Linux trademark
Mendel Leo Cooper
As many of you no doubt know, one William Della Croce, Jr. of
Massachusetts has filed a trademark on the name Linux. Bright idea.
Got me thinking...
I am filing a trademark on the word "computer". All of you on the
Usenet are hereby put on notice that the use of computer(tm) is
restricted and that for each use in any context you are required to
send me $1.00. The word computer(tm) is derivative from the
Komputter(tm), a device I marketed in the '30's that helps golfers
calculate the putting angle on difficult greens. Berry, Atanasoff,
von Neumann, Turing and others maliciously stole the name from me.
All funds received will be applied to my lawsuit against bill gates
for making unauthorized use of the word windows(tm). It is well known
that I invented the window(tm), an ingenious method of mounting glass
panes in the side of a house to permit viewing the scenery outside
while keeping the weather out.
My(tm) future(tm) plans(tm) include(tm) trademarking(tm) every(tm)
word(tm) in(tm) the(tm) English(tm) language(tm), and(tm)
collecting(tm) a(tm) royalty(tm) every(tm) time(tm) someone(tm)
opens(tm) their(tm) mouth(tm).
--
Any sufficiently advanced Magic is indistinguishable from...
technology.
We intend to do to literature what Freud did to sex, utterly ruin
it. -Edward Preston
===============================================
+ http://personal.riverusers.com/~thegrendel/ +
===============================================
Glen Wiley
Mendel Leo Cooper wrote:
>
> As many of you no doubt know, one William Della Croce, Jr. of
> Massachusetts has filed a trademark on the name Linux. Bright idea.
I hope this is a joke! Did he really file a trademark on Linux? That's
like someone trademarking bread!
--
Glen Wiley
Member, "League for Programming Freedom", http://www.lpf.org/
"REAL men run Linux..."
Christopher Michael Cooney
Glen Wiley (wi...@jaxnet.com) wrote:
well, one company(you know which one i speak of)
was granted a patent on multimedia a few years back
-chris
Nico
Christopher Michael Cooney <coo...@rpi.edu> wrote:
--%--
> well, one company(you know which one i speak of)
> was granted a patent on multimedia a few years back
25 years ago, the company in which my father works went almost
bankrupt because they lost a trial in the US, where their american
competitor had a patent on *ohm's law* (applied to their specific
activity: electrostatic industrial painting).
The french company, which was not used to the "frivolous
lawsuits" strategies of US companies, did not take the threat seriously,
and did not invest millions of dollars in lawyers as it should have.
Eventually, the French government helped the company to prevent
the loss of 100 jobs.
--
Nicolas MONNET -- Internet Developper, IdeaNet. -- Paris
"Une citation sera spirituelle ou ne sera pas!" (J'ai dit)
Check out the homepage that sucks rocks through a thin curly straw:
<URL:http://www.skiin.com/~nico> <URL:mailto:ni...@skiin.com>
Mark Levitt
On Sat, 07 Sep 1996 23:53:45 -0400,
Glen Wiley <wi...@jaxnet.com> wrote:
>Mendel Leo Cooper wrote:
>>
>> As many of you no doubt know, one William Della Croce, Jr. of
>> Massachusetts has filed a trademark on the name Linux. Bright idea.
>
>I hope this is a joke! Did he really file a trademark on Linux? That's
>like someone trademarking bread!
Unfortunatly, it's not a joke. There are periodic updates on
linux.announce from someone at WGS about the situation.
--
____________________________________________________________________
Mark E. Levitt
Department of Speech Communication, Syracuse University
E-mail: mele...@syr.edu
Home Page: http://web.syr.edu/~melevitt
PGP fingerprint = B8 A3 AA A6 0F 83 9A BE F2 7A 19 F9 15 79 FE A4
Public key available from http://web.syr.edu/~melevitt/pgpkey.html
____________________________________________________________________
=BORG=
Mendel Leo Cooper wrote:
>
> As many of you no doubt know, one William Della Croce, Jr. of
> Massachusetts has filed a trademark on the name Linux. Bright idea.
I guess we could as well ignore it.
> I am filing a trademark on the word "computer". All of you on the
> Usenet are hereby put on notice that the use of computer(tm) is
> restricted and that for each use in any context you are required to
> send me $1.00. The word computer(tm) is derivative from the
> Komputter(tm), a device I marketed in the '30's that helps golfers
> calculate the putting angle on difficult greens. Berry, Atanasoff,
> von Neumann, Turing and others maliciously stole the name from me.
Just wondering... have anyone already received a bill for using
the word "Linux"?
--
*-=-=-=-=-=#include <disclaimer.h>-=-=-=-=-=-=-*
*-=Vladimir Petersen <vlad...@iceonline.com>=-*
*-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-Vancouver, B.C.-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=*
*-=-=-=-Good pings come in small packets-=-=-=-*
robert zubek
Christopher Michael Cooney wrote:
> Glen Wiley (wi...@jaxnet.com) wrote:
> : Mendel Leo Cooper wrote:
> : >
> : > As many of you no doubt know, one William Della Croce, Jr. of
> : > Massachusetts has filed a trademark on the name Linux. Bright idea.
> : I hope this is a joke! Did he really file a trademark on Linux? That's
> : like someone trademarking bread!
hmm... i though a trademark can be granted only to the person who started using it
first... so if linus (or whoever) can present evidence of having used the name "linux"
for his os before that guy did for his product, the trademark will not be granted...
> well, one company(you know which one i speak of)
> was granted a patent on multimedia a few years back
hey, take a look at this: e-data corp. bought out patent #4,528,643, first granted to a
computer scientist charles c. freeny, that "envisions an electronic distribution system
that covers any point-of-sale transaction involving the purchase of digital data
products, including software, music, fonts, news stories, digital images, and video"
(quoted from shoshana berger's article in wired, 4.09, p. 78)
berger also writes: "of course, that covers about every form of commerce conducted over
the internet. now, having purchased freeny's patent, e-data is suing 43 companies for
patent infringement, including big fish such as compuserve, broderbund, ziff-davis and
waldenbooks. (...) adobe and ibm have already caved in and paid their dues"
btw, e-data's patent expires on jan 10, 2003.
rz
Steve Martin
On 8 Sep 1996 17:53:56 GMT, Mark Levitt <mele...@gamera.syr.edu> wrote:
>On Sat, 07 Sep 1996 23:53:45 -0400,
>>Mendel Leo Cooper wrote:
>>>
>>> As many of you no doubt know, one William Della Croce, Jr. of
>>> Massachusetts has filed a trademark on the name Linux. Bright idea.
>>
>>I hope this is a joke! Did he really file a trademark on Linux? That's
>>like someone trademarking bread!
>
>linux.announce from someone at WGS about the situation.
Just a note, the 'someone from WGS' is Mark Bolzern, President, WGS.
The Linux Journal Home Page (http://www.ssc.com)has started carrying news
about this as well.
--
Steve Martin ----v/|
http://www.henge.com/~smartin \_ _ /
finger sma...@henge.com for pgp key V v
Dr N.C. Eastmond
Mendel Leo Cooper (thegr...@theriver.com) gurgled:
: My(tm) future(tm) plans(tm) include(tm) trademarking(tm) every(tm)
: word(tm) in(tm) the(tm) English(tm) language(tm), and(tm)
: collecting(tm) a(tm) royalty(tm) every(tm) time(tm) someone(tm)
: opens(tm) their(tm) mouth(tm).
