Software

Twitter Is Trying To Patent ‘Pull To Refresh’

The Pull to Refresh action is a common gesture for mobile apps — used by the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Tweetbot, and Sparrow for a variety of commands. It may soon be a lot less common if the USPTO grants Twitter’s patent request.


August 18, 2011
News

Major Patent Milestones From One To Eight Million

The USPTO granted its first patent in 1836 and 175 years later, the government body now has a database that is eight million strong.


November 24, 2010

Please Don’t Panic Just Because Facebook Trademarked The Word "Face"

Facebook’s been trying to register the word “face” as a trademark for a while, but now the US Patent Office has finally decided to grant the social network’s application. Here are the details of what happened.


February 5, 2010
Geek Out

Someone Should Patent A Fax Rotator For The USPTO

Do you know what type of organisation that would deny you a fax – by sending you back another fax – to tell you the first fax you sent was upside down?


March 31, 2009
Gaming

Sony Registers ‘Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman!’ Trademark

Sony’s new trademarked tagline is “HOLY INVASION OF PRIVACY, BADMAN!” It’s apparently related to “games” and “optical discs.” I think it might be related to “Christian Bale” and a “temper.” Would explain all those caps.