Man & Machine, who’s suing Apple and CBS for alledged infringement on the use of the Mighty Mouse name, replies to Mac-A-Doodle, via representative Erica Tingler:

Man & Machine, Inc. declines to discuss its trademark-infringement complaint against Apple, Inc. and CBS Corporation, the underlying merits of the case, or any related settlement discussions, since the litigation remains pending. Meanwhile, we remain committed to protecting our rights to the MIGHTY MOUSE trademark and also to finding a fair resolution for all involved parties.

Man & Machine designs and manufactures a completely customizable line of hygienic, cost-effective, water-resistant computer keyboards and mice. They are distinguished by their ability to be washed and disinfected, and matchless in their rugged, sealed design, 100% latex-free silicone construction ideal for medical, healthcare, dental, and institutional environments – the best of breed choice anywhere safety, durability and user health are priorities.”

All I can say is, all right then, may the mightier mouse win.

Update us on how it goes, Ms. Tingler. Good luck.

Psystar, that maker of those uber-controversial Mac clones, has created something else we never thought would see the light of day: Mac OS X Service Pack 1. Well, sorta.

Aside from its brazen hardware cloning, it installs Leopard onto these Frankenstein machines, in direct violation of provisions of the Leopard EULA that forbid 3rd party sales and installs of the operating system. Not cowed in the slightest by Steve & His Legal Eagles, now it even has the cheek to actually improve on Leopard by fixing some inherent problems in the OS, including glitches in Time Machine, Keyboard Viewer and various other niggles.

Beginning this Monday the various patches, bug fixes and workarounds will come preinstalled in shipping units, but existing users can download the bunch, which constitutes what is essentially Service Pack 1, from the Psystar website. Some fixes are specific to their hardware, like one that repairs conflicts between Apple’s Airport Extreme router and the Realtek network card that ships with the Psystar boxes, while some actually improve on Leopard, like support for new versions of Java and adding international standards for networked devices.

Oooh. Now we’ve seen everything. Whoever these guys are, they’ve got big ones, don’t they?

In the meantime, we wonder why Apple hasn’t lowered the boom on these cheeky bashi-bazouks. It’s gonna be fun when it finally happens, that’s for sure.

(Via InformationWeek)

The little mouse that could, did.

Generate a lawsuit that is. Apple Inc. and CBS are being sued by a Maryland-based company called Man & Machine for use of the name “Mighty Mouse” for Apple’s innovative little input device. Apparently Man & Machine had dibs on the name as it pertains to input devices, as in waterproof and chemical-resistant industrial-strength mice.

It’s a very circuitous story, actually. I thought naming Apple’s new mouse after the super-rodent we all know and love might result in legal tussles, but when they never materialized I figured Steve took care of it ahead of time. And he did. Apple bought the rights to the name from CBS, who had owned it since 1955, for their new benippled, buttonless wonder.

Then, suddenly, out of a blue sky swoops in Man & Machine, coming to save the day. Apparently they came out with their hospital/lab-friendly version of Mighty Mouse more than a year before Apple’s version, and they now claim that the name, in the context of computer peripherals, belongs to them, thereby compelling themselves to sue both Apple and CBS for the injustice. Man & Machine wants to block Apple’s use of the Mighty Mouse name and get some cash for their trouble. (I think we all know why they took this long to sue, don’t we?)

If they succeed, any suggestions on a new name for it? Mightier Mouse? Rodent Roller? Mouse-k-Steer?

(Via 9to5Mac)

Let’s take a little time off this frenzy of talking about the new iPhone and when it’s coming out and who’s carrying it and what features it has and how it looks like and if I should sell my old one now so I can still get a good price and snap up the new one even though I have no idea if I can actually use it in my country just yet…

Ahem.

See what I mean. Let’s talk about other things for a moment. Like phishing.

Just a heads up. A new scam is doing the rounds that involves the iTunes Store. Scammers con people into giving up credit and other important info by luring them to a faux iTunes site where you’re asked to update your billing info. iTunes account holders get email telling that they have a problem with their account and request you to fix it by updating your critical info on the fake page. Old and tired phishing scam, but a fresh and rich field of harvest.

Just a little Public Service Announcement from the Doodler. (I know you guys would never fall for such a silly thing, but it’s nice to be reminded. Right?)

It’s funny how the Macbook Air is turning to be a finicky little customer. Lotsa little quirks.

This afternoon I found out that even the power cord is a bad thing if used carelessly.

Risky business using an MBA these days in my country, where the temp this summer is starting to hit a hundred fahrenheit. So I used it on my very flat table in the office, eight feet from an air conditioner. No chance of overheating much, right? Wrong.

The outlet was underneath my table, and the cord wasn’t long enough to comfortably and leisurely coil around the environs. So I put it out behind the MBA and let it stretch back and across the rear edge, and down to my power strip.

Soon after, I started getting a core shutdown. Didn’t need the iStatPro widget to tell me that the MBA was overheating; I could feel it on the palmrest.

Apparently I had blocked the air vent out back with the cord of the power adapter and had boxed in the heat. I repositioned the cord and everything went back to normal. Sigh.

It’s a tough life being an Early Adopter.