This reminds me of a joke on U.K. TV (Monty Python?) where someone patented
the letter "m". Folk started talking without using the letter. Sounded
funny.
--
Nigel C. Eastmond - n...@liv.ac.uk | "My mate Ken can drink this
<http://www.liv.ac.uk/~nce/personal/index.htm> | stuff." - Alas Smith and
Dr.E. - The Cartoon | Jones.
<http://www.liv.ac.uk/~nce/home.htm> |
Simon Slavin
In article <323243...@jaxnet.com>,
Glen Wiley <wi...@jaxnet.com> wrote:
> Mendel Leo Cooper wrote:
>
> > As many of you no doubt know, one William Della Croce, Jr. of
> > Massachusetts has filed a trademark on the name Linux. Bright idea.
>
> I hope this is a joke! Did he really file a trademark on Linux? That's
> like someone trademarking bread!
Doesn't matter. Trademarks only apply to /trade/, i.e. when one
asset is exchanged for another. Linux is free -- no exchange.
Simon.
--
Lest anyone think advertisers aren't beginning to catch on, a recent Letter
to the Editor from a disillusioned direct marketer with, apparently, some
experience on Usenet noted that "Usenet users are some of the cheapest
bastards on the planet." -- Paul Havemann on alt.internet.media-coverage
Geoff. Lane
In article <DxGyq...@liverpool.ac.uk>,
n...@liverpool.ac.uk (Dr N.C. Eastmond) writes:
> This reminds me of a joke on U.K. TV (Monty Python?) where someone patented
> the letter "m". Folk started talking without using the letter. Sounded
> funny.
There was a Batman comic story (I saw it in the mid 60's) in which the Joker
copyrighted the alphabet.
--
Geoff. Lane. | | http://twirl.mcc.ac.uk/
REALITY.SYS Corrupted: Re-boot Universe (Y/N/Q)
Finn Jorgensen
N.C. Eastmond writes:
> This reminds me of a joke on U.K. TV (Monty Python?) where someone patented
> the letter "m". Folk started talking without using the letter. Sounded
> funny.
Intel (tm) pretends that the letter... hmm... the one with the dot that comes
between the "h" and the "j" (just to be on the safe side... :-) )
is a registered trademark, and they don't seem to be joking !
I sincerely hope this "William Della Croce, Jr" fellow will get nothing but
trouble from this stupid move.
Finn (hope my first name hasn't been trademarked by Mark Twain)
--
Finn Bo Jorgensen, E-Mail : Finn.jo...@irisa.fr Tel : 99 84 72 01
IFSIC, bureau TB122, Universite de Rennes
Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 RENNES CEDEX, FRANCE
Douglas W. Jones,201H MLH,3193350740,3193382879
From article <513pgf$j...@news.irisa.fr>, by jorg...@irisa.fr (Finn Jorgensen):
>
> Intel (tm) pretends that the letter... hmm... the one with the dot that comes
> between the "h" and the "j" (just to be on the safe side... :-) )
> is a registered trademark, and they don't seem to be joking !
This is not pretense. If I want to market an integrated circuit with the
name i3625, perhaps with a larger i logo somewhere on the chip, I would
certainly be misleading my customers about a relationship between my company
and Intel.
Note that a trademark is only protected when associated with a product. If
I use the letter i in other contexts, for example, in writing a novel or in
selling Idaho Potatos under the trademark i-spuds, I doubt Intel would have
a case.
On the other hand, if I'm selling software, I suspect that I can't sell it
as iCRUD or some such; Intel has a long-established but minor presence in
the software marketplace, and I suspect I'd be treading on their toes.
On the third hand (we all have extras for these kinds of discussions), their
I trademark doesn't conflict with IBM or other trademarks that incorporate
the letter i in a way that doesn't make the i look like a prefix that could
be confused with the i Intel uses.
Back to the question of Linux, the Linux trademark, applied to watermellons
or a new brand of cement blocks wouldn't bother me, but if someone really
claims to own the rights to that mark as applied to a certain freeware
operating system, I'll gladly help destroy their rights to it.
Trademarks can be destroyed by the public! If the public refuses to
recognize a trademark, for example, by regularly using it as a generic
term, the mark falls into the public domain. I believe this has happened
with Kleenex, and it almost happened with Xerox; if the copier is made by
Cannon, the copies it makes may be xerographic, but the Xerox company is
fairly anxious that people not call such copies Xerox copies. Calling
them such in a sufficiently public context will get you a letter from the
Xerox lawyers asking that you not do so. As I understand things, Xerox
cannot enforce such letters with anything at all if you are not using the
term "in commerce."
I believe this lays the groundwork for an attack by the network community
on any attempt to trademark the name Linux. The key is, all of us who use
the real Linux should simply keep right on calling the thing we use Linux
and completely ignore the folks who seem to have tried to register the
trademark. The only exception to this is if you're selling Linux or
Linux related services. Then you might want to consult a lawyer on how
to unambiguously use the term to refer to the real Linux and not the
upstarts who've registered the trademark.
Perhsps the commercial users should use the word Linux (TM) like this:
(TM) Linux is an operating system developed by Linus Torvaldson (have I
got that right) starting in 1985 (or so). In 1996, Screwball Corporation
registered Linux as a trademark. We feel it necessary to credit both
Linus Torvaldson, who's product we service under the the Linux Copyleft,
and to discredit the Screwball Corporation, with whom we have no business
relationship, but whom we must acknowledge have registered a the Linux
trademark.
Doug Jones
jo...@cs.uiowa.edu
I AM NOT A LAWYER!
DON'T TRUST A WORD I SAY ON THIS ISSUE!
Alan Daniels
sla...@hearsay.demon.co.uk (Simon Slavin) wrote:
>Doesn't matter. Trademarks only apply to /trade/, i.e. when one
>asset is exchanged for another. Linux is free -- no exchange.
That doesn't cover the implications for companies such as Red Hat,
Caldera, Debian, etc etc. They trade Linux distributions for cash,
after all.
What I want to know is, how can the sorry son of a bitch actually get
a trademark on a product that has been sold, by *other companies*, for
a couple of years now? If somebody can, post this asshole's address
and phone number, so we can all tell him what we think. :=(
--
============
Alan Daniels
dan...@mindspring.com
Hans Paaimans
In article <513hrb$a...@camel0.mindspring.com>, dan...@mindspring.com (Alan Daniels) writes:
...
|What I want to know is, how can the sorry son of a bitch actually get
|a trademark on a product that has been sold, by *other companies*, for
|a couple of years now? If somebody can, post this asshole's address
|and phone number, so we can all tell him what we think. :=(
If *I* was that sorry SOB, I would ROTFL reading this newsgroup... I
am not, of course, still I am beginning to enjoy his antic.
--
KUB-University Tilburg, the Netherlands (+31) (0)13-4662693
Home: Elzenstraat 1, 5581 VS Waalre, the Netherlands (+31) (0)40-2230680
http://pi0959.kub.nl:2080/paai.html
John Hasler
Alan Daniels writes:
> What I want to know is, how can the sorry son of a bitch actually get
> a trademark on a product that has been sold, by *other companies*, for
> a couple of years now? If somebody can, post this asshole's address
> and phone number, so we can all tell him what we think. :=(
He has, at most, a trademark (in Massachusetts only) on the word Linux
when written with a particular sort of "stylized" letters. You could
get a similar trademark on the word bread as written with your left
hand, and it would be about as useful.
