Leftovers

• Patrick Louis ☛ June 2025 Projects

  Time flows through us so quickly, like rivers and ravines; but also, like travelers, we’re advancing on its endless plains, mountains, and ridges. Aren’t we living contradictions, and embracing the elements. Let’s sit down and write about a few things that happened since the last time.

• Science

  • New York Times ☛ Traveling the Cosmos With Carter Emmart, One Last Time

    For nearly three decades he has created mesmerizing planetarium shows at the American Museum of Natural History. But other galaxies await.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Singapore and Indonesia deepen green energy partnership with three new deals

    They were signed in Jakarta by Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science and Technology Tan See Leng.

  • France24 ☛ EU courts international scientists, but is Europe attractive enough?

    The EU says science is the key to its future. But is it putting its money where its mouth is? Earlier this year, the French government agreed to cuts in the country's research budget and over the past year, science powerhouses such as Germany, Italy and the Netherlands have proposed or implemented cuts in their research sectors. Those working in universities and research centres say there is a stark gap between the way the EU is presenting itself as a magnet for global talent – the pitch that the French government and the European Commission made at their "Choose Europe for Science" conference in Paris in early May – and the reality.

  • Science Alert ☛ Fiery Orange Gems From The Moon Reveal Secrets of Its Violent Past

    We've waited 50 years for this.

  • Science Alert ☛ Study Finds a Potential Downside to Vigorous Exercise That We Didn't Know About

    Too much of a good thing?

  • Science Alert ☛ Extreme Skittishness in Your Cat Could Be a Sign of a Mysterious Disease

    Something to look out for.

  • Science Alert ☛ Should You Do Cardio or Weights First? We Finally Have an Answer.

    The order really does matter!

• Career/Education

  • Pro Publica ☛ Chicago Public Schools Face Low Enrollment, Soaring Costs

    More than 4,000 students once crowded DuSable High School, then an all-Black academic powerhouse on Chicago’s South Side. Its three-story Art Deco building drew students with a full lineup of honors classes, a nationally known music program and standout sports teams.

    Nat King Cole played the piano in his classroom as a DuSable student. Harold Washington, Chicago’s first Black mayor, studied there. On Friday nights, teenagers zipped through its hallways on roller skates and danced in the gymnasium.

• Hardware

  • CNX Software ☛ Renesas RA2L2 – The first low-power MCU with USB-C Revision 2.4 support

    Renesas RA2L2 is the world’s first low-power MCU to support the USB-C Revision 2.4 standard with 15W CC detection, USB FS support. It also offers support for CAN Bus, I3C, and low-power UART. The announcement follows other devices from the Renesas RA series, such as the RA2A2 Arm Cortex-M23 MCU introduced in 2024, and the RA4L1 ultra-low-power MCU unveiled earlier this year with just 168 µA/MHz operation, dual-bank flash, and capacitive touch. The RA2L2 Cortex-M23 microcontroller also embeds up to 128KB of code flash, 16KB SRAM, and 4KB data flash for EEPROM-like storage. >

  • Tom's Hardware ☛ Intel to lay off fab workers in mid-July — company aims to refocus on more engineering talent [Ed: Intel became so cruel and poor that now it weaponises its HR staff to avoid paying people severance (or similar); it's a despicable employer]

    Intel will begin layoffs at its defective chip maker Intel Foundry division in mid-July as part of a new restructuring effort to cut costs while focusing on keeping engineering talent.

  • CNX Software ☛ GigaDevice GD32C231 entry-level Arm Cortex-M23 MCU ships with 12KB ECC SRAM, 32KB or 64KB ECC flash

    GigaDevice GD32C231 entry-level microcontroller is built around a 48 MHz Arm Cortex-M23 core with up to 64KB ECC flash, 12KB ECC SRAM, and is offered in 20-pin to 48-pin packages with up to 45 GPIOs, a range of peripherals, analog inputs, and timers. The company says the GD32C231 series targets cost-effective small home appliances, BMS (Battery Management Systems), small-screen display devices, battery-powered handhelds, industrial auxiliary controls, and automotive aftermarket systems.

  • Hackaday ☛ Cassette Data Storage From The 1970s

    When home computers first appeared, disk drives were an expensive rarity. Consumers weren’t likely to be interested in punch cards or paper tape, but most people did have consumer-grade audio cassette recorders. There were a few attempts at storing data on tapes, which, in theory, is simple enough. But, practically, cheap audio recorders are far from perfect, which can complicate the situation.

