john@hp-pcd.UUCP (06/12/84)
Does anyone know what happens to a trademark that the public starts using as a verb? " please xerox** a copy of that report for me" John Eaton !hplabs!hp-pcd!john ** xerox is xorex spelled backwards
robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison) (06/14/84)
References: I'm not a lawyer, but: I think that the word "UNIX" will soon be in the public domain with no special rights left for ATT. They have not taken the vigorous action necessary to protect it. (That is, I can't believe they have without my noticing.) The problem is that only adjectives receive trademark protection, as in "UNIX operating system", or "Aspirin compound". Nouns are not trademarks. When the general public turns a brand name into a noun, the courts stop protecting it. I have never seen an advertisement or other memo from ATT warning people to use the word UNIX only in phrases that treat it as an adjective. - Toby Robison (not Robinson!) allegra!eosp1!robison decvax!ittvax!eosp1!robison princeton!eosp1!robison
stanwyck@ihuxr.UUCP (Don Stanwyck) (06/14/84)
> I think that the word "UNIX" will soon be in the public domain with > no special rights left for ATT. They have not taken the vigorous > action necessary to protect it. (That is, I can't believe they > have without my noticing.) > > The problem is that only adjectives receive trademark protection, > as in "UNIX operating system", or "Aspirin compound". Nouns are > not trademarks. When the general public turns a brand name into a > noun, the courts stop protecting it. > > I have never seen an advertisement or other memo from ATT warning > people to use the word UNIX only in phrases that treat it as an > adjective. > - Toby Robison (not Robinson!) Kleenex and Band-Aid are still brand-names, as is Scotch-tape. These companies have tried as hard as AT&T to protect their brand names. It is simply impossible to police every environment. I still hear and read comments about Puff's-Kleenex and Wyler's Kool-aid. Some people are not aware of the difference, while other's don't care. This of itself does not invalidate the brand name. -- ________ ( ) Don Stanwyck @( o o )@ 312-979-3062 ( || ) Cornet-367-3062 ( \__/ ) ihnp4!ihuxr!stanwyck (______) Bell Labs @ Naperville, IL
otto@whuxle.UUCP (George V.E. Otto) (06/15/84)
My understanding of the preservation or loss of trademark protection for a term has much to do with the steps taken by the trademark owner to prevent misuse. As I understand it, trademark protection was lost for "cellophane" because its original owner did not vigorously defend it, i.e., point out to others that they were misusing it when then did not identify it as a trademark of their's. I understand that the same problem occurred with "scotch tape": many companies refer to their product as scotch tape with no trademark indication. Even 3M calls their product "Scotch brand scotch tape," with the trademark indication on the first "Scotch" but not the "scotch tape." As to AT&T's warning others against potential future misuse of UNIX*, how often have you seen other companies issue such warnings to the general public about their trademarks? I can't recall seeing any companies do that, ever. On the other hand, if someone uses a trademark incorrectly, that is the time when the "vigorous defense" comes in. If the misuser is allowed to continue that misuse without requests or legal action from AT&T to correct it, then the case can be made that AT&T is not vigorously defending its trademark. So, the question of whether UNIX is about to go into the public domain should perhaps be rephrased to be, how many *misuses* of the UNIX trademark are there (particularly ones with no reference to its trademark status nor the trademark's owner) that have not been followed up with requests for correction or legal action from AT&T? Is there a series of advertisements that has run for, say, two or three years that has consistently misused UNIX? I think that detailed information like that would be needed before an accurate determination can be made about the impending loss of the UNIX trademark by AT&T. These thoughts are my own and not necessarily those of my employer. George Otto AT&T Bell Labs, Whippany ------------------------ -------------------- * UNIX is a trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories
mats@dual.UUCP (06/18/84)
Whoa, there. AT&T has indeed tried RATHER hard to make sure everyone uses
`UNIX' in adjective form. Just ask anyone who has extensive dealings with
their licensing people...I know of a couple of authors who have been told
to clean of their act by the AT&T lawyers, after the books came to their
attention. Also, for those of you with Sys V, Release 1 documentation,
take a look at all of the change notices...the front of almost every one
of the guides contains a sticker with notes like this one:
On Page 40 in the second line change UNIX Escape to UNIX System Escape
The courts may still hold that AT&T has not tried hard enough to protect
`UNIX', but they are certainly trying.
Mats Wichmann
Dual Systems Corp.
...{ucbvax,amd70,ihnp4,cbosgd,decwrl,fortune}!dual!mats