;-)’s Intellectual Property Rights

Oleg Teterin, president of Russian mobile phone advertiser Superfone announced that the Russian Federal Patent agency has granted him the trademark for the popular emoticon ;-).  Though many doubt the legality of this move, owing to the symbol’s long life in the public domain, Teterin says that he’s only expecting money from corporations that wish to otherwise use it for free.  Furthermore, he wishes to keep it affordable, offering interested parties use of the symbol for a small annual fee in the realm of “tens of thousands of dollars.” What might be even stranger, is that this isn’t the first time this emoticon as appeared in Russian court.  In 2005, a man attempted to sue German company Siemens, claiming he held the trademark, but the company’s appeal was later upheld.

This situation might seem slightly ridiculous, but it interests us because it brings to light some of the sticky questions surrounding copyright law in the digital age.  As we’ve discussed in a previous post, the Internet’s ability to instantly copy information and make it available to anyone makes for new vagueness around definitions of terms like originality and ownership, particularly as they pertain to ideas.

[via BBC]