art

MTV takes its designs beyond the telly

Even at the ripe old age of 26, MTV is still determined to make its way into your home one way or another: It may just not be on a television set. Instead, the network is literally leaving its stamp on various forms of electronics and computing gear by co-branding designs.

Recently, for example, it partnered with HP to sponsor a global design competition for an "Artist Edition" of the Pavilion laptop. And it's latest offering is a limited-edition "multi-room box" produced in collaboration with U.K.-based Sky TV, which had already been coming … Read more

iStock reveals revenue, photographer payouts

For the first time, iStockphoto has revealed how much money it pulled in by licensing large numbers of photos, videos, and other imagery for relatively small fees, and how much it paid out to the producers of that content.

In a forum posting Tuesday, iStockphoto head honcho Bruce Livingstone said the Getty Images subsidiary had 2007 revenue of $71.9 million, and it paid $20.9 million to those who contributed the imagery it licenses.

That's a pretty interesting illustration of what user-generated content can sell for, at least in one context.

"We are now selling an image … Read more

Is an unsecured FTP server publicly accessible?

Unlike other areas of the law where doing something in public can land you in a lawsuit (or at least a courtroom with a nice, slightly used orange jumpsuit), sometimes in patent law doing things in public can get you out of a lawsuit.

When a company finds itself in court defending against a patent lawsuit, it will usually assert two major defenses. First, the company will say "I don't practice (or produce) what is claimed in this patent." Second, a defendant in a patent lawsuit will also attempt to "invalidate" the claims of the patent by showing that "prior art" described the claims in the patent prior to the application date of the patent. While this defense can take multiple forms (see, for example, 35 U.S.C. ? 102 ), a defendant must often show that the prior art relied upon was in fact publicly known or publicly used. So now its time for a pop quiz--which one of three options would you consider not being "publicly accessible" for the purposes of United States patent law:

A: The use of a centrifuge in a secure laboratory at the National Institute for Health;

B: The posting of a paper on an unsecured FTP server; or

C: Indexing a dissertation in a paper file and placing it on a shelf...in Germany.

… Read more

A USB hub for Barry Bonds?

I know what I'm getting Major League Baseball's all-time leading home run hitter for his birthday this year.

A big, fat asterisk.

I know, I know. I'm the most generous Dodgers' fan ever, right? Besides being eminently appropriate, and just plain awesome-looking, this asterisk is actually useful. Especially if Barry has, say, a MacBook Air.

This asterisk is a four-port USB hub created by industrial designer Joel Escalona. It's also bright red, and very sleek.

(Note: depending on where your sports loyalties lie, this gift can also work for Roger Clemens, Bill Belichick, or any member of the New England Patriots.) … Read more

Memo to EA and Take-Two: Stop using the press to negotitate

Dear Take-Two and Electronic Arts: I'm not an arbitrator. And neither are my colleagues who cover video games.

I know it's nothing new in the fast-paced world of hostile takeovers, tender offers and other forms of mergers and acquisitions, but it's beyond obvious that both Take-Two and EA are using the press--and our outreach to the public--to try to negotiate the best terms in whatever marriage the two eventually end up in.

First they worked on a possible deal behind the scenes and when EA didn't hear what it wanted from Take-Two, they took their offer public. … Read more

Take-Two rejects EA's bid as 'inadequate'

To the surprise of probably no one, Take-Two Interactive Software has rejected Electronic Arts' hostile buyout offer.

In an announcement Wednesday morning, Take-Two said its board of directors and company officers have recommended that shareholders reject EA's bid of $26 a share. The board also said it's developing alternative strategies for possible alliances with third parties, including EA, that would kick in after the April 29 of release of Grand Theft Auto IV.

Take-Two's board noted that "substantive discussions" about possible alliances have yet to occur, although it did emphasize that the company is now … Read more

Practicing the prior art is not a defense

"How can we possibly infringe this patent--we're just doing what people have done for years." This familiar refrain is what's known in the patent law as the practicing the prior art defense. But, other than a narrowly defined exception for business methods, the "practicing the prior art defense" has been squarely rejected by the courts. See Tate Access Floors Inc. v. Interface Arch. Res. Inc., 279 F.3d 1357 (Fed. Cir. 2002). Why do the courts reject such a seemingly reasonable argument?

To begin with, the fact that one is practicing the prior art … Read more

What's in your cells, 2008 version

You might already know what your DNA looks like, at least approximately, but what about your RNA and the enzyme that crawls along each strand, determining its precise length? Never thought about that, did you? The "Design for the Elastic Mind" exhibit at MOMA in New York did. The program is displaying a handful of new films depicting the micro-details of your innermost cell life. Designed for science classrooms, the films make use of beautifully rendered digital images, and are a mighty far cry from the "film strips" of yore.

Now you can be at least … Read more

Short-term investors take aim at EA's offer

The drama surrounding Electronic Arts' attempt to buy Take-Two Interactive is, increasingly, playing out like a combination action-adventure and shooter game.

As noted in a story published Friday in The New York Times, Take-Two has become a moving target not only because of maneuvering by the company's officers but because of changes in its shareholder group.

The offer EA presented on Thursday directly to Take-Two shareholders--$26 per share, or about $2 billion--is essentially the same one it offered the video game publisher in February. But as the Times story points out, Take-Two's shareholder population has in … Read more