. For more information about that, check out the library's exhibitions page.