Ownership

When someone mentions the terms “Copyright” or “Trademark” they either think of that one relative who worked at the bar, or those media products they may or may not have obtained by nefarious means. Neither of these are particularly interesting topics. So with that in mind, let’s take a look  at  the absurd side of such areas:

Trademarked words/phrases:

Even though you cannot copyright a word (to prevent others from legally saying it), you  can trademark them (prevent someone profiting from their usage without paying you a royalty).

 

Michael Buffer, an American Sports announcer,  holds a trademark on the phrase “Let’s get ready to rumble.” In fact, to date he has allegedly made around $400 million from this bunch of words alone; much more than he would ever get from his day job.

Similarly, Paris Hilton has a trademark on the expression  ‘That’s hot’. In fact, she sued Hallmark in 2007 for using those two special words… let’s hope Hilton is not into a university-required blog post.

Similarly, Paris Hilton has a trademark on the expression  ‘That’s hot’. In fact, she sued Hallmark in 2007 for using those two special words… let’s hope Hilton is not into a university-required blog post.

Believe it or not,  Facebook’s many patents include one for the word ‘Face’. However, this patent only applies  to companies in the telecommunication industries.

Living species:

No matter what you  believe, humans haven’t been all  that proficient in the ‘inventing’ living organisms game. Generally, such a task is accepted to be performed at a level  much bigger than ourselves. However, the audacity of human  absurdity (and greed) does not stop at the trademarking of words.

From  1986 – 1999 and 2001 – 2003 the medicinal Banisteriopsis caapi vine from  the Amazon rainforest was  technically  the legal property of  an American businessman; the plants ‘inventor’.  Issues arose after the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) filed a lawsuit against his company. This lead to the patent being overturned in 1999, only for it to be reinstated in 2001. As of 2003, the patent has expired.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banisteriopsis_caapi#Patent_issues

http://www.businessinsider.com.au