Intellectual Property and Online Business

Few of the important questions that you may like to get answers on
Can I Patent my Web Site?

In a measure to protect market competition, U.S. patent law does not allow citizens to patent Web-based business concepts.. So, for example, if you had an idea to start an online business that sold skincare products, you would not be issued a patent for that business concept, since a patent could block other online businesses from selling skincare products, and would hand you a monopoly on the market.
However, if you invent a new skincare technology, or improved existing technology for a new use, that product could be eligible for a patent.

Even if your Web-based business concept isn’t eligible for a patent you may still be able to pursue other options to protect your work, including trademarks, copyrights, or trade secrets.

Can I Trademark my Web site?

Another option to consider when seeking to protect your Web-based business interests, is protection under trademark law. A trademark will protect the words, names, symbols, sounds, or colors that distinguish your goods and services from those manufactured or sold by others. By nature, Web pages cannot distinctively identify goods or services like a logo or brand name could, so Web pages themselves would not be eligible for a trademark.

Trademark law is still a valuable asset to an online business owner because you can apply for protection under a trade dress. A trade dress protects a product’s design, product packaging, color, or other distinguishing non-functional elements of appearance. Trade dresses have a broad application and can be met through the following criteria:

- Is the work inherently unique - or - has it become distinctive over time so that it is widely recognizable to the public?

- Would attempts to mimic the work create confusion – to the point of misleading the public – of the work’s true ownership?

- Is the work non-functional? (Exclusive rights of functional work would create unfair competition in the marketplace, like in the online skincare business above.) The key point for Web site owners is the functional characteristics of hyperlinks, which are ineligible because protection would prevent competitors from linking them.

Can I Copyright my Web Site?

Online works, such as Web sites, are eligible to register “copyrightable content,” which excludes any work that was previously registered or exists in the public domain. Certain provisions apply, for example, computer programs and databases are usually not eligible.

Instead of copyrighting the Web site in its entirety, a copyright may still be appropriate if your site contains original writing, music, photography, art, or other works that are eligible for protection under copyright law.

Are you starting a Home Business ? Check this out!!

With the current recession it’s easy to be tempted by the lure of starting your own home based business. However, before making the jump you should assess your reasons and ability to start up a home-based business.

• Do I have the necessary core skills?

• Will I be moonlighting after my 9-5 job?

• Do I have a financial cushion?

• Will my family members be willing to let me work from home?

• How motivated am I to succeed at a home-based business?

Palin Resigned... The most foolish thing to do !!

Why did Palin resign? That is the big question going around... If she had two years to go.. there was a lot that she could have achieved and covered lost ground as well. In India if a member of the legislature had such a term left in the office, and presumably had desired to walk out of the office, he would be called a DUMB Moron !!! It takes quite a while to get over to that position, and then to walk out of the place, to prove a point, which apparently no one can figure out, is just stupid !!!
I guess some get it too easy, and yet they do not deserve it ..

Two new solutions from Mcgraw Hill

CINCH Mathematics uses interactive whiteboard technology and student response devices from Promethean. Developed by the McGraw-Hill Education Center for Digital Innovation, CINCH Mathematics helps teachers plan, teach, assess and differentiate instruction through one powerful online tool. Students learn math concepts and acquire skills through motivating, teacher-led, interactive whiteboard classroom instruction. The student-response devices engage today's digital natives and encourage even the quietest students to participate in lessons. The program collects each student's answers so teachers can use them to individualize instruction.

CTB/McGraw-Hill's Acuity UnWired(TM) enables students to take Acuity InFormative Assessments(TM) using student response devices, or "clickers" provided by Qwizdom® and eInstruction(TM). Teachers can immediately act on assessment responses and generate standards-aligned Acuity reports within minutes. The instantaneous feedback provided by Acuity UnWired gives educators the ability to make data-driven instructional decisions without delay, providing students with targeted instruction in real time. Acuity is the winner of a 2009 CODiE award for Best Student Assessment Solution. Acuity UnWired has already been demonstrated in school district pilot projects in five states with universally successful results.

Who Own's What ; Facts

MW owns: BMW, Mini, and Rolls Royce

Fiat owns: Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Fiat, Lancia, Maserati; Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep–20-percent stake

Ford Motor Company owns: Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo (for now), and still owns 13.4 percent of Mazda

General Motors owns: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC. Also owns a controlling interest in Daewoo, as well as Opel and Vauxhall in Europe and Holden in Australia.

