Hasta La Gadget!

Trademark registration number 3691042, you just made someone very happy. This week, the US Patent and Trademark Offices awarded Man & Machine with the rights to the name “Mighty Mouse” when it comes to computer mice / “cursor control devices.” So of the two peripherals shown above, it seems the beaut on the right is the one with legal claim to the moniker. Good thing, too, since its claims on “Cool Mouse” and “Really Cool [Mouse]” died just before Christmas last year. We gotta say, it looks as good of a time as any to replace the old point-and-click, eh Apple?

Update: Nilay here, with some trademark law nerdery for you. This trademark has a long and convoluted history, as you’d expect. CBS and Man & Machine actually both filed for the Mighty Mouse mark as it relates to computer mice in 2007 — and CBS actually filed for it first, in May. Here’s the kicker, though — Man & Machine not only filed for this particular trademark in December of that year, but it also simultaneously sued Apple and CBS over their use of the name. Saucy! Both trademark applications were then put on hold while that case was sorted out — and after two years of bickering, they finally settled the case and CBS abandoned its registration in June of this year, allowing Man & Machine to resume its registration. Since Apple and CBS were essentially precluded from opposing that renewed registration, it more or less sailed right through, and here we are. Simple, innit?

Oh, and for our occasionally misguided friends in the media: it’s important to note that CBS and Man & Machine were the involved parties here, and they ultimately settled their dispute out of court. Apple was simply along for the ride, since its agreement was with CBS. If you’re going to run with any sensational version of this, we’d suggest something along the lines of Apple screwing this up by not just buying Man & Machine for this mark years ago — we’re certain it would have been cheaper than the millions everyone’s undoubtedly spent litigating this since. Got that? Good.

[Via TechCrunch]

Read – USPTO database entry for Man & Machine’s “Mighty Mouse” registration
Read – Man & Machine’s Mighty Mouse product page

Continue reading Mighty Mouse trademark awarded to Man & Machine, Mister Trouble can stop hanging around now (updated with analysis)

Mighty Mouse trademark awarded to Man & Machine, Mister Trouble can stop hanging around now (updated with analysis) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rather odd timing, given some recent developments in the Apple camp, but Microsoft Research has just surfaced some of its incredibly wild multitouch mouse prototypes. Each one uses a different touch detection method, and at first glance all five seem to fly in the face of regular ergonomics. The craziest two are probably “Arty,” which has two articulated arms to cradle your thumb and index finger, with each pad housing its own optical sensor for mission-critical pinching gestures, and “Side Mouse” which is button free and actually detects finger touches in the table immediately in front of the palm rest. Of course, there’s plenty of crazy in the FTIR, Orb Mouse and Cap Mouse (pictured), which rely on an internal camera, orb-housed IR camera and capacitive detection, respectively. Of course, there’s no word on when these might actually see the light of day, but it should be quite obvious that Apple’s not the only game in town thinking about this stuff. Check out the utterly enlightening video of these things in action after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft Research shows off multitouch mouse prototypes

Filed under: Peripherals

Microsoft Research shows off multitouch mouse prototypes originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, well, what’s this? A new Apple Bluetooth keyboard and mouse have arrived at the FCC, and they’ve got new model numbers of A1314 and A1296 — the current wireless keyboard is A1255 and the Mighty Mouse is A1197. That’s pretty much all we know for now, but these keyboard dimensions are also smaller than the current model, which rules out a return of the numeric keypad — sorry to dash your hopes, Excel jockeys. Is this the new keyboard rumored to accompany an iMac refresh? We’ll have to wait to find out — but on a similar note, AppleInsider says Steve Jobs himself is leading the development of this new mouse, featuring some kind of multitouch and potentially housed in an aluminum shell. That would certainly explain those multitouch mouse patents we’ve seen in the past, as well as bring the desktop mousing experience in line with the multitouch action found on the MacBooks — AI says the new mice somehow enable iPhone-style kinetic scrolling, which would definitely be interesting. So… you want to maybe schedule an event to launch all this stuff, Steve?

Update: And… Apple’s managed to yank the images out of the FCC filings, which is about as fast as we’ve ever seen that happen.

Update 2: Revised images have been posted, carefully cropped to show only the relevant FCC labeling — although model numbers remain. This is absolutely the fastest we’ve ever seen the FCC database change, it’s rather impressive.

Update 3: AppleInsider’s revised their post to say an aluminum mouse is just speculation, so this thing could be plastic after all.

Read – Apple Bluetooth keyboard at FCC
Read – Apple Bluetooth mouse at FCC
Read – AppleInsider post on new mouse

Continue reading New Apple Bluetooth keyboard and mouse arrive at the FCC

Filed under: Peripherals

New Apple Bluetooth keyboard and mouse arrive at the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last night at Pepcom’s Holiday Spectacular media event in mid-town Manhattan, Toshiba was showing off these cool little Transformer computer accessories, just in time for the 25th anniversary of the popular cartoon/comic book/action figure/movie franchise. There’s not a ton of details about the products yet, as Toshiba hasn’t officially officially announced them.

The devices will be out in the fourth quarter of this year (in time for the holidays, naturally) and will run $50 for either the USB key or the mouse, both of which have fully articulated transforming abilities.

Check out a picture of the mouse, after the jump.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

CM Storm’s Sentinel Advance gaming mouse features hardware profiles and OLED display originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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