A pretty exciting scene took place in Tyler, Texas recently. In a lawsuit brought against some big Internet names including Google, Amazon and Yahoo by Eolas, a company with a patent on the "interactive web," the star expert witness was the guy who actually did invent the World Wide Web. (And no, it wasn't Al Gore!)

Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web back in the early 1990s, was that witness. But when asked by Jennifer Doan, the attorney for defendants Yahoo and Amazon, if he'd applied for a patent on the World Wide Web, he replied that he hadn't.

Normally we stick to IP stories from the U.S. But we couldn't pass up this gem of a
trademark tale which, though it hails from the European Union, involves a well-known drug from a well-known American company.

Jill and Burt Kohler opened a cosmetology school in Scottsdale, Arizona...and a whole can of worms along with it.

The Kohlers were sued for trademark infringement by the Kohler Company. Kohler (the company) is probably best known for their faucets, toilets, bathtubs and other plumbing-related items, but holds over 30 trademarks that also include spa and salon services, as well as "guitars, pianos, candy, candles and horse breeding and stud services."

Just because two entities had unnervingly similar and equally grotesque ideas for marketing fashion to youngsters doesn't mean that copyright infringement is involved. That was the judge's finding in the case of Belair v. MGA Entertainment Inc. et al..

Writer Lisa Belkin used to pen a blog on parenting issues for the New York Times called "Motherlode." When she left the NYT to work for the Huffington Post, the "Motherlode" blog continued but with guest bloggers. Belkin, meanwhile, continued blogging in much the same vein for HuffPo but named her blog there "Parentlode."

What do you think of when you hear the phrase "Transformer Prime"? If you grew up in the 80s, you probably immediately think of the Transformers cartoon and the character Optimus Prime. (Admit it: now you're trying to get the Transformers theme song out of your head.)

Hasbro holds the trademark for "Transformer" for its line of toy robots that change into vehicles and back into robots. The brand is still going strong, fueled by a recent series of live-action movies, more toys and, of course, a new generation of little boys to collect them.

As a public service, we present Apple's handy guide to not infringing the iPad or iPhone with your tablet PC or smartphone (Hat tip to ITworld.com):

Now that's confidence: PIEtech, Inc., a company in Powhatan, Virginia, actually asked to be a defendant in a patent infringement lawsuit that involved one of its clients.

In August, PIEtech's competitor (and neighbor in Richmond, Virginia) Wealthcare Capital Management, sued the large Wall Street firm UBS Financial for infringement of patents for a “Method and System for Financial Advising”. Both patents were issued last summer.

By David Ziskind, IP Counsel - In a December 12, 2011 PatentlyO blog entry, Patent Law Analysis by Professors Dennis Crouch and Jason Rantanen[1], the authors notice a trend that average patent application pendency has leveled off (and in fact has begun to recede to a time period of three years or less) in the years between 2010-2011.

Normally this blog isn't known for keeping up with any of the (many, and seemingly interchangeable) Kardashians, but we couldn't pass this one up: A resident of Beverly Hills has filed for a trademark on the name "KardashianLash," and the Kardashian clan is not amused.

Sarah Ehrlich applied for the trademark for use with a "medicated liquid eyeliner for the purpose of enabling eyelash growth." She plans to use the proceeds from the sales of this product to send Honduran orphans to cosmetology school.