Remember Cockygate? The drama that unfolded last year when a romance author somehow obtained a trademark for a common word and then took legal action against her fellow authors? (I did post about it rather a lot!) Well, the trademark was surrendered some months ago, after the author realised that all she had achieved was the …
It seems the Cockygate trademark drama, where author Faleena Hopkins obtained a trademark for the word “cocky” and took legal action against other authors who’d used it, has been resolved in court. The trademark has been surrendered. However, if something like this can happen once, it can happen again. Here is a statement from Tara Crescent, one of …
To follow up on yesterday’s post about author Faleena Hopkins trademarking the word “cocky” in order to bring down her competition and force them to remove their books from sale, I’d just like to point out that one thing you can do to help is buy the books of those other authors. This is not a …
Ukraine’s Bukovel ski resort in—you guessed it!—the Carpathian Mountains. I’ve been too preoccupied with other things to bother posting about this, but now Christine Feehan (as in the NYT-bestselling author credited with inventing the paranormal romance genre back in the 1990s) has now confirmed it: she has personally filed applications to obtain trademarks for all …
Continue reading Hey, Christine Feehan! You don’t own the Carpathians!
The end of lunch overlooking the lake on the terrace of the National Library of Australia on Wednesday afternoon. Christmas/Koliada parade in Lviv, Ukraine. Another week, another Christmas! Now, another New Year. Article: How I fell in love with romance novels Book Feature: Trouble Next Door by Stefanie London RWA and Cockygate Cover Love Cover Love
Friday afternoon drinks on the patio near the lake at the National Library. Canberra put on a sunny and surprisingly warm day. It was a gorgeous end to the week. Australian Parliament from the car on Friday afternoon. There was a terrible fatal accident involving a truck, three cars, and many people right near where I live yesterday …
Australian Parliament on Saturday afternoon. Winter in Canberra Yesterday we finally made it to the National Gallery for the Cartier exhibition. I’ll do a post about it next week, but – WOW. This wasn’t just random stuff; it was Kate Middleton’s wedding tiara, and some of the Queen’s favourite jewellery, and Grace Kelly’s tiara, and …
“Secret Garden”. That’s right: someone wants to trademark the term Secret Garden. I wonder if they’ve ever heard of Frances Hodgson Burnett! Shall they send cease and desist letters to her grave? She’s buried in New York state if you’re looking for her!
Winter sunshine in Canberra. And at the cemetery near the New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory state border on Friday afternoon. And Lake Burley Griffin on Saturday afternoon. R.I.P. Errol Pickford Happy Birthday to an Icon My review of Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott My review of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith Beyond my …
The #cockygate saga has brought trademark trolls to the attention of the publishing world. The selfish practice of trademarking common words and phrases to shut out competition is not new, but it does seem to be getting more ridiculous every day. Cocky, forever, rebellion – all words nobody should be able to “own”, and yet …
