The last days of grace
Monday is a special day. Firstly, it's the fifth anniversary of Second Life -- though not the birthday, a fact which Linden Lab kind of drummed into me in 2006, when I made that mistake myself; The birthday is in March, the Lab insisted at the time, though the anniversary is in June.
The Lab seems to be changing that tune and calling June the birthday nowadays. We're not sure if that's a concession to popular misuse, or if the Lab has become genuinely confused over it. It doesn't really matter, though. Monday's a special day for more than just that.
Monday's the first day after the 90 day grace period on trademark use has expired.
Yes, Sunday is the 90th day since the announcement of the brand center, the new guidelines and the grace period. That means on Monday you could be getting cease-and-desist letters for Second Life's birthday to go with your party-cake. Err, woo?
For those of us who had questions for Linden Lab's trademark people during the last 90 days? Tough. The odds are you didn't get any answer. In fact, we weren't able to find anyone who was able to get an answer out of them for three months, until late this afternoon, when Gwyneth Llewelyn finally managed to get an answer; the first that we're aware of during the 90 day period.
Talk about your last-minute.
In fact, we were told in May that the trademark counsel was "out of town" and would not be able to answer questions until their return. We guess they must have just gotten back. Probably they've got a busy weekend of cease-and-desist form-letters letters to write.
So, while you're enjoying the weekend and getting into the celebratory spirit for Linden Lab's unbirthday celebration and the SL Kids birthday bash, spare a thought for the trademark people at the Lab who we guess will probably be spending the weekend catching up on the last three months -- too late to benefit you.
