legal

USPTO TESS Amazon trademark status

USPTO swamped by Amazon trademark applications, 25% are from China

The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) is being swamped by trademark applications (about 900,000/year, or 3x the level 20 years ago). Many of these applications are solely concerned with getting a so-called Amazon trademark … and not just because of Amazon’s hundreds of millions of customers. Amazon’s own policies have a lot to […]

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github copilot lawsuit generative AI tools

Creators and publishers: Watch out for shiny generative AI tools bearing legal risk

The tech world is watching an unfolding legal issue around an application of generative AI tools used to create computer code. It’s a huge timesaver for programmers, but it turns out that the code is not “written” by an AI, but rather based on samples of code written by humans. In some cases, the samples

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Frustrated Amazon sellers create vigilante database of bad customers

I was surprised to stumble upon the site screenshotted above, linked from the Amazon Seller Central seller’s forum. It’s a database of “problematic buyers,” intended to warn other sellers on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Craigslist. This vigilante database is problematic on so many levels. Customers are being doxxed … names, emails, and sometimes even home

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How to use Internet graphics in your book – medical illustrations example

A publisher recently reached out asking about how to use Internet graphics in a yet-to-be released book on a specific medical condition. The author had found the images on a Google search, and wants to use them in the book. The problem that the publisher immediately identified: the images are copyrighted and therefore can’t be

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Amazon Transparency: What is it, and how can Amazon Sellers and brands use it to fight counterfeits?

As described on Amazon’s own brand services site, Amazon Transparency is a program to fight counterfeit products on Amazon.com and give Amazon customers confidence that they are buying authentic products. The following blog post and video cover the following topics: The Amazon counterfeit problem and First Sale doctrine What is Amazon Transparency What Amazon Transparency

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