--
John Hasler This posting is in the public domain.
jgha...@win.bright.net Do with it what you will.
Dancing Horse Hill Make money from it if you can; I don't mind.
Elmwood, Wisconsin
hymie!
And lo, there was much rejoicing among the people, for thus spake
dan...@mindspring.com (Alan Daniels):
>sla...@hearsay.demon.co.uk (Simon Slavin) wrote:
>>Doesn't matter. Trademarks only apply to /trade/, i.e. when one
>>asset is exchanged for another. Linux is free -- no exchange.
>That doesn't cover the implications for companies such as Red Hat,
>Caldera, Debian, etc etc. They trade Linux distributions for cash,
>after all.
Do Caldear/Red Hat/et. al. sell Linux, or do they sell CDs with free
software on them? It's similar to shareware -- you can charge $5 for the
disk and shipping, but you haven't bought the software.
>If somebody can, post this asshole's address
>and phone number, so we can all tell him what we think. :=(
/*
Subject: IMPORTANT: Linux is Proprietary? followup.
From: Michael Alan Dorman <mdo...@calder.med.miami.edu>
Date: 1996/08/16
Message-Id: <cola-liw-8401...@liw.clinet.fi>
Organization: ?
Followup-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce
*/
there does indeed exist a trademark on Linux, registered in the name
of [.....] one William R. Della Croce, Jr., and filed from 33 Snow Hill St.,
Boston, MA, 02113.
..hymie! http://www.smart.net/~hymowitz hy...@lactose.smart.net
pgp public key (KeyID 0x87F65B41) -- send mail to p...@lactose.smart.net
===============================================================================
me: "Stop that."
ali: "What? Being right?"
me: "Yes. I _hate_ when you do that."
===============================================================================
Erik Larsen
robert zubek wrote:
>
> Christopher Michael Cooney wrote:
> > : Mendel Leo Cooper wrote:
> > : >
> > : > As many of you no doubt know, one William Della Croce, Jr. of
> > : > Massachusetts has filed a trademark on the name Linux. Bright idea.
> > :
> > : I hope this is a joke! Did he really file a trademark on Linux? That's
> > : like someone trademarking bread!
>
> first... so if linus (or whoever) can present evidence of having used the name "linux"
> for his os before that guy did for his product, the trademark will not be granted...
>
> > well, one company(you know which one i speak of)
> > was granted a patent on multimedia a few years back
>
> hey, take a look at this: e-data corp. bought out patent #4,528,643, first granted to a
> computer scientist charles c. freeny, that "envisions an electronic distribution system
> that covers any point-of-sale transaction involving the purchase of digital data
> products, including software, music, fonts, news stories, digital images, and video"
> (quoted from shoshana berger's article in wired, 4.09, p. 78)
>
> berger also writes: "of course, that covers about every form of commerce conducted over
> the internet. now, having purchased freeny's patent, e-data is suing 43 companies for
> patent infringement, including big fish such as compuserve, broderbund, ziff-davis and
> waldenbooks. (...) adobe and ibm have already caved in and paid their dues"
>
> btw, e-data's patent expires on jan 10, 2003.
>
> rz
-
Well folks, an easy way to voice our displeasure with this
"submarine" or "theft" of the Linux name is to go to the
US Patent and Trademark Office web page and fill out a comment
form.
The URL is:
http://www.uspto.gov/info/webmail.html
Erik Larsen
Robert Brockway
hymie! (hy...@lactose.smart.net) wrote:
: >That doesn't cover the implications for companies such as Red Hat,
: >Caldera, Debian, etc etc. They trade Linux distributions for cash,
: >after all.
:
: Do Caldear/Red Hat/et. al. sell Linux, or do they sell CDs with free
: software on them? It's similar to shareware -- you can charge $5 for the
: disk and shipping, but you haven't bought the software.
GPL'ed software isn't shareware or freeware.
Checkout the GPL. GPL'ed software (like Linux) can be sold for any amount.
However there are 2 provisions:
1) No one may attempt to restrict redistribution.
2) Source code must be made available the same was as any binary.
So i can charge $1000000 for the Linux kernel (i'll pay postage :-)
but i can't restrict redistirbution at all (and i must make the kernel source
available).
Cheers,
-Robert
--Robert Brockway. email: rob...@zen.humbug.org.au (preferred)
unrb...@dingo.uq.edu.au, s31...@student.uq.edu.au
WWW: http://student.uq.edu.au/~s316674
"Do not sell IP routers to hostile governments." Harley Hahn, 1993.
Robert Brockway
Douglas W. Jones,201H MLH,3193350740,3193382879 (jo...@pyrite.cs.uiowa.edu) wrote:
[Informative discussion on trade marking deleted for brevity]
I liked your discussion on trademarking, and found it informative, but
i feel the need to correct the passage below :-)
: Perhsps the commercial users should use the word Linux (TM) like this:
:
: (TM) Linux is an operating system developed by Linus Torvaldson (have I
^^^^^^^^^^
Torvalds
: got that right) starting in 1985 (or so). In 1996, Screwball Corporation
Linux was started in late 1991 from memory (pretty young eh?)
: registered Linux as a trademark. We feel it necessary to credit both
[deleted for brevity]
: I AM NOT A LAWYER!
: DON'T TRUST A WORD I SAY ON THIS ISSUE!
It made sense to me, and i have a reasonable understading of the law i think.
Cheers,
-Robert
--Robert Brockway. email: rob...@zen.humbug.org.au (preferred)
unrb...@dingo.uq.edu.au, s31...@student.uq.edu.au
WWW: http://student.uq.edu.au/~s316674
Always a Groomsman, never a Groom :-)
Richard Kettlewell
>>>That doesn't cover the implications for companies such as Red Hat,
>>>Caldera, Debian, etc etc. They trade Linux distributions for cash,
>>>after all.
>>
>>Do Caldear/Red Hat/et. al. sell Linux, or do they sell CDs with free
>>software on them? It's similar to shareware -- you can charge $5
>>for the disk and shipping, but you haven't bought the software.
>
>GPL'ed software isn't shareware or freeware.
...and Debian isn't a company. IPMFI.
--
Richard Kettlewell ric...@greenend.org.uk ric...@elmail.co.uk
http://www.elmail.co.uk/staff/richard/
pazi
jo...@pyrite.cs.uiowa.edu wrote:
>Perhsps the commercial users should use the word Linux (TM) like this:
>
> (TM) Linux is an operating system developed by Linus Torvaldson (have I
No. It's Torvalds.
-zi
P. Johnson
In
> > This reminds me of a joke on U.K. TV (Monty Python?) where someone patented
> > the letter "m". Folk started talking without using the letter. Sounded
> > funny.
>
The other uckers!
P.J.J.J.
hymie!
And lo, there was much rejoicing among the people, for thus spake
>Do Caldear/Red Hat/et. al. sell Linux, or do they sell CDs with free
>software on them? It's similar to shareware -- you can charge $5 for the
>disk and shipping, but you haven't bought the software.
I realize, in retrospect, that the grammar here is incorrect.
I did not mean to imply that Linux is similar to shareware. I meant to
compare Red Hat selling CD's that include free software as similar to
shareware.
So I guess the question is better phrased as:
Do Caldera/Red Hat/et.al. sell Linux as a product, or do they (in a manner
like shareware) sell CD's that contain free software on them?
