Russian hopes to cash in on ;-)

A series of punctuation marks used to convey a wink in text messages - known as an emoticon - has been trademarked in Russia, says a local businessman. Entrepreneur Oleg Teterin said the trademark for the ;-) emoticon was granted to him by Russia's federal patent agency.

Entrepreneur Oleg Teterin said the trademark for the ;-) emoticon was granted to him by Russia's federal patent agency. But critics doubt the trademark's legal basis as the emoticon has been in the public domain for years. Mr Teterin said he would chase firms using the symbol without permission.

Full Story