Wordlab

February 11th is National Inventors’ Day , this year marking the 162nd anniversary of the birth of Thomas Alva Edison, the Wizard of Menlo Park .

Already by the time he moved to Menlo Park in 1876, Thomas Edison had gathered many of the men who would work with him for the rest of their lives. By the time Edison [...]

Shit Box and Little Jack Shit are trademarks of The Brown Corporation Ltd.

Timed with today’s inauguration, Bush Street signs in San Francisco were changed to Obama down the entire length of Bush Street from Presidio to Battery. Photo gallery and story at Laughing Squid.

Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. 1052(a), bars the registration of trademarks that are deemed “immoral” or “scandalous.” “For the past few years, the USPTO has been on a Section 2(a) rampage, and this decision is the latest step in the PTO’s quest to become the commercial morality police,” says law professor Marc Randazza [...]

Can a shoe be “culturally branded?” Ja! The Nike Air Max LTD 2 comes in Premium smooth brown leather, the same leather like Lederhosen leather. Featuring a very fresh light blue sole unit. All over brown using the material finishes to give the shoe depth. Using Baroque Brown and gold stitches for the “Pretzel” Logo. And the Light Blue [...]

According to this news report from the Kansas City Star:

…an inspector with the Missouri Board of Pharmacy showed up at the restaurant, file folder in hand. “We have an issue with your name,” Justus recalled her saying. “I was in shock. I kept saying this must be a joke,” he said. It wasn’t. Earlier this month, [...]

Buzzing around the blogosphere, there’s an interesting post about the evolution of tech companies’ logos that caught our attention with this story about the Nokia logo.

In 1865, Knut Fredrik Idestam established a wood-pulp mill in Tampere, south-western Finland. It took on the name Nokia after moving the mill to the banks of the Nokianvirta…

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Earlier this year, the International Herald Tribune put the spotlight on Jack Ma, co-founder of Alibaba.com:

“I’m a normal guy,” he said during a recent interview in Singapore. “I feel ashamed because I feel I’m stealing the contribution of my team. They made it; my job is more, ‘Let’s go do it.’” Started in 1999, Alibaba International is now [...]

In Harry Potter Goblet of Fire , Ronald Weasley tempts Hermoine with his Spotted Dick. ‘Treacle tart, Hermione!’ said Ron, deliberately wafting its smell toward her. ‘Spotted dick, look! Chocolate gateau!’ Strangely enough, Spotted Dick isn’t yet mentioned in the extensive list of misleading food names , although it has its own entry, on [Read more]