So yesterday I ran a correction (here) to an item I'd done previously about IBM's new big commitment to Facebook. (See that story here.) This was in response to IBM's PR team complaining that I'd used the term "collaborative innovation" when in fact what IBM hopes to achieve is "innovative collaboration." I promptly posted a correction and said that I regretted the error.
Now IBM is demanding a correction to the correction plus a retraction of the original item and an apology. And IBM's legal team has gotten involved. They say the phrase "innovative collaboration" is trademarked by IBM and that any use of the term must be cleared by IBM. They want us to pay them for using the term without permission. We asked how much and they said the figure is proprietary and we'll have to sign NDAs to find out. They're filing a secondary complaint which argues that even if their trademark is deemed invalid, we still violated IBM procedure by publishing proprietary information without IBM's permission. Also, they allege the proprietary information we published contained "numerous factual errors," although they won't tell us what they are unless we sign NDAs.
Our lawyers believe this is payback for us dropping the Power processors and switching to Intel. Jesus, it's only Monday and I'm exhausted already.
Monday, September 10, 2007
IBM now complains about our correction
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14 comments:
Since when I bought her the kamasutra my girlfriend says that we are finally having an innovative collaboration.
I'm starting a class-action suit against IBM and you (sorry, nothing personal but it was your blog that I read it on. You can counter-sue me for any damages I win from you) for making my head dizzy trying to figure out what the hell that line of posts was about.
•Anonymous lawyer-happy tard
I've got to call bullshit. Either this is a satiric post, or IBM is more insecure than than Gates in the gym locker room.
Also, I searched TESS and the two results were "INNOVATIVE COLLABORATION SOLUTIONS" and "CREATING INNOVATIVE COLLABORATION SOLUTIONS FOR YOUR BUSINESS" for V-Span, Inc.
Tell IBM to SIOOMA.
how exactly is Facebook a "business machine?"
Is the constant editing part of the joke? If so, it's funny ... or metafunny ... or whatever. I wish the original item was still available to look at though.
IBM: I've Been Misled!
FSJ, that moron Scott Moritz has a column on the street, wherein he claims the backlash from your recent iphone price cuts, took you by suprise. Please set him straight..nothing takes El Jobso by surprise. Tell him how everything is calculated, kinda like his white trash articles are. Oh, and he also claims the scrapping of the 4 gig phone, validates his previous pullitzer prize winning piece where he claimed his sources, a Taiwanese maintenance guy, told him the iphone production was cut in half.
All we need now is Wolverton. Good grief.
Hey FSJ, how does it feel to have 10,000 lawyers pissing on you at the same time? Just wait 'till the Armonk legal guys assign their first string to deal with you. Man, you are so pwned.
Makes me sad.
You are going to be so dead by friday man.
IBM only have a small part of a leg to stand on. A quick Google* for "innovative collaboration" -IBM reveals over 80,000 sites. As we learnt in the iphone trademark debate, a trade mark owner must make efforts to protect their own trademark. That's why Google insist that "Google" is capitalised and only used in reference to Google. If IBM that many sites to use the phrase without mentioning IBM then they are pretty much b*ggered.
Rob
IANAL
*other search engines are available
Don't forget that IBM trademarked "dog turd software" as well.
On an application called Moods on Facebook , you can pick a pic of Justine doing several different facial expressions (happy, mad, etc.) to match your mood. "Celebritard" is correct.
shawn blower, this is a man's personal blog, not some satirical parody.
Like IBM actually cared when Apple *was* using PowerPC processors... (Explains why the G5 processors speeds were cranked up *so* quickly...)
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