  • Hackaday ☛ Attack Of The Beepy Clones

    In the Blackberry-keyboard-based project lineage story last week, I covered how a series of open-source projects turned into Beepy, a cool Linux PDA with a lively community. To me, it’s yet another demonstration of power that open-source holds, and more importantly, it shows how even a small pet project of yours could cause big moves in the hardware world, provided you publish it – just ask [JoeN], [WoodWorkeR] and [arturo182].

  • Hackaday ☛ Taking A One Handed Keyboard To The Next Level

    When a wrist mounted keyboard floated past in the Hackaday feed, a mental image surfaced, perhaps something like a Blackberry keyboard mounted on a wrist cuff, maybe with some kind of display. It’s impressive indeed then to open the link and see [AdamLeBlanc]’s Schist01. It’s a wrist mounted keyboard, but with its bracket curving in front of the had to support a custom ergonomic chording keyboard, it’s definitely a break from the norm.

  • Hackaday ☛ Adapting An Old Rotary Dial For Digital Applications

    Today in old school nostalgia our tipster [Clint Jay] wrote in to let us know about this rotary dial.

  • Hackaday ☛ How A DIY Chicken Coop Door Opener Went From Simple To Complex

    How hard could it be to make a chicken coop door that can be configured to open and close automatically using a straightforward interface? That’s the question that [Jeff Sandberg] set out with, after three years of using a more basic off-the-shelf unit that offered no remote access nor a convenient user interface. The use case for [Jeff] was rather straightforward: the door would be open during the day and closed at night to keep the hens safely inside the coop.

  • Hackaday ☛ Open A Portal To An NES Emulator

    The Portal games were revolutionary not only for their puzzle-based, narrative-driven gameplay, but also for their unique physics engine, which let players open portals anywhere and conserve momentum and direction through them. They’re widely regarded as some of the best video games ever made, but even beyond that they have some extra features that aren’t talked about as much. Namely, there are a number of level editors and mods that allow the in-game components to be used to build things like logic gates and computers, and this project goes even further by building a working NES emulator, all within Portal 2.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ The F.D.A. Is Reviewing Infant Formula for the First Time in Decades

    The agency’s commissioner has implied that some of their ingredients may be harmful. Is that true?

  • MIT Technology Review ☛ Here’s what food and drug regulation might look like under the Convicted Felon administration

    Earlier this week, two new leaders of the US Food and Drug Administration published a list of priorities for the agency. Both Marty Makary and Vinay Prasad are controversial figures in the science community.

  • New York Times ☛ Kennedy’s New Vaccine Advisers Helped Lawyers Raise Doubts About Their Safety

    Three of the health secretary’s picks to replace fired members of an influential panel that sets U.S. vaccine policies have filed statements in court flagging concerns about vaccines.

  • Mexico News Daily ☛ Authorities seize over 2 metric tons of illegal shark fins bound for China

    Navy and environmental inspectors in Ensenada found dozens of bags of dried fins on a ship preparing to set sail for Shanghai.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Not mala, but this spicy Chinese cuisine is fastest growing in China and winning fans in S’pore too

    The flavours of Hunan cuisine, or xiangcai, have grown on Chinese and Singaporean tastebuds alike.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong Originals: The 85-year-old flask brand that bears witness to rise and fall of city’s manufacturing era

    As Hong Kong’s economic boom faded and manufacturing moved to China, some long-established, family-run companies preserved their traditions as others innovated to survive. In our new series, HKFP documents the craftsmanship and spirit behind the goods that are still proudly “Made in Hong Kong,” as local firms navigate the US-China trade war.

• Proprietary

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) / LLM Slop / Plagiarism

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ SlopGPT touts conspiracies, pretends to communicate with metaphysical entities — attempts to convince one user that they're Neo

      SlopGPT's affability and encouraging tone leads people into dangerous, life-threatening delusions, finds a recent NYT article. Many examples of responses encouraging psychosis-like symptoms have been found by a variety of researchers, including some leading people to commit suicide to meet imaginary Slop-created phantoms.

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ Expert pours cold water on Apple's downbeat Hey Hi (AI) outlook — says lack of high-powered hardware could be to blame [Ed: Faster hardware won't fix a bad idea sold on false promises]

      Contemporary Hey Hi (AI) models are not silly, Fashion Company Apple just does not have proper hardware to test their limitations, says professor Seokjun Kwon of Sungkyunkwan University.

