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Solving Unconscious Bias in Hiring

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solving unconscious bias in hiring

We’ve all heard about legal claims and cases of discrimination and bias in the workplace, but what about all of the people that are filtered out by the hiring process? While often unintentional, hiring managers have an unconscious bias in hiring that is in effect. On average, recruiters only spend 7 seconds reviewing an individual resume. At that speed, bias is sure to impact their decision making. Simple pieces of information about a candidate can…

Written by:
Brian Wallace

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Posted on Counterfeiting & Piracy

Hollow comfort

Did you ever wonder just how effective holograms are as an anti-counterfeiting device? When they first came out in the 1980’s, we were all impressed. It was like “Star Wars” on our credit cards. But over the years as we’ve gotten used to them, I am sure I’m not the only one who wondered if they’re really any good at this technological point in history. According to Wired News, it’s a pretty good question. In... Read more

Posted on Uncategorized

So Cute You Could Just License Him!

As much as I hate to do a straight-out classic blogroll here (one hand links the other) I just had to share this great item from Patrick Guevara’s Trademark Blawg about the fuzzy, wuzzy wicense-able bear onwy a Pokemon could love! It may indeed be a one-note gag, but it’s the right note to hit in this branding-obsessed environment. (Ironic, isn’t it, that branding — with all its emphasis on genuineness — has become a... Read more

Posted on Brand Management and Branding Free Expression Trademarks and trademark law

Goldman Sachs, those big losers!

Remember Mike Morgan, the flaky sort who dast challenge the mighty Men of Gold?   Now it’s over, like just another paid-back multi-billion dollar loan, and here’s how it all ends (via @walterolson): Mike Morgan, a Florida-based investment adviser who started the controversial blog GoldmanSachs666.com, has prevailed in a case he brought against the investment bank in April. Goldman . . . quietly agreed to several stipulations last month in order to dismiss the case.... Read more

Posted on Distribution systems

Chocolate Ice Cream with Chocolate Syrup

How else to describe a post (this one) that combines two of our favorite obsessions — Google and fair use? Business Week online reports that Google’s announced plan to to scan millions of the world’s books and make them searchable online is, not surprisingly, a little scary to some people. No, not the people who are afraid of free access to books and information. Rather, the people who are “all about” that very thing —... Read more

Posted on Copyright Law

Copyright law is hard

But it’s hard to have sympathy for the MPAA about its being accused of infringement, since its insane shotgun appraoch to enforcement is so just plain bad. Now as Boing Boing says, the movies people are ripping off other folks’ shareware. As Cory Doctorow (via Insty) says: Copyright law is hard. It used to only govern relations between giant industrial players. Copyright didn’t regulate reading an interesting tidbit from the newspaper for a friend. It... Read more

Posted on LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION®

Cyber… what?

“Cyberproperty”? A dubious concept, the dubiousness now analyzed and developed theoretically in this article by Michael Carrier and Greg Lastowka, via Marty Schwimmer. Originally posted 2008-04-21 23:30:13. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Read more

Posted on Licensing

When copyrights aren’t a federal case

Can copyright disputes ever be litigated in state court? It’s generally understood that the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over copyright claims, in contrast to trademark claims. Before you answer, be forewarned:  This post is one of my periodic “borrowings” from Pamela Chestek of Property, Intangible, “a blog about ownership of intellectual property rights and its licensing.” So now you know the answer: It’s unusual to see what looks like a copyright case in state... Read more

Posted on Uncategorized

More fair use follies — copyright infringement by court filing?

Evan Brown reports (links added): The parties in the matter of Shell v. Devries, a case from the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, are no strangers to litigation with one another. In a previous civil rights lawsuit filed by plaintiff Shell, the defendants filed a motion for attorney’s fees, attaching thereto a copy of ten pages of Shell’s copyrighted website, profane-justice.org.Shell filed a second lawsuit against the same defendants, this time claiming... Read more

Posted on LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION®

Cafe-Oppress

Increasingly, meritless IP claims and spineless takedown policies (always a dangerous combination) are making a Cafe Press a battleground for political speech assassination. No, it’s not a First Amendment issue; they’re a private company.  Private censorship is legal, usually, and often absolutely necessary. That’s all well and good, but still you wonder when Cafe Press is going to get serious.  (Hat tip to the other IP.) Originally posted 2009-08-26 17:08:42. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Read more

Posted on Brand Management and Branding

American Brandstand

Marty Schwimmer (who is a brand unto himself) links to the “American Brandstand” report published by an interesting outfit called AgendaInc. The report runs down last year’s top musical questions last year to be answered by well-known brand names. This report is most useful for interpreting some of the lyrics that you’ve heard a million times but never quite “got” (“I got the Rolly on my arm and I’m pouring Chandon / And I roll... Read more

Posted on Domain Names

Squatting not like tango; it doesn’t take two

Venkat Balasubramani, over at Eric Goldman’s place, reports on another court suggesting that there is no such thing as contributory cybersquatting, in a case that illuminates the not-so-crazy efforts by trademark owners to find some non-moving target on which to hang some legal responsibility for abuse of its rights: Plaintiff, Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas), a government owned entity, owns the Petronas Towers in Malaysia. It’s trying to enforce its trademark rights against two domain names (petronastowers.net... Read more