Amazon's meal-kit patent to blame for dip in Blue Apron share price; New York Business Journal, July 17, 2017

Anthony Noto, New York Business Journal; Amazon's meal-kit patent to blame for dip in Blue Apron share price

"The Seattle-based e-commerce giant filed a trademark for a meal-kit service just weeks after New York-based Blue Apron made its public debut. Now, multiple reports suggest that Blue Apron's stock — down 7.7 percent in Monday premarket trading — is feeling the effects...

...Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods was looking at meal kits as a way to boost sales before Amazon came knocking."

George A. Romero, Father of Zombie Movies, Dies at 77; Reuters via New York Times, July 16, 2017

Reuters via New York Times; George A. Romero, Father of Zombie Movies, Dies at 77

"Originally called "Night of the Flesh Eaters," the title was changed by the film's distributor, Walter Reade. Somehow, no copyright protection was filed after the name change, putting "Night of the Living Dead" into the public domain and allowing anyone to distribute it for free.

Romero told The New York Times in 2016 that many more people saw the movie as result, "keeping the film alive.""

How can we stop algorithms telling lies?; Guardian, July 16, 2017

Cathy O'Neil, Guardian; 

How can we stop algorithms telling lies?

[Kip Currier: Cathy O'Neil is shining much-needed light on the little-known but influential power of algorithms on key aspects of our lives. I'm using her thought-provoking 2016 Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality And Threatens Democracy as one of several required reading texts in my Information Ethics graduate course at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Computing and Information.]

"A proliferation of silent and undetectable car crashes is harder to investigate than when it happens in plain sight.

I’d still maintain there’s hope. One of the miracles of being a data sceptic in a land of data evangelists is that people are so impressed with their technology, even when it is unintentionally creating harm, they openly describe how amazing it is. And the fact that we’ve already come across quite a few examples of algorithmic harm means that, as secret and opaque as these algorithms are, they’re eventually going to be discovered, albeit after they’ve caused a lot of trouble.

What does this mean for the future? First and foremost, we need to start keeping track. Each criminal algorithm we discover should be seen as a test case. Do the rule-breakers get into trouble? How much? Are the rules enforced, and what is the penalty? As we learned after the 2008 financial crisis, a rule is ignored if the penalty for breaking it is less than the profit pocketed. And that goes double for a broken rule that is only discovered half the time...

It’s time to gird ourselves for a fight. It will eventually be a technological arms race, but it starts, now, as a political fight. We need to demand evidence that algorithms with the potential to harm us be shown to be acting fairly, legally, and consistently. When we find problems, we need to enforce our laws with sufficiently hefty fines that companies don’t find it profitable to cheat in the first place. This is the time to start demanding that the machines work for us, and not the other way around."

Why was Mother Teresa's uniform trademarked?; BBC News, July 12, 2017

Soutik Biswas, BBC News; Why was Mother Teresa's uniform trademarked?

"It is also not clear how this trademark on the famous blue striped sari will be enforced. Many online shopping sites already sell variations of "unisex Mother Teresa dress" - blue bordered sari, and a long sleeved blouse.

Also, the move is bound to raise the hackles of the nun's critics - and she has her fair share of them - who have accused her of glorifying poverty, hobnobbing with dictators, running shambolic care facilities and proselytising. "How can anybody appropriate a sari, which has been a traditional Indian dress," one of them asked me, preferring to remain unnamed.

Designers like Anand Bhushan differ. "Some designs of the traditional Indian towel called gamcha, for example, have been trademarked. There's nothing wrong in trademarking a distinctive and iconic design or pattern like Mother Teresa's sari. It's not like anybody is beginning to own the sari.""

Why musicians are so angry at the world’s most popular music streaming service; Washington Post, July 14, 2017

Todd C. Frankel, Washington Post; Why musicians are so angry at the world’s most popular music streaming service

"With the money from CDs and digital downloads disappearing, the music industry has pinned its hope for the future on online song streaming, which now accounts for the majority of the $7.7 billion U.S. music market.

But the biggest player in this future isn’t one of the names most associated with streaming — Spotify, Amazon, Pandora or Apple. It’s YouTube, the site best known for viral videos, which accounts for 25 percent of all music streamed worldwide, far more than any other site.

Now, YouTube is locked in an increasingly bitter battle with music labels over how much it pays to stream their songs — and at stake is not just the finances of the music industry but also the way that millions of people around the world have grown accustomed to listening to music: free of cost."

Office Marks 5 Years in Detroit, 10,000 Patents Granted; Associated Press via U.S. News, July 14, 2017

Associated Press via U.S. News; Office Marks 5 Years in Detroit, 10,000 Patents Granted

"The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says roughly 10,000 patents have been granted in Detroit, home to the first regional office in the system's 227-year history.

Officials say it's among the office's accomplishments as they mark the fifth anniversary of the Detroit-based Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional Office. A Friday event at Detroit's Stroh River Place, where the office is located, includes comments by USPTO officials, entrepreneurs, and a patent judge and attorney.

The office serves Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa. Patent officials say it was a template for offices in Denver, Dallas and San Jose, California.

In addition to examining patents, regional offices hold innovation challenges and have helped incorporate science, technology, engineering and math education and intellectual property concepts into schools."

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), July 14, 2017

Past, Present, and Future: Celebrating 5 Years of the Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional USPTO

RSVP Today!(link sends e-mail)

Join in the celebration as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office marks the 5th anniversary of the Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional Office as we celebrate the success of the first regional office in the U.S. patent system's 227 year history. 

Event Summary

July 14, 2017

2:00 PM ET - 4:00 PM ET

The Stroh Atrium

300 River Place Drive

Detroit , MI 48207

Midwest Regional Office