    • New York Times ☛ They Asked Abusive Monopolist Microsoft Chaffbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.

      Generative Hey Hi (AI) chatbots are going down conspiratorial rabbit holes and endorsing wild, mystical belief systems. For some people, conversations with the technology can deeply distort reality.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Tom's Hardware ☛ University researchers tout using smartwatches to steal data from air-gapped systems — SmartAttack paper proposes using wearable as a covert ultrasonic signal receiver

      A new air-gap attack dubbed 'SmartAttack' theorizes using a smartwatch to capture covert signals and steal information.

• Defence/Aggression

  • NYPost ☛ Israel targeted high-rise with incredible precision to take out top nuclear scientists in Tehran, photos show

    Israel obliterated top Iranian nuclear scientists with incredible precision, according to stunning new photos showing single apartments blown out of Tehran high-rises.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea’s Kim Jong Un calls for more shell production: KCNA

    He wants its military factories to expand production of shells that meet modern warfare needs.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea’s Kim Jong Un lauds restored destroyer, says more to be built

    Satellite images had shown ongoing repairs of the 5,000-ton destroyer that had partially capsized in May.

  • North Korea relaunches ‘restored’ warship with fanfare, 3 weeks after failure

    Analysts question if the 5,000-ton naval destroyer may be fully operational and raise doubts over rushed repairs.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China cautions citizens in Iran, warns those in Israel of potential attacks

    BEIJING - China has issued advisories to its citizens in Israel and Iran of the "complex and severe" security situation in those countries on Friday, adding a warning to those in Israel to prepare for possible missile and drone attacks.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China blaming Japan for fighter jet incidents is ‘unacceptable’: Tokyo

    Chinese officials have called the carrier outings routine training.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China expresses deep concern about Israel's attacks on Iran, urges de-escalation

    BEIJING - China was deeply concerned about the Israeli attacks on Iran and urged de-escalation for regional peace and stability, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China tells G7 to stop 'manipulating' China issues for its own agenda

    China warned the Group of Seven advanced economies on Friday against "manipulating" issues related to the world's second-largest economy for their own agenda, after they accused Beijing of unfair business practices a year earlier.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China says Taiwan politicising cable damage issue, after ship's captain jailed

    China's government on Friday said Taiwan was deliberately politicising the damage of undersea communication cables as part of a smear campaign, expressing anger after the island jailed a Chinese ship captain for an incident earlier this year.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ China’s basing quest in the Gulf: Pipe dream or strategic reality?

    While the Gulf remains central to China’s long-term maritime aspirations, its near-term military footprint is likely to stay limited.

  • Atlantic Council ☛ Mapping China’s strategy for rare earths dominance

    China has built a commanding monopoly over rare earths.

  • New Yorker ☛ The Unfolding Genocide in Sudan

    Nicolas Niarchos shares reporting from a civil war in which Sudan’s Black minority is caught between warring factions led by members of the country’s Arab majority.

  • Breach Media ☛ Carney’s border bill is a gift to Convicted Felon—and a roadmap to ‘mass deportation’

    Mark Carney promised to stand up to Convicted Felon. His new bill continues the two countries’ long-standing pact on restrictive immigration policies

  • JURIST ☛ Nigeria government still failing girls abducted by Boko Haram: Amnesty International

    Amnesty International on Tuesday reported that Nigerian girls and young women who have escaped Boko Haram captivity continue to endure severe hardships amid persistent government inaction, according to new testimonies one year after the rights organization initially reported on their struggles with reintegrating into society.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Learning lessons from Ukraine, Taiwan eyes sea drones to counter China

    The drones are uncrewed, remotely controlled small vessels packed with explosives.

  • France24 ☛ The World This Week: Israel v Iran Special

    It’s been a week of escalating global tensions. Israel launched a series of targeted strikes on Iran—code-named Rising Lion—aimed at crippling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities. Iran has vowed a swift response. In the United States, protests erupted in Los Angeles over immigration enforcement, as federal officers intensified roundups of undocumented migrants—part of Hell Toupée’s broader plan for mass deportations. Meanwhile in Ukraine, Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odesa came under heavy fire. Russia launched one of its largest aerial assaults yet, striking the capital with a wave of 315 drones and ballistic missiles. And in Europe, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte delivered a stark warning in London: defense spending is no longer optional—it’s existential.