Honda owns: Honda, Acura

Hyundai owns: Hyundai, Kia

Tata Motors (India) owns: Jaguar and Land Rover

Mazda (partially owned by Ford)

Daimler AG owns: Mercedes-Benz and Smart

Nissan owns: Nissan and Infiniti (Nissan is owned by Renault--France)

Porsche owns: Porsche and a majority share in Volkswagen

Subaru (A controlling interest of Subaru is owned by Toyota)

Toyota Motor Company owns: Lexus, Toyota, Scion, Daihatsu and Hino Motors, with a stake in Fuji Industries (Subaru’s parent company) and Isuzu

Volkswagen owns: Audi, Volkswagen, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, and overseas SEAT and Skoda.
In formal negotiations to be sold:

Hummer: Tengzhong (China)

Saturn: Penske Automotive Group

Saab: Koenigsegg (Sweden)

Hair weaving is now getting street Smart !!!!

5 Jobs You Should be Glad You Don't Have

SUBJECT: 5 Jobs You Should be Glad You Don't Have

We all know times are tough, and the rough economy means that none of our competitors are hiring, so you're stuck here at your desk for the time being. So you think you have it bad? See what these poor souls have to go through in 5 of the worst jobs in the world.

1. Sewage worker in India

This should be obvious. India's sewage systems are a relic of British times, which means that they often narrow to dank, smelly, waste-filled passages. When there's a blockage, sewage workers have to descend into that hell and manually sort it out.

Municipal corporations are the most corrupt and apathetic organizations in the nation, so these workers can forget about protective suits and gear, which have often been sold off in the black market. Skin rashes and eye soreness, respiratory and liver problems, fears of hepatitis and rabies (the rats down there are massive) are just some of the complications of this sort of job. The gases in the sewers have the potential to asphyxiate and dozens of workers lose their lives in this manner every year. The pay for this death-defying, nauseating work? Rs. 5000 a month.

2. Personal assistant to a (Bollywood) Star

It may seem wonderful from the outside. Behind the scenes, however, each star has an army of assistants-makeup, wardrobe, personal, drivers, cooks, maids-helping them get through the day. While this may seem like a dream job, given the proximity to the glitz and glamour, those in the know shudder when they recall miserly pay, ridiculous working hours, and tantrums-on-demand. Would you fancy being the assistant tasked with driving a star's pet for 15 hours nonstop to the shoot location because the star "missed her baby?" Or dealing with a starlet's enraged and steroid-fueled boyfriend because he can't handle their break-up? For more on how ridiculous star's demands can be, check out The Smoking Gun'scompilation of backstage riders-things stars demand at concert locations. What price abuse? Pay varies, but our sources tell us that Bollywood stars are among the stingiest in the world.

3. Video Game tester

This job may sound like every kid's dream, but the reality is far starker. There is such high demand for video game testers that the workforce is treated extremely badly-there is absolutely no job security and workers are given extremely short notice before shifts. Once on the job, individual testers are often assigned extremely limited portions of a game-with the sole aim of making it crash or uncovering a bug-so a typical day may involve playing the same level 500 times. Hardware tests may involve turning a console on and off 1000 times-does that sound like fun? When deadlines near, all-nighters are common, often with little or no notice.

4. Roustabout on an oil rig

A relatively specialized field, roustabouts perform maintenance on oil rigs and pipelines, using hand and power tools. Oil rigs are dangerous workplaces, and injuries-sometimes fatal-are common. Working here also involves extended periods on-site, away at sea and far away from home-with just a swarthy, sweaty work crew for company. The job involves intense physical labour and dismemberment or worse is only a slip up away.

5. Recycling plant worker/Garbage Collector

Though recycling happens on the informal level in India-with a city's ragpickers removing everything of value from the garbage dumps-the jobs of garbage collectors are frequently on the bottom of every worst jobs list. Recycling workers regularly have to deal with dirty diapers, dead animals, hypodermic needles and rotting meat.

This World is not for Losers !!

