It was spotted on a trademarks database yesterday by the eagle-eyed Siliconera, who rightly points out that it "seems kind of late to protect Wii typos since the console is three years old." Perhaps it's that HD Wii which has been oft-rumored? Whatever it is, Creative won't be too happy. [Siliconera via Kotaku]

Taking on Axiotron, whose MacBook mod impressed us so much in our review last year, Apple has acquired its TabletMac name in the last 12 months, with documents showing the registration request dated November 6th, 2008. The actual transfer date between Axiotron and Apple for the name isn't clear, but with all of the Apple tablet rumors heating up in recent months, it's a tidy little coincidence. [MacRumors]

There's not much else known about this newly registered trademark filed with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office except that it has something to do with:

Video game software; Software for computer games; Optical disc recorded video game software; Optical disc recorded computer game software; Optical disc recorded game programs for hand-held typed electronic games with liquid crystal display

Oh, what could it be? It sounds like it could be a trademark for the EULA or privacy section of DC Universe Online, the Sony-developed DC Comics MMORPG. Or something related to that game. How else is Sony thinking it can register the name Badman in any kind of trademark filing and get away with it? [USPTO via Kotaku]

An excerpt from the letter says that "the term POD has also been adopted and used extensively in the marketplace by consumers as an abbreviation to refer to Apple's IPOD player. The IPOD and POD marks indicate to consumers that a broad range of products, including portable electronic devices, computer software, and related goods and services bearing those marks and marks similar thereto originate from or are sponsored or endorsed by Apple." Yeah, OK. It also states that the design of the stand infringes on Apple's trademark because it looks like the new iMac designs.

Pivotal, the makers of the stand, obviously aren't pleased with the letter. This seems like a Monster-Cable-style dick move from a big company to a small out (a small one that makes accessories for Apple's products, no less), so hopefully it won't go anywhere. [TUAW]

Dell has filed a cancellation request with the USPTO for Psion's trademark on the word "netbook," which, as Dell asserts, has become a generic term for small, crappy-but-cheap computers that everybody wants for some reason. Psion did actually use to make something called The Netbook, but it's really old and they haven't sold it for a long time.

As Rob points out, Dell's been very careful not to use the term so far—so has Sony, though it's more of a marketing thing for the Vaio P—but obviously they've got their eye on it. Given who's fighting who, I'd squeeze the word tight, since they aren't going to own it for a whole lot longer. [USPTO via BBG]

According to the app, the trademark rights would cover all of the following:

Entertainment Services namely providing a web site featuring photographic, audio, video and prose presentations featuring comedic captions regarding current events and online discussions and/or reviews of web materials of an adult nature; Entertainment services, namely, providing a web site featuring musical performances, musical videos, related film clips, photographs, and other multimedia materials; Entertainment services, namely, providing on-line reviews of photographs and /or web postings of an adult nature.

So let me get this straight – Fark wants to take a vague, general acronym they didn't create and receive the online rights to it? Hmmmm...good luck with that. I think I'll go and trademark LOL and BRB now. [Fark Trademark Application via Valleywag]

home video game machines; player-operated electronic controllers for electronic video game machines; video game interactive controller, namely, hand held pads, and floor pads or mats; joysticks for video games; computer cursor control devices, namely, computer mouse; flash memory cards; video game software, computer game programs

Flash memory cards and floor pads/mats? Any Dreamcast fan would tell you that those devices were not involved with the original machine. Odds are that this means nothing in the long run—after all, this is probably not the time to pick a fight with the big three. As our friends at Kotaku noted, it probably means that Sega is trying to prevent somebody from developing these devices under a Dreamcast brand. Still, the idea of a new Dreamcast is a pleasant thought. What do you think? Could and should Sega consider this? [Videogamer via Kotaku]

Cisco Extends iPhone Talks [NYTimes]

First off, someone took all the images on the Apple site and modelled it up into a 3D gif. Neat, eh?

But how much will you really pay for the iPhone in the first year? Counting the $640 for the phone ($599 + tax), a $60 voice plan, a $40 data plan, and $8 worth of fees, you're looking at $1,936 in just the first year. Yikes. Then again, you're paying around that much if you get a regular smartphone with the same data plans, but this may be a shock to the "average" consumer who isn't used to getting data.

Think you're going to be getting the entire 4GB or 8GB on your iPhone for music and videos? Think again. Apple's going to be using 500MB of that to store the OS (slimmed down version of OSX), so you're only going to be getting 3.5GB or 7.5GB. Even less if you're considering the apps that are installed there—if the apps aren't considered part of the OS.

Also, more importantly, users won't be able to use iTunes songs as ringtones. At least, not at launch. We're sure Apple's gotta work out stuff with Cingular and the music industry, since using songs you already bought as ringtones makes it pretty hard to justify buying the same song again just to use as a ringtone—something that's turning out to be a pretty big money source for both providers and the music industry.

And has Cisco lost the rights to the iPhone? According to a trademark law expert, Cisco had to file a Declaration of Use for the trademark before the sixth anniversary of the registration date. Since they registered on 11/16/99, the sixth anniversary would have been 11/16/05. Since they didn't do so, they may in fact have lost their right for exclusive use of the iPhone trademark. – Jason Chen

True cost of the iPhone - CenterNetworks does the math! [CenterNetworks]

iPhone 3d [iPhone-3d]

Macwelt gets more iPhone details out of Apple [Ars Technica]

Cisco lost rights to iPhone trademark last year, experts say [ZDNet]

Apple first tried to file this in March of '06 with a nation off the coast of South America, but apparently didn't have as much luck there as it did last month. Like always, there are barely any details, but it seems like the device probably won't be VoIP and will be smart enough to send emails. – Jason Chen

Exclusive: Apple seeks rights to iPhone trademark [AppleInsider]