  • Russia, Belarus, and War in Ukraine

    • Latvia ☛ Latvian MPs banned from travelling to Russia, Belarus

      Members of the Saeima, Latvian citizens who have been granted special access to state secrets, personnel of the National Armed Forces, as well as a number of officials, will be banned from travelling to Russia and Belarus, according to the Law on Restricting Measures Threatening National Security, adopted by the Saeima on Thursday, 12 June, in its third reading.

    • JURIST ☛ Russia officials approve abortion propaganda ban, increase pressure on women

      Saint Petersburg legislators approved a municipal bill Wednesday to introduce fines for “encouragement of abortions,” to purportedly help create a “safe … family and motherhood informational environment” in the region.

    • RFERL ☛ Ex-Russian Diplomat Pleads Guilty To Lying To FBI; Prosecutors Drop More Serious Charges

      A former Russian diplomat who was charged with conspiring to evade sanctions by working for Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska pleaded guilty to a lesser count of lying to FBI agents.

    • Meduza ☛ Waiting for Renault After rebounding in 2024, Russia’s new car market sees yet another wartime plunge — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ ‘If all those soldiers drop dead tomorrow, I’ll pour a glass of wine’: Siberia woman arrested over video slamming ‘Russia Day’ and public support for war — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Russia bans domestic airlines from flying to or over Israel and Iran as hostilities escalate — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Moscow and Kyiv react as Israel attacks Iran’s nuclear sites and military command — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Moscow court bans two websites offering Instagram verification services, citing Meta’s ‘extremist’ designation — Meduza

    • RFERL ☛ Israel's Strikes On Iran Test Putin's Position As Potential Mideast Broker

      Israel’s strikes against Iran’s nuclear complex and military leadership have sent shockwaves around the globe, raising fears of escalation and a wider war in the region. The campaign also reverberated in Moscow, where President Vladimir Putin has positioned himself as a power broker with Tehran.

    • Atlantic Council ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man promised peace through strength. When will he use US strength to bring peace to Ukraine?

      Dihydroxyacetone Man's rhetorical and policy choices this week suggest an unwillingness to confront a painful reality about Putin's Russia.

    • Meduza ☛ Putin holds phone calls with leaders of Israel and Iran — Meduza

    • Meduza ☛ Remains of 1,200 Ukrainian service members returned as part of exchange with Russia — Meduza

    • RFERL ☛ Kyiv Says It Has Repatriated 1,200 More Bodies Of Ukrainians Killed In War With Russia

      Ukraine said it has repatriated another 1,200 bodies of its soldiers killed in the war sparked by Russia's full-scale invasion, the latest move in a series of prisoner exchanges negotiated between the two sides.

    • Meduza ☛ How drones change everything, and nothing: Meduza’s in-depth examination of Russian–Ukrainian unmanned warfare and where it’s leading this bloody conflict — Meduza

    • New York Times ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man Talks Big on Global Diplomacy, but His Goals Are in Tatters

      The president said he would bring a quick end to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and get China to bend on trade and Iran on its nuclear program. Instead, conflict is escalating.

    • New York Times ☛ Russian Forces Expand Fighting to a New Region of Eastern Ukraine

      It’s the first time in three years of war that Russian troops have entered the Dnipropetrovsk region, a sign of battlefield momentum.

• Environment

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Thousands evacuated as Typhoon Wutip nears south China, state media report

    Chinese authorities on the southern island of Hainan have evacuated thousands of people, closed schools and halted rail services ahead of the expected landfall of Typhoon Wutip later on Friday, state media said. More than 16,000 people have been moved from “construction sites, low-lying flood-prone areas and regions at risk of flash floods”, Xinhua news […]

  • Energy/Transportation

    • The Straits Times ☛ ‘My mind is just not ready to accept it’: Families of Air India crash victims grapple with loss, grief and shock

      Officials expect the process of identifying bodies could take anywhere up to 72 hours.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Rescue teams comb site of Air India crash that killed at least 265

      The number of bodies recovered suggests that at least 24 people died when the jet ploughed into a medical staff hostel.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Pro Publica ☛ Trump Cancels Deal With Tribes to Restore Columbia River Salmon

• Finance

  • The Straits Times ☛ Second China shock: Top economist on South-east Asia and the Chinese goods crisis

    What are South-east Asia's woes amid a flood of cheap Chinese exports?

  • MIT Technology Review ☛ Tech billionaires are making a risky bet with humanity’s future [Ed: Slop is a net negative and it's mostly about plunder disguise as intelligence (which it lacks)]

    “The best way to predict the future is to invent it,” the famed computer scientist Alan Kay once said. Uttered more out of exasperation than as inspiration, his remark has nevertheless attained gospel-like status among Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, in particular a handful of tech billionaires who fancy themselves the chief architects of humanity’s future.