..hymie! http://www.smart.net/~hymowitz hy...@lactose.smart.net
pgp public key (KeyID 0x87F65B41) -- send mail to p...@lactose.smart.net
===============================================================================
Attempted Murder -- now, honestly, what is that? Do they give a Nobel Prize for
Attempted Chemistry? Do they? -- Sideshow Bob (The Simpsons)
===============================================================================
Lon Stowell
In article <32357111...@baker.cnw.com> Erik Larsen <ela...@baker.cnw.com> writes:
>-
>Well folks, an easy way to voice our displeasure with this
>"submarine" or "theft" of the Linux name is to go to the
>US Patent and Trademark Office web page and fill out a comment
>form.
>
>The URL is:
>
>http://www.uspto.gov/info/webmail.html
>
>Erik Larsen
One good thing to do.
Another possibility, if the worst happens and some scumbag
DOES manage to get the name, would be to simply rename Linux.
If this is what must be, wouldn't it be appropriate to give
Linux a new name which "honors" the guilty parties....sort
of an expression of "due respect" for someone so basically
malicious?
James Youngman
In article <516toh$t...@news.smart.net>, hy...@lactose.smart.net says...
>Do Caldera/Red Hat/et.al. sell Linux as a product, or do they (in a manner
>like shareware) sell CD's that contain free software on them?
I speak for no-one but myself here, but...
Red Hat sell a product called "Red Hat Commercial Linux". This is a CD which
contains a lot of software, including notably that specific piece of software
called Linux. They sell and support this product as a whole, not a bunch
of bits & pieces. Source code is available and largely included, and
no limits are imposed on redistribution. Other companies are free to duplicate
the CD and sell it themselves (but maybe not to pretend it's the Red Hat
Official thing, I'm not sure). Anyway, to answer your question, I'm pretty
sure it's the former and not the latter.
--
James Youngman VG Gas Analysis Systems |The trouble with the rat-race
Before sending advertising material, read |is, even if you win, you're
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/47/227.html|still a rat.
R.J.Snell
sla...@hearsay.demon.co.uk writes:
> Doesn't matter. Trademarks only apply to /trade/, i.e. when one
> asset is exchanged for another. Linux is free -- no exchange.
Still, I think it's exploitative and disgraceful.
Exchange *is* involved with derived products such as the
various distributions of Linux or within magazines.
--
* Linux/GNU user, and proud of it! * <R.J....@ex.ac.uk>
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Phil Hughes
There is also a trademark within the EEC countries. Gerry Davis has
agreed to adress this on a Pro Bono basis (with Workgroup Solutions paying
his costs). I think this will be quickly resolved.
Watch the "hot Linux news" page off of http://www.ssc.com/lj for the
latest information.
--
Phil Hughes, SSC, Inc. P.O. Box 55549, Seattle, WA 98155 (206)PUBS-REF
>>> Publishers of pocket references for UNIX, C, ..., Linux Journal <<<
E-mail: ph...@ssc.com Phone: (206)782-7733 Fax: (206)782-7191
SSC/Linux Journal web site: http://www.ssc.com/
Geoff. Lane
In article <DxKAF...@csc.liv.ac.uk>,
sj...@csc.liv.ac.uk (P. Johnson) writes:
> Bad News! icrosoft HAS patented the letter " ". And the letter " " apparently.
> The other uckers!
The current run of M$ ads on Uk TV include an image in which a question mark
appears to be trademarked? (ops, sorry)
Shankar Unni
Geoff. Lane (zza...@swirl.mcc.ac.uk) wrote:
> The current run of M$ ads on Uk TV include an image in which a question
> mark appears to be trademarked? (ops, sorry)
Well, it *is* possible to trademark a specific image of a question mark, in
some setting, which can be "instantly recognizable" in some form.
We had a similar experience with a logo, which consisted of a large,
jaggedy-edged "!" in a box, and it turned out that someone else had a
trademark which was a jaggedy-edged "!" in a box (!!). We had to remove the
box from our logo and do some slight graphic modifications to the "!".
Trademarks need not be words: almost any graphic or logo can be a trademark.
--
Shankar Unni sha...@chromatic.com
Chromatic Research (408) 752-9488
Fred R. Goldstein
Mendel Leo Cooper wrote:
> As many of you no doubt know, one William Della Croce, Jr. of
> Massachusetts has filed a trademark on the name Linux. Bright idea.
Well, if you really want to fight back at this putzina, why not file a
trademark on the name "Della Croce"?
--
Fred R. Goldstein k1io fgold...@bbn.com
BBN Corp., Cambridge MA USA +1 617 873 3850
Opinions are mine alone; sharing requires permission.
Craig Milo Rogers
In article <513tuf$14...@flood.weeg.uiowa.edu> jo...@pyrite.cs.uiowa.edu (Douglas W. Jones,201H MLH,3193350740,3193382879) writes:
>This is not pretense. If I want to market an integrated circuit with the
>name i3625, perhaps with a larger i logo somewhere on the chip, I would
>certainly be misleading my customers about a relationship between my company
>and Intel.
Actually, Analog Devices, Inc. (one of Intel's competitors),
and UC Berkeley have a project called "i MEMS" (the "i is lower case
italic, the "MEM" is small caps, the "S" is full caps). There's a
space between the "i" and the "MEMS", and the whole thing is followed
by a trademark symbol; in Web text, they underline the "i MEMS", too.
It threw me when I first encountered it. The "i" stands for
"Integrated", not "Intel".
So, we have a case of one of Intel's competitors attempting to
encroach upon Intel's monopoly on the letter "i".
Craig Milo Rogers
Frankie K.T. Chu
In article <AE5A159C...@hearsay.demon.co.uk>, sla...@hearsay.demon.co.uk (Simon Slavin) wrote:
>Doesn't matter. Trademarks only apply to /trade/, i.e. when one
>asset is exchanged for another. Linux is free -- no exchange.
Caldera, RedHat, and virtually all the shops offering CD-ROMs with Linux on
them are *supposingly* affected, as they are offering Linux for sale.
Cheers,
Frank.
Keith Smith
In article <51av93$4...@Holly.aa.net>, Phil Hughes <f...@ssc.com> wrote:
>There is also a trademark within the EEC countries. Gerry Davis has
>agreed to adress this on a Pro Bono basis (with Workgroup Solutions paying
>his costs). I think this will be quickly resolved.
>
>Watch the "hot Linux news" page off of http://www.ssc.com/lj for the
>latest information.
Everyone is trying to slam this guy who went to the trouble to get this
TM. Has he pursued anyone over it? Is it possible he just wants to
prevent anyone ELSE from using it as a TM?
--
Keith Smith <ke...@ksmith.com> Free Usenet News/Newsfeeds
Digital Designs (910) 423-7389/7391 [V.34]
PO Box 85
Hope Mills, NC 28348-0085 ... Somewhere in the Styx of North Carolina ...
Bruce Perens
Someone:
> That doesn't cover the implications for companies such as Red Hat,
> Caldera, Debian, etc etc. They trade Linux distributions for cash,
> after all.
Richard Kettlewell:
> and Debian isn't a company. IPMFI.
It's a non-profit organization. We do, however, want to make it as
easy as possible for CD manufacturers to sell Debian on CD. Having
someone trademark a name that we've been using for years, with intent
to extort an un-earned tribute from our CD manufacturers, doesn't
exactly make it easy for them.
