bstempleton@watmath.UUCP (Brad Templeton) (06/19/83)
You do not need to worry about "Guru" being a trademark, in particular
because it is a normal word.
Trademark law is very tricky, but as I understand it, a trademark has to
be an adjective, and can never be a noun.
This means that there is no such thing as "Unix". There is the "Unix operating
system", where the word is an adjective. Companies wanting to keep their TMs make
sure they refer to things like "Frisbee BRAND discs" and never "Frisbees",
because there is no such thing as a frisbee.
The reason for this distinction is clear. When you trademark something,
you claim use of the adjective as it refers to a certain noun or
class of nouns. Nothing stops me from bringing out "Apple" brand hand-soap
even though there is a registered trademark for Apple brand computers.
If a word is invented like UNIX, I am not sure of the rules.
Some day it might be possible to come out with Unix brand soda-pop.
("Nothing goes down easier than Unix Soda") but I am not sure of that now.
--
Brad Templeton - Waterloo, Ont. (519) 886-7304mason@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Mason) (06/19/83)
I'm not sure I agree that only adjectives can be trademarked, I believe that the golden arches people have something like "The Quarter Pounder" trademarked (which allows them to put substantially less than the 4 oz of sawdust that you would expect by the name)...This so disgusted me that I stopped my annual pilgrimage to taste what the masses eat. I think this discussion belongs elsewhere, but I wasn't sure where. .../Dave (..!linus!utzoo!utcsrgv!mason)
bernie@watarts.UUCP (06/20/83)
I suspect that "The Quarter Pounder" is an adjectival phrase describing a particular type of hamburger. Thus someone who manufactures, say, barbells for diminutive weight lifters could also use "The Quarter Pounder" so long as the barbells cannot reasonably be considered to be hamburgers. --Bernie Roehl ...decvax!watmath!watarts!bernie
rh@mit-eddi.UUCP (Randy Haskins) (06/24/83)
There is (in addition to TM, and (c) ) an 'R', also (I believe) with a little circle around it. I think it means something different from TM. Any ideas? --Randy rh@mit-eddie
hal@cornell.UUCP (06/25/83)
Anybody can claim that a word is their trademark (TM). The circled R
means that the trademark appears on a federal trademark register, which
doesn't happen until after a fairly extensive search for conflicts.
Hal Perkins uucp: {decvax|vax135|...}!cornell!hal
Cornell Computer Science arpa: hal@cornell
bitnet: hal@crnlcsbernie@watarts.UUCP (07/08/83)
and (c) means the material is copyrighted, which is a different process.
dee@cca.UUCP (Donald Eastlake) (07/12/83)
Then there is always (P) (a "P" in a circle) which you see on phonograph records which is the legacy of a radom federal court decision on player piano rolls...
chris@umcp-cs.UUCP (07/14/83)
Ok, now we know that (C) ["c" in a circle] is "copyright", that (P)
[same idea] has something to do with player pianos, and that (TM) is
for "trademark", but...
What is (U) for?
I've seen it on a box of Cheerios. 'Struth! On the front of the box
it said "Cheerios" in great big letters, then had a U in a circle where
the (R) [Registered trademark] would normally be. Maybe it's for
UNregistered trademark???
- Chris
--
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CSNet: chris@umcp-cs
ARPA: chris.umcp-cs@UDel-Relaywex@ittvax.UUCP (Alan Wexelblat) (07/15/83)
The (U) has nothing to do with trademarks. It simply means that the item in the box (note that it appears only on food items) is kosher with either milk or meat. (P) is used to indicate milk-only items, and (K) is idicative of meat-only items. These symbols usually indicate some form of rabbinic supervision (ie the company ought not to go putting them on just any item).
reb@nbires.UUCP (07/15/83)
(U) stands for Union of Orthodox (Jews) and implies that the product meets all of the strict Orthodox Jewish dietary requirements, except perhaps for the direct rabbinical (sp?) supervision clause.
ark@rabbit.UUCP (07/15/83)
I think a U in a circle means the product is kosher.
israel@umcp-cs.UUCP (07/15/83)
The (U) is really a 'U' inside an 'O' or in other words, OU, which stands for Orthodox Union, meaning it has been approved as kosher food. -- ~~~ Bruce ...!seismo!umcp-cs!israel (Usenet) israel.umcp-cs@Udel-Relay (Arpanet)
lynnef@teklabs.UUCP (07/15/83)
(U) means that the food product (in this case, Cheerios) is kosher. Some
organization of Orthodox Jewish Rabbis has certified that the food is kosher.
Another Rabbinical Organization uses the symbol K (I think).
Lynne Fitzsimmons
USENET: {aat, cbosg, decvax, harpo, ihnss, orstcs
pur-ee, ssc-vax, ucbvax, unc, zehntel,
ogcvax, reed} !teklabs!lynnef
CSNet: lynnef@tek
ARPAnet: lynnef.tek@rand-relayjeb@eisx.UUCP (Jim Beckman) (07/18/83)
I have a can of DIET COKE here with the (K) on the label. What sort of "rabbinic supervision" is needed to make sure that a completely artificial mixture of fake colors, flavors, and various carcinogens is kosher? Is water kosher? Does the company pay for this supervision and/or the right to put the K on the label? And then we see the special "Kosher for Passover" labels on the cans at certain times. What's different about the chemical brew in that case?
dje@5941ux.UUCP (07/20/83)
eisx!jeb asked:
I have a can of DIET COKE here with the (K) on the label. What sort
of "rabbinic supervision" is needed to make sure that a completely
artificial mixture of fake colors, flavors, and various carcinogens
is kosher? Is water kosher? Does the company pay for this supervision
and/or the right to put the K on the label? And then we see the
special "Kosher for Passover" labels on the cans at certain times.
What's different about the chemical brew in that case?
Some people's observance of the Jewish dietary laws demands complete confidence
that a product they would eat contains no "taboo" ingredients such as
uncertified animal fats.
Full ritual observance of Passover entails switching to a set of food and
utensils that have not had even the slightest contact with those used the rest
of the year (which are considered as "leavened"). This means that in order to
label its products Kosher for Passover, Coca-Cola must clean out its
processing machinery to the satisfaction of the certifying Rabbi.
Dave Ellis / Bell Labs, Piscataway NJ
...!{hocda,ihnp4}!houxm!houxf!5941ux!dje
...!floyd!vax135!ariel!houti!hogpc!houxm!houxf!5941ux!dje