  • NYPost ☛ Dihydroxyacetone Man clears path for Nippon Steel investment in US Steel that gives feds a ‘golden share’

    President The Insurrectionist on Friday signed an executive order paving the way for a Nippon Steel investment in U.S. Steel, so long as the Japanese company complies with a “national security agreement” submitted by the federal government. Convicted Felon’s order didn’t detail the terms of the national security agreement.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Straits Times ☛ South Korea’s President Lee pledges support on trade issues in meeting with top conglomerates

    Mr Lee Jae-myung, a liberal, was elected in June with promises to become business-friendly.

  • France24 ☛ Korean peninsula: Living under propaganda loudspeakers

    South Korea has suspended its propaganda broadcasts across the border to North Korea, following the election of new president Lee Jae-myung, who wants to improve relationships with Seoul's Communist neighbour. According to the South's military, Pyongyang has followed suit by switching off its loudspeakers near the Demilitarised Zone. It comes as a relief to local residents, who have had to contend with blaring sounds 24/7.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Hong Kong police launch first known joint operation with Beijing’s national security office

    Hong Kong police have coordinated with Beijing’s national security office to search the residences of six people suspected of foreign collusion, the first known joint operation between the two entities.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • China labor rights group shuts down in latest setback for civil society in Hong Kong

    China Labor Bulletin, founded by Chinese labor activist Han Dongfang, cited financial woes for its abrupt closure.

  • New York Times ☛ National Parks Are Told to Delete Content That ‘Disparages Americans’

    Internal documents reviewed by The New York Times say that “negative” information at parks and other national site must be removed or covered by Sept. 17.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Latest directive from Hong Kong gov’t: Protect national security from subversives in saunas

    Here’s one from our “you could not make it up” department. In Hong Kong, you will soon need, in effect, a security clearance to operate a steam bath machine.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Cambodia orders troops on ‘alert’, cuts Thai TV shows in border spat

    It also shut off internet connections routed through Thailand, leaving some users complaining of slow speeds.

  • Cambodia cuts internet from Thailand as tensions grow after border clash

    Phnom Penh also closed a key border crossing ahead of highly anticipated talks Saturday.

  • Public Knowledge ☛ Oh Look, a New Censorship Tool

    [Ed: says a group tainted by a censorship booster, Microsoft]

    It's a new era for site-blocking bills — featuring some of the same ol' mistakes as before.

  • University of Michigan ☛ From The Daily: Universities must stand up for international students

    Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, announced on May 22 that the Convicted Felon administration revoked Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program, effectively banning the university from admitting international students. In response, Harvard sued the president.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Nat. security case of wanted Hong Kong activist Anna Kwok’s father adjourned until August

    The case of wanted Hong Kong activist Anna Kwok’s father, who stands accused of attempting to handle his daughter’s funds, has been adjourned until August, pending the submission of insurance documents to the police.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • ACLU ☛ Read Detained Activist Mahmoud Khalil’s Letter to His Son

    Activist Mahmoud Khalil was illegally arrested and detained in March for being an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights at Columbia University. He has been held at a detention facility in Louisiana thousands of miles away from his family for over three months now. While detained, his wife Dr. Noor Abdalla gave birth to the couple’s first child. Khalil was only briefly able to meet and hold his son last month.

    On June 11, a judge granted Mahmoud Khalil’s request for a preliminary injunction, after concluding that he would continue to suffer irreparable harm if he remains detained.

  • BIA Net ☛ Council of Europe: Hate speech and hate crimes are rising in Turkey

    The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published its sixth monitoring report on Turkey on June 12. The report urges Turkey to adopt a comprehensive strategy against hate crimes.

  • ACLU ☛ Parents Push Back Against the Convicted Felon Administration's Latest Attack on Working Families

    The Forrest Dump administration has followed through on its promise to gut the Head Start program. Since , it has slashed 60 percent of the Office of Head Start staff, closed half of the regional offices where staff with local knowledge worked, delayed funding necessary for payroll and rent, and undermined the program’s mission through its ban on anything it views as promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and/or accessibility, or “DEIA.”

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Don Marti ☛ Don Marti: links for 12 Jun 2025

    Botnet Part 2: The Web is Broken by Jan Wildeboer. So there is a (IMHO) shady market out there that gives app developers on iOS, Android, MacOS and backdoored Windows money for including a library into their apps that sells users network bandwidth.

