Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Daily Archives: March 21, 2016

Cybersquatting Cases Up in 2015, Driven by New gTLDs

Via WIPO –  Geneva, March 18, 2016 PR/2016/789 – “Amid the roll-out of hundreds of new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) such as .GURU, .NINJA and .NYC, trademark owners filed 2,754 cases under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) with WIPO in 2015, an increase of 4.6 % over the previous year. Videos: Highlights Video/YouTube | Press Conference Video/YouTube. Cybersquatting disputes relating to new gTLDs accounted for 10.5% of WIPO’s UDRP caseload in 2015, which covered a total of 4,364 domain names.  Among these names, .XYZ, .CLUB and .EMAIL were the most common new gTLDs…”

U.S. Extends Lead in International Patent and Trademark Filings

Via WIPO – The United States of America (U.S.) extended its long-standing position as the top source of international patent applications via WIPO amid another strong year of worldwide intellectual property (IP) filing growth, as an electronics manufacturer displaced a watch maker as the leading depositor of international industrial design applications. Videos: Highlights Video/YouTube |… Continue Reading

Tesco supermarkets pledge to give all unsold food to charity

Via Newsweek – “70 million meals were thrown away by Britain’s biggest supermarket retailer last year. Tesco wasted 55,400 tonnes of food, of which approximately 30,000 tonnes was edible, Reuters reports. On March 11, 2016 , Tesco agreed to donate all leftover food from its stores to charity in an initiative that aims to eradicate… Continue Reading

The Environmental Cost of Global Fuel Subsidies

Davis, Lucas W., The Environmental Cost of Global Fuel Subsidies (March 2016). NBER Working Paper No. w22105. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2752310 “Despite increasing calls for reform many countries continue to provide subsidies for gasoline and diesel. This paper quantifies the external costs of global fuel subsidies using the latest available data and estimates from the… Continue Reading

Only One Fourth of New Immigration Court Cases Involve Mexicans

“The number of individuals from Mexico whose removal is sought by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to steadily decrease, according to the latest data on deportation filings from the Immigration Courts. As of the end of February 2016, there have been 63,420 new Immigration Court filings in FY 2016. Of these, 15,821 involve… Continue Reading

New page for people/institutions who want to get data into Wikidata

Wikidata:Data donation – “This page is written for institutions, companies, organisations and individuals who are interested in adding data to Wikidata…Wikidata aims to create a multilingual free knowledge base about the world that can be read and edited by humans and machines alike. It provides data in all the languages of the Wikimedia projects, and… Continue Reading

Agencies Release Guidance to Issuing Banks on Applying Customer ID Program Requirements to Holders of Prepaid Cards

“Federal financial institution regulatory agencies today issued guidance clarifying the applicability of the Customer Identification Program (CIP) rule to prepaid cards issued by banks. The guidance applies to banks, savings associations, credit unions, and U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks (collectively “banks”). The guidance clarifies that a bank’s CIP should apply to the holders… Continue Reading

Demographic and Economic Profiles of Washington’s Electorate

“In advance of the Washington caucus on March 26 and primary on May 24, the Census Bureau presents a variety of statistics that give an overall profile of the state’s voting-age population and industries. Statistics include: Voting-age population and estimate of eligible voters (i.e., citizens age 18 and older). Breakdown of voting-age population by race… Continue Reading

GAO Reports – Alaska Native Corporations, GAO FY2017 Budget Request, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Private Health Insurance

Alaska Native Corporations: Oversight Weaknesses Continue to Limit SBA’s Ability to Monitor Compliance with 8(a) Program Requirements, GAO RGAO-16-113: Published: Mar 21, 2016. Publicly Released: Mar 21, 2016. Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Request: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-16-533T: Published: Mar 21, 2016. Publicly Released: Mar 21, 2016. Veteran-Owned Small Businesses: VA Improved Its Verification Program… Continue Reading