Patent Battle Brewing Over Videotaping Stars Signing Autographs

from the can't-make-this-stuff-up dept

Reuters is running an article about the launch of a new company, Live Autographs, which has stars like William Shatner (who's an investor in the company) signing autographs for customers, while filming a short video of the signature. As part of the video the stars are supposed to say aloud something in reference to what they're signing. It's basically no different than standing in line to get an autograph and telling the person what you want them to sign -- except that it takes place over the internet, and the end result is both the signed product and the video. Who knows if it's a good idea or not, but given the lengths some people will go (or the amount they'll pay) to get an autograph, it's hardly a surprising extension of the autograph industry.

But, don't tell that to one guy. Over at TechCrunch, Mike Arrington not only shows the William Shatner video he requested, but also publishes a message from another company that claims Live Autographs is stealing his intellectual property. Yes, this guy is trying to patent the idea of signing autographs remotely and filming the results. It's still in the application stage, which you can see right here. Of course, you can't sue over a patent that hasn't yet been issued, so the guy doesn't have much of a complaint yet. But, seriously? Trying to patent filming people signing autographs?

10 Comments | Leave a Comment..