Brian Prentice

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Archives for September, 2009


Vegemite’s Lesson – Don’t Just Ask The Collective…Listen to the Collective

by Brian Prentice  |  September 30, 2009  |  5 Comments

Australian’s take pride in several things – it’s flora and fauna, it’s successful actors and the fact it’s the only place on Earth where they enjoy eating Vegemite. Originally brought to the world’s attention in the 80′s Men At Work hit “Land Down Under,” it is best described as a foul-smelling dark brown paste which [...]

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Go On Google, Sue Microsoft…I Dare You!

by Brian Prentice  |  September 21, 2009  |  5 Comments

Recently, Google was granted US Design Patent No. 599, 372. Ostensibly, this was to protect the design “innovation” of Google’s home page from blatant rip offs. As I’ve noted, the design innovation of Google.com is basically the white space. That makes this a Seinfeld patent – it’s a patent about nothing. But let’s for a [...]

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Apple’s App Store Rejections – A Tempest In The Wrong Teacup

by Brian Prentice  |  September 21, 2009  |  2 Comments

If I went into an Apple Retail Store and got irate with staff at the Genius Bar because there were no Windows-based PCs being demonstrated you’d think I’d was loco. So I am at a loss to understand all the commotion about Apple’s rejection of the Google Voice iPhone application. When dissecting the name “Apple [...]

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What OIN’s Purchase Of Linux Patents Really Says About Trolls

by Brian Prentice  |  September 13, 2009  |  8 Comments

Last week I had a chance to speak to Keith Bergelt, CEO of Open Invention Network (OIN), about their recent acquisition of 22 “Linux-focused patents.” The objective of this purchase, as stated in their press release, was to avert “the prospect of these patents being placed in the hands of non-practicing entities …whether or not [...]

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Reading Between The Lines on eReaders

by Brian Prentice  |  September 9, 2009  |  2 Comments

The top shelf of the closet in my home office can be affectionately described as my digital device graveyard. It serves a dual purpose. First, it allows me to avoid the realization that I probably wasted my money buying these things in the first place as I can pretend that an emerging market for vintage [...]

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Google Granted Patent For & About Nothing

by Brian Prentice  |  September 3, 2009  |  7 Comments

Google – an organization deeply committed to reforming our broken patent system – has just taken advantage of that very same system to get a patent for…well…nothing. Google has just been granted US Design Patent No. 599, 372 S for a “graphical user interface for a display screen.” It looks like this: Note – the [...]

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