According to Cancer.org, there were 230,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer in 2011. There have been 39,520 deaths from breast cancer. Let’s continue to help raise awareness and find a cure for breast cancer.  For more information on breast cancer and how you can help raise awareness to stamp this disease out, you can visit the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Website or the American Cancer Society.  Let’s “Think Pink” together during the month of October!

The offices of PrintMyThing & PrintMyRibbon will be closed Monday 9/5/11 for Labor Day and reopen 9/6/11.  All orders placed on 9/5 will not begin until 9/6 and all active RUSH orders will experience a production delay.  Please be aware of this if you are considering adding a RUSH to your order.

Additionally, shipping times are not guaranteed during the holiday weekend due to altered delivery schedules of Fed Ex, UPS, and other ground carriers.

Be sure to stop by the OneWed Forums as well to interact with other Brides (and a few grooms) on wedding planning ideas.  OneWed is an excellent resource to use for your wedding planning!

First, let’s start off with the definition of “trademark.”  According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov), a trademark is “a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.”  It’s a fairly straightforward idea.  But, what exactly does a trademark do?

I found a website at www.wipo.int/trademarks that defines very nicely what a trademark accomplishes.

“A trademark provides protection to the owner of the mark by ensuring the exclusive right to use it to identify goods or services, or to authorize another to use it in return for payment. The period of protection varies, but a trademark can be renewed indefinitely beyond the time limit on payment of additional fees. Trademark protection is enforced by the courts, which in most systems have the authority to block trademark infringement.”

“In a larger sense, trademarks promote initiative and enterprise worldwide by rewarding the owners of trademarks with recognition and financial profit. Trademark protection also hinders the efforts of unfair competitors, such as counterfeiters, to use similar distinctive signs to market inferior or different products or services. The system enables people with skill and enterprise to produce and market goods and services in the fairest possible conditions, thereby facilitating international trade.”

We strongly suggest here at PrintMyThing and PrintMyRibbon that you remember the above information before designing any custom printed products.  Ask yourself, “Do I have the legal right to use this logo, word, phrase or design?  Is it mine exclusively?  Or “do I have permission from the trademark holder to use it?”  If not, its advised that your protect yourself by not using the trademarked material in your custom creation.

Now what about a copyright?  Are copyrights and trademarks the same?  No, they protect different things actually.  The  U.S. Copyright Office  defines “copyright” this way:

“Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of ‘original works of authorship,’ including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

• To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords;
• To prepare derivative works based upon the work;
• To distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or
other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
• To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and
choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual
works;
• To display the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and
choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural
works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual
work; and
• In the case of sound recordings,* to perform the work publicly by means of
a digital audio transmission.”

The copyright.gov site adds, “It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided by the copyright
law to the owner of copyright.”

So again, we strongly suggest that before you incorporate any material into your custom design that may be copyrighted, please be sure you have the legal permission to do so.  Our official position on designs that are submitted to us is as follows:

“The customer assumes full responsibility for all claims and/or litigation arising from alleged infringement of licenses, patents, or copyrights on any requested design or copy.”  (See our website FAQ section.)

We hope that this helps with any questions you may have related to trademarks and copyrights.

Searching for odd contests in history was a real treat.  It’s amazing what you can find on the Internet.  Here are some very interesting “contests” both of the past and modern times that you’ll get a real kick out of:

1)  Roman Gladiatorial matches have to rank as one of the most odd type of contests in history.  Disturbingly odd.  Fights to the death were a regular part of Roman life between as early as 264 B.C., and the 5th Century A.D.  Public executions were turned into a “sport” for citizens to watch and enjoy.  There are a number of resources out there describing the Gladiatorial Culture and practices of the Romans (and even cultures before them like the Greeks.)  It was a brutal time, and one that we have trouble relating to.  Not wanting to get into the gory details, I’ll just leave it to you to research more if you really want to.  But it was odd.  Very odd.

