Arduinoboy naming

[Philip]

Hi everyone,

first post, so hi, I'm Philip and I am into Arduino tinkering and
about to launch a little online mailorder shop (based in Germany) for
Arduino and other diy hacking stuff.
I'm also making music and therefore interested in all kinds of MIDI/
Arduino possibilities. I'm not using a Gameboy to make music but a
good friend of mine does, so I found out about this project.

(Basically I could sell any kind of kit or premade Arduinoboy version
or mod Gameboys if there is an interest, but this message actually is
about the name "Arduinoboy" itself:)

The Arduino platform is Open Source but the name "Arduino" isn't. (I
had to sign a page of legalese to distribute Arduino boards and the
producers, Smart Projects of Italy, reserve the use of the "Arduino"
brand to their products.) Hence all the compatible clones with other
names (Freeduino, Sanguino etc.). So even if you use an actual Arduino
board for the Arduinoboy, I think it is not okay to release it using
that name. I'd hate to see nice creative projects like this get into
trouble unnecessarily.

Actually, I'm now bound by the paper I signed to Smart Projects, so I
guess I couldn't even distribute a kit named "Arduinoboy" (in case
there was a demand to that) even if I'd like to, to give an example.

Best,
Philip

[trash80]

After a small amount of research I found no trade mark for the word "Arduino" in the US.

Furthermore its a small opensource project that I doubt would catch any attention. If I receive a cease and desist then a rename will indeed have to occur. Until that point I feel that its more work for me to rename everything then to keep everything the way it is for now. Nothing is sold under the name "Arduinoboy" and if anything, they receive more sales and advertizement from this project.

Best,
Timothy

[Philip]

Hi Timothy,

it's not my problem and I am no lawyer, so I'm just saying it.
Basically the Arduino team's viewpoint is described in http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Policy
and I don't know if it's legally valid.
(Personally, I think the "free exposure" argument you have is not a
very good one, but that should not be discussed here.)

Philip

On 7 Feb., 06:33, trash80 <tras...@gmail.com> wrote:
> After a small amount of research I found no trade mark for the word
> "Arduino" in the US.
>
> Furthermore its a small opensource project that I doubt would catch any
> attention. If I receive a cease and desist then a rename will indeed have to
> occur. Until that point I feel that its more work for me to rename
> everything then to keep everything the way it is for now. Nothing is sold
> under the name "Arduinoboy" and if anything, they receive more sales and
> advertizement from this project.
>
> Best,
> Timothy
>

[trash80]

Right but I'm not selling or making Arduinos. its just a open source project for Arduino.
Their policy is stated as what they would like, there is no legal obligation.
 By signing the "legalese" you are legally bound to whatever you signed for.

However, I sent them a email asking about it, if they have a problem with it I
will go through the course of a rename. :)

Thanks for the heads up, I had no idea.
Best,
Timothy