Many people are overlooking the fact that the trademark application must
have included some misrepresentation as to the existing use of the name.
It's my opinion that a criminal prosecution should be pursued after the
trademark has been overturned.
Bruce Perens
Debian Project Leader
Keith Smith
In article <slrn53mm8c....@gamera.syr.edu>,
Mark Levitt <mele...@syr.edu> wrote:
>On Sat, 14 Sep 96 12:54:18 EDT,
>Keith Smith <ke...@ksmith.com> wrote:
>>Everyone is trying to slam this guy who went to the trouble to get this
>>TM. Has he pursued anyone over it? Is it possible he just wants to
>>prevent anyone ELSE from using it as a TM?
>
>he owns the Linux trademark and they need to license it for use from him
>(for money).
>
> So, no, he's not being altruistic.
Then ignore him and if and when he sues you simply fry him. Linux has
been copylefted since the beginning, therefore he LIED when he applied
for the Trademark. Once you overturn the trademark he is wide open for
a lawsuit againt malicious suit. There is enough "prior art" on that to
choke a horse.
I used to work for Domino's Pizza, and this reminds me of the Amstar
(domino sugar) litigation. Amstar lost BTW, but during litigation
Domino's bought up the rights to the name "Pizza Dispatch", which I
always thought was a better name anyway, but I digress. They
trademarked it, and then they sent teams of people around to EVERY STATE
in the US and _bought_ the name from every mom and pop pizza joint _THAT
WAS ALREADY USING IT_! I lived in Virgina Beach at the time and Tom M.
paid like $250K to the owner of "Beach Pizza Dispatch" to stop using the
name. They opened quite a few stores under the "Pizza Dispatch" name
before they won the lawsuit (by Amstar against Domino's Pizza).
I still have a Pizza Dispatch hat somewhere.
Wayne
You GO Bruce!!!!
Wayne
--
Hit any user to continue.
Mark Levitt
On Sat, 14 Sep 96 12:54:18 EDT,
Keith Smith <ke...@ksmith.com> wrote:
>Everyone is trying to slam this guy who went to the trouble to get this
>TM. Has he pursued anyone over it? Is it possible he just wants to
>prevent anyone ELSE from using it as a TM?
He's sent letters to WGS and SSC (and possibly others) telling them that
he owns the Linux trademark and they need to license it for use from him
(for money).
So, no, he's not being altruistic.
--
____________________________________________________________________
Mark E. Levitt
Department of Speech Communication, Syracuse University
E-mail: mele...@syr.edu
Home Page: http://web.syr.edu/~melevitt
PGP fingerprint = B8 A3 AA A6 0F 83 9A BE F2 7A 19 F9 15 79 FE A4
Public key available from http://web.syr.edu/~melevitt/pgpkey.html
____________________________________________________________________
Tim Shoppa
In article <8427547...@ksmith.com>, Keith Smith <ke...@ksmith.com> wrote:
>Then ignore him and if and when he sues you simply fry him. Linux has
>been copylefted since the beginning, therefore he LIED when he applied
>for the Trademark. Once you overturn the trademark he is wide open for
>a lawsuit againt malicious suit. There is enough "prior art" on that to
>choke a horse.
Gack! I'm not a lawyer, but I hope that someone with a better grasp
of terminology goes in front of a judge to argue the case for the real
Linux. "Copyleft" is a set of conditions claimed through
copyright law, which has no
overlap with trademark law. And "prior art" is a patent term, not
a trademark term.
Tim. (sho...@triumf.ca)
Tim Shoppa
In article <323BBD6C...@iceonline.com>,
BORG <vlad...@iceonline.com> wrote:
>Fred R. Goldstein wrote:
>> Well, if you really want to fight back at this putzina, why not file a
>> trademark on the name "Della Croce"?
>
>to register a trademark on an International level?
>Then we can sue the bastard.
I know the Usenet collective memory appears to be extremely short,
but you shouldn't forget that Microsoft registered a claim over
the name "Bob" (as in "Microsoft Bob (TM) is a desktop assistant for
clueless whining point-and-droolers.") They never even tried
to sue anyone over using the name as applied to a person. It
would appear to me that Microsoft's lawyers are several orders
of magnitude smarter than Della Croce's.
Tim.
BORG
Fred R. Goldstein wrote:
>
> Mendel Leo Cooper wrote:
>
> > As many of you no doubt know, one William Della Croce, Jr. of
>
> Well, if you really want to fight back at this putzina, why not file a
> trademark on the name "Della Croce"?
I think that's a good idea. How much do I have to pay
to register a trademark on an International level?
Then we can sue the bastard.
--
*** #include <disclaimer.h> ***** Good pings come in small packets
******** Vlad Petersen ********** ********************************
*** <vlad...@iceonline.com> **** ****** Resist Micro$oft! *******
******** Vancouver, B.C. ******** ****** Use Linux instead *******
Chuck Simmons
BORG wrote:
>
> Fred R. Goldstein wrote:
> >
> > trademark on the name "Della Croce"?
>
> I think that's a good idea. How much do I have to pay
> to register a trademark on an International level?
> Then we can sue the bastard.
Doesn't work. My last name is a trademark owned by a mattress company.
Neither of us can stop the other from using the name.
Chuck
--
... the times have been,
That, when the brains were out,
the man would die, ... Macbeth
Name: Chuck Simmons
E-mail: chr...@garlic.com
Chuck's Place http://www.garlic.com/~chrlsim/
Unofficial Netscape FAQ http://www.astro.ufl.edu/~oliver/faq/
Mark Levitt
On 15 Sep 1996 16:14:44 GMT,
>Gack! I'm not a lawyer, but I hope that someone with a better grasp
>of terminology goes in front of a judge to argue the case for the real
>Linux. "Copyleft" is a set of conditions claimed through
>copyright law, which has no
>overlap with trademark law. And "prior art" is a patent term, not
>a trademark term.
Thanks for p[ointing that out. Saves me the trouble...
Tim Smith
In article <8427547...@ksmith.com>, Keith Smith <ke...@ksmith.com> wrote:
>Then ignore him and if and when he sues you simply fry him. Linux has
>been copylefted since the beginning, therefore he LIED when he applied
>for the Trademark. Once you overturn the trademark he is wide open for
You are confusing copyrights and trademarks.
--Tim Smith
Mark Levitt
On Sun, 15 Sep 1996 07:41:51 -0700,
Chuck Simmons <chr...@garlic.com> wrote:
>Neither of us can stop the other from using the name.
Unless you start selling a line of furniture/mattresses.
Matthew Jason Euclid Barnhart
Keith Smith (ke...@ksmith.com) wrote:
: Everyone is trying to slam this guy who went to the trouble to get this
: TM. Has he pursued anyone over it? Is it possible he just wants to
: prevent anyone ELSE from using it as a TM?
Did you even read the original letter that WGS received? Read it first, then
post.
RTFM: is it *really* that hard to understand???
matt.
--
"Bill [Gates] is very successful. Bill is Bill. The company is well
managed. They are also wonderful intellectual terrorists."
- Jean-Louis Gassee, founder of Be, Inc. http://www.be.com
Geoffrey Welsh
(Posted and e-mailed)
On Sat, 14 Sep 96 12:54:18 EDT, ke...@ksmith.com (Keith Smith) wrote:
>Everyone is trying to slam this guy who went to the trouble to get this
>TM. Has he pursued anyone over it? Is it possible he just wants to
>prevent anyone ELSE from using it as a TM?
