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By Bloomberg

Apple Inc., maker of the iPhone and iPad, has received a patent on an invention that will enable users to control the conditions under which a text message from their mobile devices is delivered.

Patent 9,059,957, which was issued Tuesday, covers what Apple calls “complex handling of conditional messages.” This allows a text message to be delivered based on one or more condition.

The example given in the patent is of a message about shopping that will not be delivered until the intended recipient is in the grocery store. Other possible conditions would include whether the recipient (while carrying the device) is still or moving, or what the weather might be at the recipient’s location.

Cupertino, California-based Apple filed this application in September 2012, with the assistance of Atlanta’s Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP.

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Copyright

News Corp Unit Says Posting Image of Front Page Is Infringement

News Corp’s News UK unit has demanded that an online publication remove an image of its Sunday Times newspaper’s front page on the grounds that it infringes copyrights, the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper reported.

The posting of the image was done in connection with a story on the Intercept’s webpage critical of a Sunday Times article about Edward Snowden, according to the Guardian.

News UK told the Guardian it demanded the article’s removal because “we make no apologies for expecting others to pay for the professional journalism we invest in.”

Glenn Greenwald claimed in his piece in The Intercept that the Sunday Times lied in its story, and refused to remove the front page image, instead adding a link to the cease-and-desist notice from counsel for the Sunday Times, according to the Guardian.

EU Parliament Legal Affairs Committee Decries Geo-Blocking

So-called “geo-blocking,” which restricts Internet users’ access to content based on their geographic location, can be harmful to cultural minorities in Europe, the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee said in a report on copyright reform, according to PC World.

The report, which is to be voted on by the entire Parliament, said geo-blocking can prevent cultural minorities from access to content in their native languages, PC World reported.

Other issues addressed in the report include a tax on news aggregators such as Google Inc., the liability of Internet service providers for their users’ copyright infringement, and the lending of digital books through libraries, according to PC World.

Digital Europe, an information-technology trade group, has criticized the report, saying it doesn’t go far enough in its reform efforts, PC World reported.

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Trademark

Californian Seeks to Register ‘TransJenner’ Mark for ‘Gag Items’

Two days after former Olympic athlete Bruce Jenner’s interview in which he revealed his intention to begin a transition to the female gender, a California resident filed an application to register “TransJenner” as a trademark.

Jenner’s interview with newscaster Diane Sawyer was aired on the ABC network April 24. On April 26 Philip R. Matlin of Los Angeles filed his application. He said he plans to use the mark for “adult novelty gag items,” including athletic gear, dresses and headbands.

In Vanity Fair’s July issue, Jenner revealed a preference for being known as Caitlyn, and was photographed wearing women’s apparel by celebrity photographer Annie Liebovitz.

Lego Prevails in European Challenge to Shape of Human Figures

Humanoid figures made by Lego A/S to go with the Danish company’s snap-together plastic blocks are entitled to trademark protection, an European Union court has ruled, according to the BBC.

Hong Kong’s Best-Lock Construction Toys Inc. had challenged Lego’s European trademark registration, arguing that the shape of the figures was purely functional and not entitled to trademark protection, the BBC reported.

The court disagreed, saying the figures’ essential elements were not related to their use with the Lego blocks, and that many characteristics of the figures were non-functional, according to the news service.

Village Farms Tells Small Maine Organic Farm to Change Its Name

In the wake of a trademark infringement complaint filed June 1 by Canada’s Village Farms International Inc., a small family-run farm in Maine will be changing its name, the Bangor Daily News reported.

After Village Farm of Maine’s Waldo County began receiving cease-and-desist letters from counsel for the Canadian company, the owners decided to change the name of their 5-acre organic produce farm to Freedom Village Farm, according to the newspaper.

Delta, British Columbia-based Village Farms has said that name is also unacceptable, so the Maine farm is looking at other possibilities, and may conduct a name-the-farm contest, the Daily News reported.

Prentice Grassi, who owns the Maine farm with his wife, Polly Shyka, told the Daily News that while “we don’t really feel we’re getting our day in court,” they couldn’t take on the financial risk of litigation.