MOTION TO DISMISS HEARING IMMINENT

Fellow Abuse Watchers:

***THE MOST IMPORTANT DATE IN THREE YEARS OF PROCEEDINGS IS SET FOR JULY 2. ***

When it comes to legal proceedings with Intel Corporation, legal dates shift around so much that life-planning starts to feel like whacking moles. Except you never seem to whack anything, no matter how many quarters you empty into the slot.

Having said that, some new dates were finally set last week: (Spoiler alert, July 2 is the doozy.)

This Friday, June 11, Intel Corporation will file its opposition brief. It will oppose our Motion to Dismiss, possibly leading with its newest implausibly ludicrous claim that our use of the English word "intel" is hurting its newsletter publishing business.

We have one week to respond with a reply brief. On Friday, June 18, our legal team will reaffirm our motion to dismiss and refute any new points drummed up in the opposition brief -- undoubtedly bursting at the seams with every conceivable tangent that opposing counsel may dredge up during their billable hours orgies.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: The Motion to Dismiss Hearing, formerly scheduled for Friday, June 25, was moved to to Friday, July 2.

This is the hearing in which a Federal Judge will once and for all reject Intel Corporation's pernicious, abusive legal campaign to break the back our small company in a gross display of corporate greed.

Unless, of course, the Federal Judge lets some part of Intel Corporation's legal complaint survive.

***At this point, it looks highly likely that Intel Corporation will suffer a long-overdue, humiliating defeat.***

And sure, we've endured the company's ruthless, disingenuous, and irresponsible attacks since July 2007, so their defeat will bring us some personal, emotional satisfaction. BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT.

Because at the end of the day, this is a battle in the interest of reason and public good, not a quixotic matter for individual celebration. Quite the opposite.

The overriding goal here is (1) to establish some limits on the ability of private companies to hijack federal trademark law as they maneuver to strip the public domain of our words, symbols, images, and otherwise unravel the threads of our common fabric; and (2) to serve notice on corporate abusers that they may not usurp the legal system at will in order to undermine the spirit of the law and further narrow, private agendas, especially at the expense of other people's livelihoods.

Both of these issues represent very real risks, and must be taken seriously, confronted with eternal, patient vigilance. At their dark heart, these issues are literally evil.

It's hard as hell to stand up to these egregious abuses. It is, in fact, terribly difficult to fathom the sacrifices one must endure until one has lived it. What a sickening, crushing injustice it would be if Intel Corporation were allowed to continue soiling our waters with their filth and for their profit.

So on July 2, everyone please give a little silent cheer at the sidelines for Ron Coleman and Colby Springer, the lawyers that have selflessly taken on one of the world's largest private legal forces history has ever known. That day, they will be arguing our case that Intel Corporation's legal complaint should be dismissed once and for all. Ron and Colby are doing this pro bono, and at the end of the day, and hopefully at the end of that day, when victory is ultimately achieved, they will remain the real heroes of this story. Let our thoughts give them wings.