My understanding of trademark law is that trademark owners are obliged
to defend vigorously against unauthorized use of their trademarks.
However, he _could_ turn around and license the name to any
copyleft-compliant organization for $1...
--
Geoffrey Welsh, MIS Co-ordinator, InSystems Technologies (gwe...@insystems.com)
At home: xenitec.on.ca!zswamp!geoff; Temporary: crs...@inforamp.net
DO NOT SEND ANY FORM OF ADVERTISING TO ANY OF THESE ADDRESSES
Grant Edwards
Craig Milo Rogers (rog...@drax.isi.edu) wrote:
: Actually, Analog Devices, Inc. (one of Intel's competitors),
: and UC Berkeley have a project called "i MEMS" (the "i is lower case
: italic, the "MEM" is small caps, the "S" is full caps). There's a
: space between the "i" and the "MEMS", and the whole thing is followed
: by a trademark symbol; in Web text, they underline the "i MEMS", too.
: It threw me when I first encountered it. The "i" stands for
: "Integrated", not "Intel".
: So, we have a case of one of Intel's competitors attempting to
: encroach upon Intel's monopoly on the letter "i".
I suspect that Intel's trademark on the letter "i" is for a specific font
and a very specific usage. Use a different font or a different context, and
you're all right.
--
Grant Edwards | Microsoft isn't the | Yow! Do you like ``TENDER
Rosemount Inc. | answer. Microsoft | VITTLES?''?
| is the question, and |
gra...@rosemount.com | the answer is no. |
James Youngman
In article <8427547...@ksmith.com>, ke...@ksmith.com says...
>
>Then ignore him and if and when he sues you simply fry him. Linux has
>been copylefted since the beginning, therefore he LIED when he applied
>for the Trademark. Once you overturn the trademark he is wide open for
>choke a horse.
The issues of copyleft and trademarking are orthogonal.
James Youngman
In article <fgoldstein....@bbn.com>, fgold...@bbn.com says...
>
>Mendel Leo Cooper wrote:
>
>> As many of you no doubt know, one William Della Croce, Jr. of
>
>Well, if you really want to fight back at this putzina, why not file a
>trademark on the name "Della Croce"?
But Della Croce is not selling a product with the name Della Croce and so
there's no reason why he should care if you do this or not.
Grant Edwards
Chuck Simmons (chr...@garlic.com) wrote:
: > > Well, if you really want to fight back at this putzina, why not file a
: > > trademark on the name "Della Croce"?
: >
: > I think that's a good idea. How much do I have to pay
: > to register a trademark on an International level?
: > Then we can sue the bastard.
: Doesn't work. My last name is a trademark owned by a mattress company.
: Neither of us can stop the other from using the name.
They can stop you from selling Mattresses under the name "Simmons." That's
what a trademark _is_. Exclusive rights to sell a certain type of product
using a particular name or symbol. It doesn't prevent people from using the
word in non-trade situations. It doesn't even stop people from using the
name for products in unrelated areas.
--
Grant Edwards | Microsoft isn't the | Yow! I'm also against
Rosemount Inc. | answer. Microsoft | BODY-SURFING!!
Luke Sjulson
: > > Well, if you really want to fight back at this putzina, why not file a
: > > trademark on the name "Della Croce"?
Autodesk supposedly trademarked the term "cyberspace," so to
retaliate, William Gibson (the author of Neuromancer, the book that first
used the term) trademarked the name of the person responsible.
: Doesn't work. My last name is a trademark owned by a mattress company.
: Neither of us can stop the other from using the name.
A few years ago there was a potato chip company owned by someone
with the last name of Campbell, and they called their product Campbell's
potato chips or something similar; Campbell's soup either kicked their ass
in court or just threatened to (I don't remember)...but the people had to
quit using the product name.
__
finger on the switch / blinded by the sun
tsunami
Kai Harrekilde-Petersen
[Follow-up changed to alt.folklore.computers]
tsu...@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (Luke Sjulson) writes:
Interesting. According to Danish law, nobody can prevent you from
using your last name for company name (at least that's what I've been
told). Ie: if my surname was McDonald, I could open up a 'McDonald's
Pizza Bar' (but I guess that The McDonalds would go after me anyway)
Kai
--
Kai Harrekilde-Petersen <k...@dolphinics.no> #include <std/disclaimer.h>
http://www.dolphinics.no/~khp/ Linux: the choice of a GNU generation
Route 287 - Where Men are Men and sheep are nervous ...
Lack Mr G M
In article <51qs16$3...@news.jhu.edu>, tsu...@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (Luke Sjulson) writes:
|>
|> A few years ago there was a potato chip company owned by someone
|> with the last name of Campbell, and they called their product Campbell's
|> potato chips or something similar; Campbell's soup either kicked their ass
|> in court or just threatened to (I don't remember)...but the people had to
|> quit using the product name.
I'm no lawyer, but I believe that a trademark has a sort of "field of
influence". In this example both products are food-stuffs, so they
conflict. VAX, however, is a vacuum-cleaner and a computer (at least in
the UK). Likewise, Apple was a record-label and a computer - the two
co-existed ok until the music industry and the computer indistry moved
closer together: then there was a conflict, which I believe was settled
out of court.
Perhaps this trademark is only of relevance if the owner starts to
market some computer-related product (ie. just owning it isn't enough)?
--
----------- Gordon Lack ----------------- gml...@ggr.co.uk ------------
The contents of this message *may* reflect my personal opinion. They are
*not* intended to reflect those of my employer, or anyone else.
John Hasler
tsunami writes:
> A few years ago there was a potato chip company owned by someone
> with the last name of Campbell, and they called their product Campbell's
> potato chips or something similar; Campbell's soup either kicked their ass
> in court or just threatened to (I don't remember)...but the people had to
> quit using the product name.
The law permits *you* to use your name for business. A corporation in
which you happen to be the sole shareholder is not the same at all.
Campbells may have simply paid them to stop using the name.
There is a man in Minneapolis who operates a business he calls "Chase
Financial Services". A few years ago hed got a threatening letter from
Chase Manhatten bank. He had his lawyer send a reply. He is still in
business under the same name.
--
John Hasler This posting is in the public domain.
jgha...@win.bright.net Do with it what you will.
Dancing Horse Hill Make money from it if you can; I don't mind.
Elmwood, Wisconsin
John Hasler
Reposting article removed by rogue canceller.
Keith Smith
In article <51hcs6$s...@news1.halcyon.com>,
Tim Smith <t...@coho.halcyon.com> wrote:
>In article <8427547...@ksmith.com>, Keith Smith <ke...@ksmith.com> wrote:
>>been copylefted since the beginning, therefore he LIED when he applied
>>for the Trademark. Once you overturn the trademark he is wide open for
>
>
>--Tim Smith
Not totally. If the name Linux has been used IN TRADE for computer
software by other parties prior to your "trademark" your trademark can
be invalidated. This is why Domino's Pizza had to buy the name "Pizza
Dispatch" from the dozen odd pizza delivery joints around the country
when it was securing an alternate name during the AMSTAR litigation
(Domino Sugar). I was aquainted with the fellow who owned "Beach Pizza
Dispatch" at the time. Domino's paid him like $250K or something for
him to change his name and relase all trade rights to the "Pizza
Dispatch" name, but Domino's already owned the trademark.
