ModernTribe's Talkinator

My husband told me about this very cool web ap that allows you to create your own chat room, in two seconds, called Talkinator. You simply name your room and the code is automatically generated for you. Paste the html anywhere and then chat. Chatting requires no login, a username is automatically generated for you. Best thing: anyone who posts the same code -- that is, uses the same room name will be part of your chat network. Below is ModernTribe's Talkinator. Say hello!

Quirky Dishes For Your Sabbath Table

Friday mornings I like to tie things up from the week in preparation for Shabbat. However, I tripped across some unusual dinnerware that is interesting enough for me to pause and tell you about it. All designers below are part of the Areaware design collective.

New York Delft Plate Set by Lovegrove & Repucci
$ 100.00 a set.

The classic tradition of Dutch Delft hits the streets of New York City.

Seconds Dinner Plates (set of 4)
$ 132.00

Jason Miller's “Seconds” series challenges the rules that surround modern day consumer items. Do decorations always need to be centered? Is a whole bird better than a half? Here, Jason’s elegant “mistakes” are artfully and carefully applied to porcelain dinner plates. Each set contains 4 unique patterns.

Alma Fortune Cup - Gold Short Simple
$ 75.00

Materials:
Porcelain, 22k gold

In this collaboration, redstr/collective and Tobias Wong have taken the Alma Fortune cup and created a new level of esoteric luxury. Inspired by the age old tradition of Tasseography (Turkish coffee fortune telling), this cup with saucer has a one-of-a-kind, 22k gold fortune.

What do you think? Would you set you Sabbath table (or any night) with these dishes?

Open E: Registering Trademarks

This is the third post in a series called "Open E at MT." In the spirit of the Open Source software movement, I'll be openly sharing my learning experiences at an e-commerce entrepreneur.

Last week we received two envelopes in the mail. Each contained heavy manila colored folders with big gold seals: our official certificates of registration for our trademarks No Limit Texas Dreidel and Go All Spin. I was tickled to see that we actually get paper certificates in this electronic age. Don't know what we do with them other than file them away. But they are a nice tangible thing to hold onto after over a year of pursuing the marks.

Filing is on the web and simple and relatively cheap ($275 or $325 per mark) once you know what you are doing. Figuring out what to do is an Intellectual Property Attorney's forte and I paid $750 for an attorney to create an IP plan for me. I did the initial trademark search to make sure someone hadn't registered a similar mark already. Then I filed online using the TEAS, Trademark Electronic Application System. After that, you wait for the government to notify you of your mark's progress and answer any "Office Actions" -- it is all done electronically. Once my wonderful partner joined ModernTribe with her IP attorney husband, he took over for us and ushered the marks through to their final registered status (Thank you Todd!).

I'll share with you what I think was the trickiest part of the whole shebang: figuring out whether or not a mark is register-able at all. You can go ahead and apply but if you get rejected, you'll lose your 300 or so bucks. So it is worth consulting with an attorney upfront.

Among other things, registerableness requires that your mark (or something similar) isn't already registered and that it is not descriptive.

Not Already Taken. You've got to make sure there isn't a similar mark already registered for the same class of Goods and Services. Classes are the type of Goods and Services in which the mark is used; No Limit Texas Dreidel is registered for use in class 28, Games and Playthings. You can do the search online using TESS, the Trademark Electronic Search System and it's fun and educational to snoop around and see how other people are using marks.

Not Descriptive. The mark can't simply be describing something in general terms. This is a tricky concept. An example of a clearly non-descriptive mark is found if you search for Dreidel. You will find the single word "Dreidel" is registered by a company for the class of stuffed animals. Dreidel does not describe stuffed animals, therefore it is register-able. One could NOT register the word "Dreidel" for spinning tops because, of course, it is simply a descriptive term.

Similarly, if Georgia Law Group is located in Georgia, it cannot register the name as a service mark because it's simply a descriptive name. However, if Georgia Law Group is located in Texas... well, then, it's not descriptive. Can you see how this worked for us and No Limit Texas Dreidel? The reviewing attorney asked if the game was created in Texas, relates to Texas as a state in any way. Because it does not, the mark is registerable. Tricky? Yes!

Plushood - Israeli Version of the Ugly Doll

Plushood update! --

Check out this adorable cake made by a Plushood fan for her daughter's birthday party:



After their animation short, Plushood: Meet Your New Neighbors, took second place in the Bitfilm Festival in Germany, Shlomi and Tamar are exhibiting at Urbanix on Shenkin Street, Tel Aviv. The exhibit is called Me, You and All The Others.

From Urbanix.co.il

The difficulty of coping with a demanding and competitive urban life, the subjugation to consumerism, money and social status, beside social manifestations like violence and indifference, can be found either openly or concealed in the works presented.

Sounds a little heady but my guess it's going to be some interesting, fun illustration in a space that exhibits vinyl dolls (like Tam's Qee) and other artists inspired by graffiti, comics, manga, hip hop, pop culture, and street fashion.

A Jewish Valentine's Day?! - the 15th of Av

Tu' B'Av, or the 15th of Av, is "A Day of Love" celebrated similarly to Valentine's Day. Who knew? Not I. In ancient times Tu' B'Av was celebrated by young single women dressing in white and shaking their groove things in vineyards. Young men from all 12 tribes would seek-a-peek, hoping to find their future wives. Read more about this holiday at My Jewish Learning.

The reason I became aware of this holiday is because JConnect LA and Jewlicious are putting on LOVE FEST 2008, Thursday August 14th at Fu's Palace LA. Beyond love, the event celebrates Lisa Klug's book, Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe.

Details:

When: Thursday, August 14 @ 8:30pm

Where: Fu's Palace, 8751 W. Pico Blvd.

Los Angeles 90035

What: Love Fest of Heebster Fun

* World Music performance by Moshav
* Spoken word performance by Smooth-E
* Book signing with author Lisa Alcalay Klug
* Drum circle
* Heebster marketplace
* DJ spinning the Jewke Box
* Mouth watering eats

Cost: $20 in advance or $25 at the door (price includes 1 free drink)
Pre-pay at www.JconnectLA.com
Info: Call Michal @ 310-405-2336 or Michal@JconnectLA.com

Plus, ModernTribe.com is giving away gift bags with fun stuff and gift certificates from ModernTribe.com.