Austin Filmmaker Takes on Patent Trolls

Lex Lybrand's new comedy The Trolls is patently ridiculous

"...Carolla Show, when the firm claimed they held the patent on podcasts. It sounds insane, but Carolla spent hundreds..."

Sept. 30, 2016 Screens Feature by Richard Whittaker

The Spy Who Dumped Me

Kunis and McKinnon run to Europe, but forget to pack jokes

"...Europe with her best friend Morgan (McKinnon, extending her patent on kooky), in possession of a highly coveted MacGuffin..."

Aug. 3, 2018 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Despite being the third entry in the Underworld series, this is a prequel story about the age-old war between the vampires and the werewolves.

"...who previously engaged Nighy tooth and nail as the black-patent-leather-clad Selene, are in for a sad day at the..."

Jan. 30, 2009 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Graduation

This high school bank-heist caper flunks out.

"...unquestioned details that suffuse the entire movie with the patent air of improbability. The film stars a quartet of..."

May 2, 2008 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Dolly Dearest

"...She scampers across the floor in her little black patent leather shoes, she pops up on top of a..."

Oct. 25, 1991 Movie Review by Kathleen Maher

Who Trolls the Trolls?

Austin filmmaker claims HBO's Silicon Valley ripped off his film

"...Silicon Valley by Texas film and TV mainstay Mike..."

June 8, 2017 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

The Year in Gaming

"...2. Patent restraint. Because the millions Wizards earned from Magic sales..."

Jan. 9, 1998 Screens Feature by Allen Varney

Vibrating Hardware Wars

Competing makers of tongue vibrators get down and dirty in the courtroom

"...facing a federal judge in Houston in a contentious patent infringement lawsuit that will determine which oral pleasure product..."

April 23, 2004 News Feature by Jordan Smith

Teen Inventor Honored for His "FireBot"

Search and rescue robot helps firefighters navigate burning buildings remotely

"...Competition earned Thakur $2,000 and made him eligible for patenting help from the United States Patent and Trademark Office,..."

Oct. 22, 2021 News Feature by Brant Bingamon

Now Streaming in Austin: The Trolls

Austin comedy takes a potshot at tech culture

"...the idea of podcasts. What they did is called patent trolling: File an amazingly vague patent, then come threaten..."

May 15, 2020 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

Inherit the Net

Lawyer and Stanford professor Lawrence Lessig talks copyright law and the Internet.

"...sounds the trumpet. They are e-commerce companies trying to patent the way you click through their site. And they..."

March 1, 2002 Screens Feature by Roger Gathman

Online Hit

Instant Sports Patents a Pastime

"...that Barstow's technology had been awarded a pair of patents -- making him the proprietary owner of the broad..."

Oct. 11, 1996 Screens Feature by Andy Langer

CBD Companies Find Practical Uses for Marijuana Compounds

Canvas 1839’s scientist and Willie’s Remedy explain cannabis molecules

"...Roche – [they're] interested in a molecule they can patent, in new molecular discovery. They don't pay as much..."

June 7, 2019 Food Feature by Jessi Cape

The Rise of Radio

"...the U.S., which Hoffberger describes. Edwin Armstrong submitted the patent for FM radio in 1930, and was awarded the..."

Jan. 25, 2016 Postmarks

One in a Crowd: Trolls

Patent troll comedy seeks crowdfunding

"...exactly what it promises, and so out come the patent trolls, that special breed of opportunist that spend their..."

June 20, 2015 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

The Common Law

Trademark My Small Business?

"...A trademark, as defined by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, is "a word, phrase, symbol or..."

Sept. 28, 2007 Column by Luke Ellis

The Nowhere Inn

Layered St. Vincent mockumentary warps reality and opens a window to artist's heart

"...where she donned thigh-high orange boots and a skin-tight patent leather dress to match, oozing the sex appeal that..."

Sept. 17, 2021 Movie Review by Jenny Nulf

Dragged Across Concrete

Police brutality and corruption in a world of malice and greed

"...director at the moment than S. Craig Zahler, whose patent brand of vicious drama has seen him painted as..."

March 22, 2019 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Your friendly neighborhood web-head goes beyond Peter Parker

"...the expectations of Peter B. Parker (Johnson adding his patent brand of schlubbiness to the older, tubbier, divorced Peter)..."

Dec. 14, 2018 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

The Terrifying Laughter of Parenthood

Award-winning comedy Maybe Shower comes home

"...regular audiences laugh with his work. His last film, patent law satire The Trolls, "screened at a couple of..."

March 30, 2018 Screens Feature by Richard Whittaker

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

"...the ballpoint pen in 1931 and obtained a French patent for it in 1938. Bíró fled Hungary before World..."

Nov. 4, 2016 Column by Mr. Smarty Pants

Austin Startup Week

Getting started with Austin Startup Week

"...Patent Reform Update and Lunch with Sen. John Cornyn Tuesday,..."

Oct. 3, 2014 Screens Feature by James Renovitch

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

"...hasn't been improved upon since. William Middle­brook received a patent for the design, not of the clip, but of..."

Oct. 3, 2014 Column by Mr. Smarty Pants

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

"...Only one U.S. president has ever received a patent – in 1849, Abraham Lincoln was given a patent..."

July 25, 2014 Column by Mr. Smarty Pants

After a Fashion

Your Style Avatar-dy for the party

"...Grant wore the black faux sheared-seal pants with the patent leather panels down the front and back, with the..."

March 15, 2013 Column by Stephen MacMillan Moser

The Hightower Report

Obama drops the ball on jobs, and Glenn Beck moves to the suburbs

"...first, pass more free-trade agreements, and, second, overhaul the patent laws!..."

Aug. 26, 2011 News Column by Jim Hightower

Death at a Funeral

A remake of a 3-year-old British comedy, Death at a Funeral transfers its farce from a predominantly white cast to predominantly black.

"...invented the parlor farce and surely had an early patent on gallows humor, too, but Frank Oz's 2007 Death..."

April 23, 2010 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Under Our Skin

This documentary probes the human, medical, and political dimensions of Lyme disease, its treatment, and diagnosis.

"...the downplaying of Lyme disease, reasons that involve the patent restrictions that cause researchers to work in isolation from..."

Oct. 2, 2009 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Making It, Weirdly

A little elbow grease and perseverance pays off for creative entrepeneur Luke Iseman

"...They're also inventors. May says she holds the patent on a clear bra strap. (However, she says due..."

Oct. 3, 2008 News Feature by Laurel Chesky

The Common Law

Do trademark laws affect my local business?

"...do their own trademark searches. Go to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website (www.uspto.gov), and search the trademark..."

Oct. 12, 2007 Column by Luke Ellis

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