The "contact my lawyer" schpeel is just bullying, unless this dude got
his trademark prior to the first release of InfoMagic's "Linux
Developers Resource", or other products traded using this name.
I ran into this shit again trying to trademark the name "PDQ Pizza" when
I ran one in Arlington, but my memory is fuzzy, it was like 12 years
ago.
All this copyright, trademark, and patent stuff is so intertwined
protecting intellectual property that the only folks who benifit by it
are the lawyers.
Keith Smith
erikc
lsto...@pyrtech.mis.pyramid.com (Lon Stowell)
in message <5179c3$i...@pyrtech.mis.pyramid.com>
dated 11 Sep 1996 14:01:55 -0700 wrote:
>>|In article <32357111...@baker.cnw.com> Erik Larsen <ela...@baker.cnw.com> writes:
>>|>-
>>|>Well folks, an easy way to voice our displeasure with this
>>|>"submarine" or "theft" of the Linux name is to go to the
>>|>US Patent and Trademark Office web page and fill out a comment
>>|>form.
>>|>
>>|>The URL is:
>>|>
>>|>http://www.uspto.gov/info/webmail.html
>>|>
>>|>Erik Larsen
>>| One good thing to do.
>>| Another possibility, if the worst happens and some scumbag
>>| DOES manage to get the name, would be to simply rename Linux.
>>| If this is what must be, wouldn't it be appropriate to give
>>| Linux a new name which "honors" the guilty parties....sort
>>| of an expression of "due respect" for someone so basically
>>| malicious?
How? By calling it "Asshole"?
Erikc
Religious fundamentalists are a plague sent by God to
punish us for no good reason. -- me
For good clean fun, visit: http://www.anus.com/
erikc
Scott David Gray
On 23 Sep 1996, Kin Hoong CHUNG wrote:
> Lon Stowell (lsto...@pyrtech.mis.pyramid.com) wrote:
>
> : Another possibility, if the worst happens and some scumbag
> : DOES manage to get the name, would be to simply rename Linux.
> : If this is what must be, wouldn't it be appropriate to give
> : Linux a new name which "honors" the guilty parties....sort
> : of an expression of "due respect" for someone so basically
> : malicious?
>
> ... after you take a trademark out on the new name!
Um... Doesn't the Linux community (esp the GPL) already hold an "implied
trademark" on Linux?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Kin Hoong
>
>
--Scott David Gray
reply to: sda...@tiac.net
http://www.tiac.net/users/sdavid
Kin Hoong CHUNG
Lon Stowell (lsto...@pyrtech.mis.pyramid.com) wrote:
: Another possibility, if the worst happens and some scumbag
: DOES manage to get the name, would be to simply rename Linux.
: If this is what must be, wouldn't it be appropriate to give
: Linux a new name which "honors" the guilty parties....sort
: of an expression of "due respect" for someone so basically
: malicious?
... after you take a trademark out on the new name!
Cheers,
Kin Hoong
Bryan Seigneur
Yes, yes, yes, yes. And quite a few people are going to point this
out in court very shortly. Don't worry.
Goto http://www.ssc.com/linews/lte.html
Ah, heck, I'm sure Phil won't care too much. Here it is,
brought to you by SSC & Linux Journal:
http://www.ssc.com/linews/lte.html {
Is Linux Trademarked?
Several readers asked Linux Journal about the
registered trademark symbol after Linux, in particular
after noting the R[registered] symbol after Linux on
IDG Books' Linux Secrets, written by Naba Barkakati.
The book's cover says: ``Linux is a registered
trademark of William R. Della Croce, Jr.'' Is there
really a registered trademark on the word Linux?
(See a separate press release about the trademark.)
http://www.ssc.com/linews/tradepress.html
IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. told Linux Journal that they
did a trademark search as they always do when deciding
what to put on a book cover, and although surprised to
find a registered trademark on Linux, they printed the
information resulting from their search. Their intent
was in no way to reinforce the registered mark, but to
comply with trademark requirements.
In July, 1996, we at LJ tried to contact the person who
had filed for the trademark, Mr. William R. Della
Croce, Jr., via phone and left a message giving our
e-mail address and telephone number. Mr. Croce e-mailed
back a brief note to us, stating that ``LINUX'' was
proprietary to him and that we would be hearing from
his attorney.
We e-mailed Linus Torvalds about the matter. Linus
reiterated his determination that Linux remain in
common use or be trademarked by some trustworthy
organization or individual.
We investigated the trademark, which was registered
August 8, 1995, with a first use date of August 2,
1994. Since this date is long after others have used
the term ``Linux'', it seems there are ample grounds to
protest this trademark.
In August 1996, Linux Journal and other Linux companies
reported that they had received letters from Mr. Croce
informing them that:
LINUX(tm) is proprietary. Information about
obtaining approval for use and/or making
payment for past use may be obtained by
writing to the following address:...
Yggdrasil Computing filed for a trademark on their book
title Linux Bible in March 1995. Their trademark was
turned down because Linux was already a trademark
registered to Mr. Croce. Adam says that in March 1996,
Yggdrasil Computing filed a letter disputing Croce's
trademark and showing that Linux was a generic term and
that Yggdrasil's use was prior to Croce's in any event.
Yggdrasil also asked to have the Linux trademark by
Croce cancelled. Yggdrasil Computing should hear back
by the end of September, 1996.
The trademark office usually doesn't cancel trademarks
without separate action taken. It is very likely this
fall, after we hear of the result of Yggdrasil
Computing's actions, that Linux companies and
individuals will band together to fight to return the
word Linux back to the Linux community.
-- Linux Journal
(G. Gervaise Davis III, Business and Intellectual
Property Lawyer, is fighting the apparent trademarking
of Linux on a pro-bono basis, with Workgroup Solutions
paying his expenses. Find out more about intellectual
property trademark information from his web page at
http://www.iplawyers.com.)
} http://www.ssc.com/linews/lte.html
--
Bryan Seigneur
Windows NT. How to make a 100 MIPS Linux
workstation perform like an 8 MHz 286 PC.
John Winters
Kin Hoong CHUNG wrote:
>
> ... after you take a trademark out on the new name!
McLinux perhaps?
John
Sam Trenholme
[newsgroup a.f.c trimmed]
>Not totally. If the name Linux has been used IN TRADE for computer
>software by other parties prior to your "trademark" your trademark can
>be invalidated.
[snip]
>The "contact my lawyer" schpeel is just bullying, unless this dude got
>his trademark prior to the first release of InfoMagic's "Linux
>Developers Resource", or other products traded using this name.
The person got his trademark around the fall of 1994.
I remember Linux CD being sold at Weird Stuff as "Unix for the price of
DOS" in the summer of 1994-- before he got his trademark.
I am sure there were other CDs with Linux on it being sold. I know that
Slackware Linux existed in the spring of 1994-- and was certainly being
sold on CDs at the time.
We may need to dig up an old Walnut Creek CD-Rom catalog if this goes to
court.
Phil Hughes
Let me interrupt this stream of "what if's" with some facts.
I just want you to know that there is action being taken on the part of
Linus and the Linux community. But, with any situation where you don't
want to let the opposition know your plan you don't talk about what is
happening until the action is taken.o
That said, watch http://www.ssc.com/lj. As soon as something can be
disclosed it will appear on our "hot news" button.