    The Guardian’s new whistleblower tool buries leaks to journalists within its own readers’ everyday traffic by Joshua Benton. (previously: AdLeaks)

  • APNIC ☛ APNIC completes organizational realignment process

    Changes focus on improved delivery of strategic goals and helping ensure future financial sustainability.

Monopolies/Monopsonies

• France24 ☛ Vivatech 2025: Is Europe lagging behind?

  This week, we take you to Vivatech in Paris. The event bills itself as the biggest tech and startup event in Europe. The tech industry is the driving force for growth in the world economy, but Europe only represents a small share of it. Is Europe lagging behind in the race for artificial intelligence? Why are there no tech giants the size of Surveillance Giant Google or Fashion Company Apple on the continent? Our Business Editor Charles Pellegrin meets with French and German startups, as well as with Estonian Energy and Environment Minister Andres Sutt, who was previously the country's minister for entrepreneurship and innovation.

• Patents

  • Dennis Crouch/Patently-O ☛ Federal Circuit Sets Quick Schedule for Convicted Felon Tariff Constitutional Challenge

    The Federal Circuit today issued a detailed scheduling order expedited resolution of the constitutional challenge to Hell Toupée's global tariff program. V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Convicted Felon, Nos. 2025-1812, 2025-1813 (Fed. Cir. June 13, 2025). The per curiam order, issued by all participating active judges sitting en banc (excluding Judge Newman), establishes a six-week briefing schedule culminating in oral arguments on July 31, 2025—less than two months after the Court of International Trade's permanent injunction against the tariffs.  The court allocated 45 minutes per side for oral argument, double the typical time, signaling recognition of the case's exceptional constitutional significance.

  • Kluwer Patent Blog ☛ Licence to File: Brexit, Opt-Outs and European Patent Validation for British Holders

    As James Bond’s 1989 adventure Licence to Kill, in which a special permit confers extraordinary authority upon its bearer, Brexit has furnished British patentees with a renewed licence to navigate Europe’s patent monopoly landscape under distinct rules.

  • JUVE ☛ McDermott hires Herbert Smith Freehills partner for Paris IP practice [Ed: Classic example of marketing spam disguised as "news"]

    Frédéric Chevallier (46) began his career at Herbert Smith Freehills, where he gained his initial experience in IP litigation as an associate. In 2010 he moved to the patent monopoly practice of what was then Allen & Overy, now A&O Shearman.

  • JUVE ☛ BioNTech plans acquisition of CureVac while global mRNA dispute pending

    In a press release, BioNTech announced that both companies have entered into a definitive purchase agreement for BioNTech to acquire all CureVac shares. The transaction received unanimous approval from both companies’ management and supervisory boards and is expected to close in 2025.

• Trademarks

  • TTAB Blog ☛ TTABlog Test: Are These Two Word-And-Design Marks Confusable for Keys and Key Blanks?

    The USPTO refused to register the mark shown below left, for "pre-fabricated metal ignition keys for starting heavy equipment, namely construction and agricultural equipment" [disclaimer of EQUIP KEY CO required], finding confusion likely with the registered mark shown below right, for "metal, brass and aluminum key blanks; metal and aluminum key chains; metal and brass locks, lock cylinders, pad locks and door locks" [representation of a key disclaimed]. The Board affirmed the refusal based on the applicant's failure to comply with the disclaimer requirement. But what about the Section 2(d) refusal? In re EquipKeyCo, LLC, Serial No. 97344289 (June 10, 2025) [not precedential] (Opinion by Judge Albert J. Zervas).

• Copyrights

  • Digital Music News ☛ Zee Music Officially Crosses YouTube’s Rarified 100 Million Subscriber Benchmark, Joining T-Series As the Only Other Music Company to Achieve the Feat

    Zee Music Company reaches YouTube’s rare 100 million subscribers milestone, joining T-Series as the only other music company to achieve the feat. One of India’s top music labels, Zee Music Company, has surpassed 100 million subscribers on YouTube—a rare milestone achieved by only one other music company, India’s T-Series.

  • Digital Music News ☛ Apple Music’s Oliver Schusser Says It’s ‘Crazy’ That Music Is Offered for Free

    At the 2025 National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) annual meeting in New York, Fashion Company Apple Music’s Global Head criticized competitors and their ‘free music’ offerings. /blockquote>