Wednesday whimsies

From rainy London... Wednesday whimsies for the last Wednesday of this year 2009.

Celebrity watch blog TMZ today reports that shoes manufacturer Gwyneth Shoes last week filed a "trade mark and patent infringement" law suit against Paris Hilton over "a heart-shaped pad on the insole" of Ms Hilton's new shoe collection. According to TMZ the incensed shoe Gwyneth Shoes claims that they had filed to patent the "heart cushion" in 2007 before Ms Hilton's shoes were launched. If you are interested, please click here to see an "exclusive" comparison of the infringing footwear. This Kat trusts that Amerikat will follow this exciting case for us.

The BBC today reports that Chinese author Mian Mian has filed a law suit against Google, seeking rather modest damages of 61,000 yuan (£5,576) as well as a public apology from Google. Ms Mian filed the law suit back in October after Google had scanned one her novels ('Acid House') for its online library. According to the BBC report, the Beijing court has suggested that both parties consider settlement talks. It appears that several of Ms Mian's 'risque novels' are banned in China. If you are intrigued, click here to read the BBC's full report. More about Ms Mian, can be found here.

In other news - again concerning Google, reported by PCWorld.com, we learn that Google has lost its domain complaint against Canadian web development company 207 Media which had registered the domain name "groovle.com". The 'ICANN-approved arbitration body' National Arbitration Forum decided that the addition of the letters R and V sufficiently removed both domains conceptually, with the groovle.com mark alluding to "groove" or "groovy". To read this decision (reference: Google Inc. v. 207 Media; Claim Number: FA0911001293500 of 24 December 2009), please click here.

Finally, some cosy fabric news from website Fibre2Fashion which tells us that Nepali Pashmina will 'finally' launch its trade mark in the domestic Nepali market in 2010. The brand name ‘Chyangra Pashmina’ which will be protected as a national trade mark and official hologram. Mr Shankar Prasad Pandey, the president of the Nepal Pashmina Industries Association (NIPA), is cited as saying that the trade mark would only be available for use by NIPA members.