I love it when the vagaries of text messaging start to work themselves out . :-) . .
You must have missed the controversy and the ensuing discussion back when the phrase, "You're fired!" first became so popular. There was considerable talk, some of it attributed to Trump, that he was seeking to copyright or trademark the phrase . . . thus owning it.
Then, when Newsmax included this as the lead in their story: Megabucks real estate mogul Donald Trump, whose patented phrase,"You're Fired," has become the centerpiece of NBC's hit show "The Apprentice," . . . I wrote my comments.
So . . .
I think you're taking this *far* too literally. Did you miss "the use of the term "patent" in a non-dictionary-definition way" from my previous post.
I did not miss it. I may not have understood your meaning, and may not understand it still. How about the frame of reference and context I provided at the start of this post? Does that explain why I took the Newsmax sentence literally and commented as I did? :-)
Ah, didn't realize Trump was really trying to do that.
Trump trying to pull something like that, does not surprise me one bit. If he's managed to actually get a trademark or patent, then I stand by my previous comment, that IP law has gone crazy.