Well the title says it all !!
Over the last decade and a half in my professional and personal life, I have come across people from diverse backgrounds. People, who have had meteoric rise in their lives and also plummeted down as if they ever existed.
How does it feel living one’s life by your own and still making the best of the worlds. The mantra is "Go for It...the way you feel it will work"
I have always practised the art of 'being on my toes', it keeps me alert and have now developed a 360 approach towards the people and the life around me. It is when you take a deep breath, sit back and relax, the world passes by in a manner so fast, that it makes the whirlwinds run over in a swish.
The pain and the anguish begins to wrap around you only when you are unnoticed by what would have made sense to you in your life.
One has to have the power or atleast develop all the instincts for smelling, eating and doing things in one's life, which brings a moment to cheer, just for YOU.
So, before the world around me starts ringing the bell so loud that it rocks my head, I want to be a winner. So as they say, be the first to take the BIG step, it does not matter whether it works or fails, but the fact that you’ve made a move, means a whole lot to your inner self.
People around you may not agree what you say and do, but the mouth flaps will sit back after some time.
This world works evolves and revolves around the winners
It did for me at least... so which side are you ?

She was the Queen of the Citadel : Will miss you my friend

It takes quite a lot of grit to say, that you really acknowledge the worth and the value-addition that a few people create in one’s life. These people are their around you, always, who matter and who help in shaping the current pace of our lives.
Do we feel their presence? Do we acknowledge their worth in our lives? Probably not!
I wanted to write a few notes on one of my very close associates, my senior Project manager that i had worked with, in my previous organization. She reported to my desk.
As i knew her, she was one of the finest, committed and dedicated professional that i ever saw and understood, since the mantra of ‘professional behavior, work diligence and ethics’ got into my head.
What really amazes one is the iota of vulnerability that she projected. The vulnerability in all the right essence of the word ‘GO get it’. You could always expect her to come with a blank expression, which pumped your ego to give her the ‘mystics of truth on any domain’, and which she would imbibe naturally. I always had this hunch, that she knew more then what she displayed. This made her rise above the ‘cut’ in my eyes.
A question that has always hovered around my mind, is the capability that she possessed in displaying compassion and absorbing so much that was happening around her all the time at her personal and professional life. She could take it all together.
She would nurture her team as her own children and make sure they lived upto the organizational expectations all the time.
I could feel the happiness around me with her mere presence. She made me feel that she was around all the time, to make things happen. She would resonate confidence, and pump up a smile within moments.
She had persistence and patience and she knew it all. I could never see her 'nay' to a point of view. She would always dwell into deeper thoughts and come up with some solution.
We had to part ways, but she represents to me a fine blend of ‘curiosity, success, happiness and satisfaction” All well packaged.
I must admit, parting from her was the toughest for me to deal with. It brought me to the end of a saga, a chapter, which i will cherish all my life. Each chapter, has a moral, which i know comes back straight in front of your eyes, as if she will pop into my chamber, right now.
You will always remain as the queen of the citadel. I miss you my friend.

" Best of Luck..."

I have always had a very unique or may be i should say a rather quite and an unusual relationship with my son. He is now 8 years old. He has been ever so close to his mom and why not so, though i have been there, but still a spark away. The last couple of months have been different though, ever since we got know each other better, the relationship with my son has evolved.
As adults, when we grow bigger in our space, we think rationality and intelligence come to us naturally. Atleast i thought so !
Have we ever turned our heads back and checked the impact we create on account of our actions on our kids, however insignificant they may seem to us? I have now realized that it all comes back to you in a form so unique that can make you awe the relationship better.
I always thought that i ruled the roost when it came to handling emotions. Kids too have emotions, and they express it in their own wondrous ways.
A traditional Indian system of bidding adieu follows by offering some sweet curds and may be a token currency in cash, which is for keep sakes and presumably for good luck.
Recently, i was moving for an assignment, and as i was getting up to move, my son came to me, running.
He seemed quite sad, and i guess he was trying his best to control his emotions and not exhibit them to say the least, and then... he came over and handed me out a Rs.100/- denomination currency note and said "Best of luck Papa"...
I was awestruck, and found it difficult not to cry. He looked at me in the eye and as if he kept telling me that he 'meant exactly what he said'. I could see him standing cold, waiting for me to hold him in his arms and hug him so tight that we could both let our emotions out. We did exactly that.
I held him close to my chest and felt the pain in him, of not seeing me for long...
What a guy ? He must have saved this money from the paltry sums that his mom gives him as 'pocket money', but the gesture was amazing.
Probably, i have never been ever so close to my son in the last 8 years.
At the airport, he bid me a silent farewell and a few 100 meters away in the car he waved at me. I could not hear him though but we connected, well.
We still have to learn a lot from our kids, at least i do.