New "Shape Blog" Focuses on IP Protection of Product Design

Filling one of the last remaining voids in the IP blogworld, the bloggers at ReThink (IP), the TTABlog, and the Trademark Blog have launched a joint venture called the "Shape Blog."


Marty Schwimmer of the Trademark Blog, a founding father of the Shape Blog, describes the new blog as follows:

The Shape Blog has two subjects.

The first subject is an 'inter-disciplinary' analysis of the protection of design and three-dimensional objects. Practitioners experienced in trademark, trade dress, copyright and patent law will provide news and commentary on the legal treatment of design and any object that incorporates design.

The second subject will be 'personal fabrication.' The creation of Shape Blog was inspired by the book 'Fab' by Professor Neal Gershenfeld To over-simplify:-just as the dropping prices and widespread dissemination of computing power led to the personal computing revolution, dropping prices and dissemination of CAD/CAM techniques will lead to a personal fabrication revolution, where the average home will have the ability to 'fabricate' exact replicas of three-dimensional objects (replacement parts, artworks, furniture) according to software instructions, perhaps downloaded from the Internet.

We will therefore be tracking not only advances in IP protection but advances in the technologies that may lead to a personal fabrication industry (such as desktop prototyping).

In short, we will be discussing the opportunities and dangers that arise for design when you can email an Eames Chair.

I look forward to contributing to the Shape Blog. Readers are encouraged to send comments and suggestions.