"A Russian businessman has trademarked the ;-) emoticon used to convey a wink in text messages and email.
"Oleg Teterin, president of the mobile ad company Superfone, said Thursday he doesn't plan on tracking down individual users following the decision by the federal patent agency. 'This is only directed at corporations. Legal use will be possible after buying an annual license from us. It won't cost that much - tens of thousands of dollars.' "Other Russian internet entrepreneurs reacted to the effort predictably: >:( http://tinyurl.com/6lt6hw ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
