The world is being patented

The Flemish-Dutch cultural center deBuren changed the name of their debate series De zeven hoofdzonden [The seven deadly sins] after a complaint from weekly magazine Humo, who patented that name already back in 1999 for an interview series they’ve been running onder that title. Humo got a carload of nasty comments. Can a weekly claim a widespread expression, just like that? Jörgen Oosterwaal says they can. “We did not patent the seven sins as such, but the interview format we invented. Other Humo features like Dwarskijker or Open Venster are patented trademarks. Our rivals do like to ‘borrow’, you know. Our brandnew feature Het beste van de week [This week’s best] has already been rashly copied by a monthly.”
Frank Boudsma of trade mark office Arnold en Siedsma says their clients “usually have the name or logo of their company patented. But ideas, concepts, forms and models can be protected just as well. Since De zeven hoofdzonden is a registered trademark, Humo even could have claimed compensation if deBuren had refused to change the name of their debate series.
The trademark register of the Benelux-Bureau voor de Intellectuele Eigendom [BBIE, Benelux Bureau for Intellectual Property] shows more mediacompanies are protecting their trademarks. Production company ‘Woestijnvis’ patented TV-formats like De Pappenheimers [Know your enemy] en De Mol [The Mole]. Even Het Nieuws [The News] of TV-channel VTM is a protected trademark. No other medium can use the same name. End 2007 the Belgian francophone magazine ‘Enjeux Internationaux’ was issued as “E…X Internationaux” after a complaint by a French company proprietor of all magazinetitles containing Enjeux in France and Benelux.
The list seems endless. In April 2001 conductor Rudolf Werthen and choreographer Marc Bogaerts organized an erotic event in Ostend. They called it “Kama Sutra”. During the festival, they received an angry letter from the Dutch concern Hilleneer Outdoor Advertising claiming they had Kama Sutra registered at BBIE. Only they, the owners, could to use the name for erotic fairs and events. “It’s ridiculous that the name of a two thousand years old literary work can be claimed. We didn’t change the event’s name because it was nearing its end anyway.” says Werthen. Hilleneer did not begin legal action.
In cyberspace too patents are moot points. Member of Parliament for LDD Jurgen Verstrepen and cellphone company Base are disputing the use of the domainname www.freedomofspeech.be. Base registered its well known slogan as trademark in 2003. “We don’t want our slogan to be used as a domainname for political purposes. Especially not by someone with a completely different political stance” says Bart Vandesompele, communication officer at Base, referring to the far right opinions espoused by Verstrepen. In April the arbitration committee judged that the slogan cab be used only by Base for commercial purposes. “We will appeal to a higher court” says Verstrepen. “I think it’s absurd that Freedom of Speech, the first amendment of the American constitution can be claimed by a telecom company. I wonder on which grounds the BBIE decided to grant the patent.”