--
Phil Hughes, SSC, Inc. P.O. Box 55549, Seattle, WA 98155 (206)PUBS-REF
>>> Publishers of pocket references for UNIX, C, ..., Linux Journal <<<
E-mail: ph...@ssc.com Phone: (206)782-7733 Fax: (206)782-7191
SSC/Linux Journal web site: http://www.ssc.com/
bill davidsen
In article <51ks6i$d...@news.inforamp.net>,
Geoffrey Welsh <crs...@inforamp.net> wrote:
| My understanding of trademark law is that trademark owners are obliged
| to defend vigorously against unauthorized use of their trademarks.
| However, he _could_ turn around and license the name to any
| copyleft-compliant organization for $1...
Don't even think of it! Once you pay a penny for a license you
really hurt your chances of overturning the trademark. In fact you
become part of the problem, since the holder can now say "Geoffrey
Welsh, famous net poster, thought it was valid and licensed the
right to use it."
It won't stand up, when/if there is ever a test case, it will be
shown that the term and software were in use before the trademark
was filed, and that they are the work of someone else.
Personally, I would also try to get a DA to consider extortion,
since this is clearly a case of trying to get unowed money from
people.
--
Bill Davidsen (davi...@tmr.com)
"The secret to procrastination is to put things off until the
last possible moment - but no longer" -me
bill davidsen
| I am sure there were other CDs with Linux on it being sold. I know that
| Slackware Linux existed in the spring of 1994-- and was certainly being
| sold on CDs at the time.
It doesn't have to be CDs, SLS and TAMU predate Slackware by (from
memory) two years. Maybe someone has saved a posting or two from the
old linux group predating c.o.s.linux?
nch...@worldnet.att.net
bill davidsen wrote:
>
> In article <setDyB...@netcom.com>, Sam Trenholme <s...@netcom.com> wrote:
>
> | I am sure there were other CDs with Linux on it being sold. I know that
> | Slackware Linux existed in the spring of 1994-- and was certainly being
> | sold on CDs at the time.
>
> It doesn't have to be CDs, SLS and TAMU predate Slackware by (from
> memory) two years. Maybe someone has saved a posting or two from the
> old linux group predating c.o.s.linux?
I have a CD tha Infomagic put out date July 1993, It's called UNIX
CR-ROM
it has 386BSD, LINUX and NetBSD on it. In fact its Linux 0.99.10
Neil Cherry
Keith Smith
In article <52rpc8$r...@usenetw1.news.prodigy.com>,
bill davidsen <davi...@tmr.com> wrote:
>It won't stand up, when/if there is ever a test case, it will be
>shown that the term and software were in use before the trademark
>was filed, and that they are the work of someone else.
>
>Personally, I would also try to get a DA to consider extortion,
>since this is clearly a case of trying to get unowed money from
>people.
I think Bill is onto something here. Perhaps a letter writing campaign
to the District Attorney for the State this guy lives in, MA or PA or
somewhere in New England. This patent was obviously filed to
fraudulently collect on the anticipated popularity of this Free Unix
clone by someone not involved with it.
At the very least this is fraud, there are bound to be some statutes
both state and federal being violated here. I'd kick in $20 and some
stamps to see the dude fry, whadya think?
fre...@fcshome.stoneham.ma.us
bill davidsen (davi...@tmr.com) wrote:
> In article <setDyB...@netcom.com>, Sam Trenholme <s...@netcom.com> wrote:
> | I am sure there were other CDs with Linux on it being sold. I know that
> | Slackware Linux existed in the spring of 1994-- and was certainly being
> | sold on CDs at the time.
> It doesn't have to be CDs, SLS and TAMU predate Slackware by (from
> memory) two years. Maybe someone has saved a posting or two from the
> old linux group predating c.o.s.linux?
> --
I remember seeing a series of postings (and file uploads available) on
BIX back in mid 1992 which talked about Linux. I recall they had some of
the 0.9x kernels there.
I think that BIX tends to keep all this stuff more or less forever, so
there may be records available there of use of the term and existence
of the software from way back.
Fred
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.---- Fred Smith / Office: fr...@computrition.com
( /__ ,__. __ __ / __ : / 508-663-2524
/ / / /__) / / /__) .+' Home: fre...@fcshome.stoneham.ma.us
/ / (__ (___ (__(_ (___ / :__ 617-438-5471
-------------------------------- Jude 1:24,25 ---------------------------------
Michael Dillon
>I think Bill is onto something here. Perhaps a letter writing campaign
>to the District Attorney for the State this guy lives in, MA or PA or
>somewhere in New England. This patent was obviously filed to
>fraudulently collect on the anticipated popularity of this Free Unix
>clone by someone not involved with it.
>
>At the very least this is fraud, there are bound to be some statutes
>both state and federal being violated here. I'd kick in $20 and some
>stamps to see the dude fry, whadya think?
Please post the addresses for his local DA, local FBI office, local
newspapers, local radio and TV stations and anything else you can think
of.
--
Michael Dillon - ISP & Internet Consulting
Memra Software Inc. - Fax: +1-604-546-3049
http://www.memra.com - E-mail: mic...@memra.com
Rob Pelkey
On Wed, 2 Oct 1996, Keith Smith wrote:
> I think Bill is onto something here. Perhaps a letter writing campaign
> to the District Attorney for the State this guy lives in, MA or PA or
> somewhere in New England. This patent was obviously filed to
> fraudulently collect on the anticipated popularity of this Free Unix
> clone by someone not involved with it.
The sleazebag lives in Massachusetts (33 Snow Hill Road in Boston to be
precise). Here's the address for the Massachusetts attorney general's
office:
Attorney General Scott Harshbarger
One Ashburton Place
Boston, MA. 02108-1698
phone: +1.617.727.2200
> At the very least this is fraud, there are bound to be some statutes
> both state and federal being violated here. I'd kick in $20 and some
> stamps to see the dude fry, whadya think?
I've kicked in my 32 cents already... :-)
Rob
--
<!-- Rob Pelkey <rpe...@bates.edu> - http://www.bates.edu/~rpelkey/ -->
<!-- Professional Web Dude "God is dead" - Nietzsche -->
<!-- Math Major, Bates College '98 "Nietzsche is dead" - God -->
Wayne
Rob Pelkey wrote:
>
> On Wed, 2 Oct 1996, Keith Smith wrote:
>
> > I think Bill is onto something here. Perhaps a letter writing campaign
> > to the District Attorney for the State this guy lives in, MA or PA or
> > somewhere in New England. This patent was obviously filed to
> > fraudulently collect on the anticipated popularity of this Free Unix
> > clone by someone not involved with it.
>
> office:
>
> Attorney General Scott Harshbarger
> One Ashburton Place
> Boston, MA. 02108-1698
> phone: +1.617.727.2200
>
> > At the very least this is fraud, there are bound to be some statutes
> > both state and federal being violated here. I'd kick in $20 and some
> > stamps to see the dude fry, whadya think?
>
> I've kicked in my 32 cents already... :-)
>
> Rob
>
> --
> <!-- Rob Pelkey <rpe...@bates.edu> - http://www.bates.edu/~rpelkey/ -->
> <!-- Professional Web Dude "God is dead" - Nietzsche -->
> <!-- Math Major, Bates College '98 "Nietzsche is dead" - God -->
I hope everyone that writes to the DA doesn't forget to run the
spellchecker 'fore
printing out his/her letter! :)
And remember to be curteous and polite and mature and............
--
Wayne
wrob...@aug.com
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