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Tag: Robin

  • No, Companies Have No Idea When They’ll Return to the Office

    No, Companies Have No Idea When They’ll Return to the Office

    After multiple return-to-office dates, COVID-19 surges and delayed expectations, one thing is clear: Companies have no idea when they’ll return.

    From the moment companies sent employees home to work remotely in the early phases of the pandemic, those same companies have been looking to return to the office, to a sense of “normal.” At every step, however, new COVID variants, spikes in cases and fresh government restrictions have pushed back return-to-office dates around the world.

    According to The New York Times, many companies are giving up altogether on trying to predict when their employees will be coming back. Apple, CNN, Ford and Google are just a few of the companies adopting a wait-and-see approach, and giving up on specific predictions.

    “The only companies being dishonest are the ones giving employees certainty,” Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford professor and advisor to dozens of CEOs told The Times. “As a parent you can hide stuff from your kids, but as a C.E.O. you can’t do that to adult employees who read the news.”

    “Folks have hedged appropriately this time around and they understand that it’s a dialogue with their employees, not a mandate,” Zach Dunn, co-founder of the office space management platform Robin, told The Times. “If that sounds a little kumbaya, maybe. But the reality is, folks are learning that sharing the intention of their return plan is more important than sharing the plan itself.”

    With the omicron variant now sweeping the globe, it’s a safe bet leaving the return-to-office open-ended — or just going all-in on remote work — is likely to be the “new normal” moving forward.

  • Ben Affleck Talks Robin’s Surprising Fate in ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’

    Ben Affleck has opened up about the disturbing fate of Robin in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which is finally hitting theaters March 25.

    Warning: there are some spoilers coming up in this article.

    Ahead of the release, Affleck confirmed reports that Batman’s trusted sidekick Robin has died in the Gotham/Metropolis envisioned by director Zack Snyder and writer Chris Terrio.

    Affleck told Entertainment Weekly that Batman is in mourning and “…bitterly disappointed…that he’s lost this guy who fought by his side. That character’s death must have been devastating to him, and he’s suffered. We get the sense that he’s suffered a lot of devastating losses before this movie even starts.”

    That would explain Batman’s salt-and-pepper-haired, world-weary look in trailers for the film. Apparently, our favorite caped crusader is disillusioned and much more cynical than he has been in the past, much of it owing to all the character has been through, including the loss of his sidekick.

    In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Batman goes up against the Son of Krypton (Henry Cavill returning as Superman), to partake in “the greatest gladiator match in the history of the world.”

    The plot — and the death of Robin — parallels the Frank Miller’s 1986 graphic novel miniseries, The Dark Night Returns, which Snyder has said would be a major factor in his follow-up to 2013’s Man of Steel.

    After two and a half years since Affleck was controversially cast as Batman, fans will finally get to see Affleck in action very soon.

    What do you think? Will Affleck live up to the Batmen of the past?

  • DC Comics in Legal Fight With Rihanna Over Her Own Name

    DC Comics is going head to head with one Robyn Fenty over a trademark dispute. The comics giant is opposing a trademark registration by Robyn Fenty for the name “Robyn,” which they say would be confused with their own trademark of “Robin,” the Boy Wonder from the Batman series.

    But who is Robyn Fenty? And why does she want to trademark her first name?

    The Robyn Fenty that DC Comics is up against is none other than Robyn Rihanna Fenty, known by the mononym Rihanna. That’s right, the singer.

    Robyn Rihanna Fenty filed for trademark protection of her first name through her company, Roraj Trade LLC. The filing last year is now being challenged.

    According to filing records, the filing that DC Comics is challenging reads thusly:

    “On Monday, June 23, 2014, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for ROBYN by Roraj Trade LLC, Los Angeles. The current federal status of this trademark filing is OPPOSITION PENDING. The description provided to the USPTO [U.S. Patent and Trade Office] for ROBYN is Providing on-line non-downloadable general feature magazines.”

    Rihanna not only had her company file for trademark protection of her own name, but for several other terms as well. The list shows that Rihanna was possibly planning to branch into some merchandising areas.

    Fenty Apparel
    Fenty Beauty
    Fenty Clothing
    Fenty Cosmetics
    Fenty Face
    Fenty Intimates
    Fenty Lingerie
    Fenty Makeup
    Fenty Nails
    Fenty Swim
    Fenty Swimwear
    Boomflick
    Fenty Corp
    Robyn
    Fenty 88
    Rhi Rhi

    However, filing records show that some of these trademark filings have been abandoned by Roraj Trade LLC. But the application for “Robyn” is still active.

    DC Comics insists in its opposition filing that the name “Robyn” is “virtually identical” to their comic book character andthat “consumers are likely to be deceived” by a magazine put out by Rihanna with the title “Robyn.”

    The DC Comics complaint further explains that their “Robyn” is a “world-famous” who has “appeared alongside Batman, Batgirl, The Joker, Catwoman and The Penguin.” DC Comics has had a trademark on “Robin” for decades.

    ”[Rihanna’s] registration is likely to cause dilution by blurring and tarnishing the famous opposer’s mark,” DC Comics says. they say the magazine “Robyn is likely to cause confusion, cause mistake, or to deceive the public.”

    Theresa Middlebrook, a lawyer representing Rihanna’s firm has declined to comment on the complaint as it is pending legislation.

  • Justin Bieber to the Big Screen?

    On Friday, Justin Bieber posted a picture on Instagram that spread like wildfire, sparking the curiosity of millions around the country. Standing in a mirror holding up a manuscript for the upcoming Warner Brothers’ film “Batman vs. Superman,” Bieber captured a snapshot of the script with his iPhone. Then, if the picture alone didn’t raise speculation, the caption which said, “#robin,” did the trick. So overall, the gist of the story is that Justin Bieber insinuated, without words, that he would be playing the role of Robin in the new “Batman vs. Superman” film.

    http://instagram.com/p/eOODXzgvpq

    Hours prior to posting the Instagram picture, Bieber tweeted an evasive quote where he mentioned that he was off to ‘do something funny or die.’ However, it wasn’t until hours later when the script picture popped up on Instagram that the tweet finally made sense.

    Now, the question floating around is whether the script in the picture is authentic or not. While some sources claim the script is a fake, and Bieber only posted the picture to fuel rumors for publicity purposes, no concise answer has been given to explain it. So, here it is. According to USA Today, Justin Bieber is, indeed, reading for the part of Robin, which indicates that the script in the picture is authentic. However, no decisions has been finalized as to whether Bieber will play the role of Robin in the upcoming film.

    “Batman vs. Superman” will be the sequel to “Man of Steel.” As of August, Ben Affleck will star in the film as Batman, while Henry Cavill has been cast as Superman. They are the only two actors that Warner Brothers’ have officially announced to star in the film, which is tentatively set to be released July 17, 2015. So the avid ‘Beliebers’ will just have to wait and see what the final directorial decision will be.

     

    Image via Wikimedia Commons