2)  Throughout history, women have traditionally worn their hair long.  Or at least, longer than men in most cultures.  However, in the early 20th century, women of the west began to cut their hair much shorter than in times past.  As a result, “Long Hair Contests” began to sprout up around the world.  The earliest picture I could find was from around 1910, in Berlin, Germany.  The most recent record holder according to the Guiness Book of World Records is Xie Qiuping of China.  Her hair is 18 ft 5.54 in long!

3)  The “Black Pudding Throwing Championship” definitely fits the bill of being an “Odd & Unusual” Competition. The first thing I had to ask myself when I ran across this was: What in the world is Black Pudding? I now regret asking myself that question.  According to Wikipedia, Black pudding is “a type of sausage made by cooking blood or dried blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled.  It is also called blood sausage.  Pig or cattle blood is most often used; typical fillers include meat, fat, suet, bread, sweet potato, onion, chestnuts, barley and oatmeal.”  The more I think about this…this is beyond “odd.”

Anyway, what is the actual competition?  It’s simple enough:  knock down as many Yorkshire puddings as you can. You get three 6oz black puddings to attempt this, and puddings must be thrown underarm.  What is a Yorkshire pudding?  I’ll let you Google it.  But I’ll tell you this: It sounds more appetizing than a Black Pudding!

How did this competition come about?  It dates back to the 1850s and is a celebration of the old rivalry between Lancashire and Yorkshire. Supposedly during the Wars of the Roses, raiders from Yorkshire were attacking the borders of Lancashire and the citizens of Lancashire ran out of ammunition.  They continued the fight by throwing food instead!

4) Last, but certainly not least is the…heh…I’m sorry, I’m laughing as I type this:  The “Rock, Paper, Scissors World Championships.”  I’m serious.  The event has been broadcast by Fox Sports, and has been sponsored by Bud Light.  You can view the website here. I don’t think I need to explain the “Rock Paper Scissors” contest to you, but maybe a bit of history is in order.

According to Wikipedia, the game could date back to the Han Dynasty in China.  It was called “Li rihua.”  Another theory mentioned is that the Japanese invented Rock, Paper, Scissors in the latter half of the 19th Century.  It was commonly known as “Janken.”  Even Janken however is believed to have been linked to an earlier Japanese game called “San Sukumi” which translates to “freezing aspects of a snake, frog, and slug with fear.”

So, there are some fun “odd” contests and competitions from history. Be sure to become a fan of PrintMyThing on Facebook, and you can participate in some rather fun (and maybe sometimes odd) contests also!  Winning free stuff is always a good thing.

things to show you…so many blog posts write…so many new products

to talk about…for now…just check it out for yourself!

We’ve got a big sale going over at PrintMyRibbon! Get $30 OFF your order of $200 or more! Fantastic, you can get so much extra ribbon with those savings! Enjoy…Offer ends May 7

Good morning all!  It’s a gloriously beautiful spring day this morning, and to celebrate, we’d like to announce the start of the PrintMyThing.com 15% Off Custom Printed Product Spring Sale!  Here’s the lowdown:

• This is a 4 day sale.  It starts today, April 27th, and ends this Friday, April 30th, 2010.
• 15% off custom printed products.
• It’s for web & retail orders, so stop by PrintMyThing.com, or call us toll free at 1.888.281.0042.
• The promo doesn’t apply to orders where “Buy One Get One Free” type products have been included in the order.  (Magnets, posters, and flyers/brochures & sell sheets.)

Take advantage of this soon!  Oh, and as a teaser…we have a 25% off Reorders sale coming in a few days.  More on that later.  Be sure to check back with the blog, or follow us on Twitter and Facebook!

If this post caught your interest, either you’re a wedding color enthusiast or you’re getting married. If the latter, then congratulations are in order! We have been hearing that bold colors are the order of the day and so we’ve assembled a page of ribbon colors that we fully expect to see at each and every wedding this year.  Go on over to PrintMyRibbon.com and check out our hot wedding colors!