larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman) (01/12/87)
In article <455@sii.UUCP>, drd@sii.UUCP (David Dick) writes: > This morning I saw the posting that Bob Bond made of a > public domain spread sheet calculator in net.sources. Based > on Mark Weiser's previous version, he called the program "vc". > > 'vc' is a registered trademark of Software Innovations, Inc. for > our UNIX(R) spreadsheet. We've been selling our spreadsheet > under that name for 5 years now. ... Ahem. How can you register ``vc'' as a trademark for use in the UNIX (tm) environment when the command vc(1) - version control clearly predates your spreadsheet program? I'm also surprised that the poster of the program didn't know about the conflict with vc(1) unless, of course, he didn't have it on his system; however, two UNIX versions that I work with (UniSoft Uniplus+ and NCR Tower) have the command, and I have seen it on other systems. In any event, I liked the description of the program, compiled it with no hitch under Sys V, renamed it vcs(1), and am going to test it this week. <> Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, New York <> UUCP: {allegra|bbncca|decvax|nike|rocksanne|watmath}!sunybcs!kitty!larry <> VOICE: 716/688-1231 {hplabs|ihnp4|mtune|seismo|utzoo}!/ <> FAX: 716/741-9635 {G1,G2,G3 modes} "Have you hugged your cat today?"
mjranum@gouldsd.UUCP (Marcus J Ranum) (01/13/87)
> In article <455@sii.UUCP>, drd@sii.UUCP (David Dick) writes: > > 'vc' is a registered trademark of Software Innovations, Inc. for > > our UNIX(R) spreadsheet. Gee, you *CAN'T* be using the letter 'c' in 'vc' !! That letter was copyrighted a long time ago, and 'c' has been in use ever since. For that matter, 'v' is probably a registered trademark of someone or other. Be real ! Maybe you're going to sue anyone who uses parts of the alphabet ? -- "It is better to shred the bugger than to bugger the shredder." -ancient doltic proverb.
yost@bty.UUCP (01/14/87)
> Ahem. How can you register ``vc'' as a trademark for use in the > UNIX (tm) environment when the command vc(1) - version control clearly > predates your spreadsheet program? I must have missed something -- when were the names of all the UNIX commands trademarked? :-) Brian Yost bellcore!motown!bty!yost
pls@sortac.UUCP (Pat Sullivan) (01/14/87)
>In article <455@sii.UUCP>, drd@sii.UUCP (David Dick) writes: >> 'vc' is a registered trademark of Software Innovations, Inc. for >> our UNIX(R) spreadsheet. We've been selling our spreadsheet >> under that name for 5 years now. ... In article <1532@kitty.UUCP> larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman) writes: > Ahem. How can you register ``vc'' as a trademark for use in the >UNIX (tm) environment when the command vc(1) - version control clearly >predates your spreadsheet program? The 3 pages for "vc(1) - version control" in my (BTL) UNIX User's Manual for Release 3.0 dated June, 1980 show it as obsolescent; the same 3 pages in my (AT&T) UNIX User's Manual for SVR2.0 dated April, 1984 show it as standard. I'm just curious (I don't want to start something that belongs in misc.legal): is the spreadsheet "vc" *registered* or simply a trademark? If it's registered, is that simply because AT&T did not choose to pursue it? ================================================================== Pat Sullivan - {akgua|ihnp4}!sortac!pls - voice 404-257-7382 disclaimer: opinions are my own, etc., etc., etc. VC is actually the trademark of a well known Southeastern Asia militia; this predates both of the above.
reintom@rocky2.UUCP (Tom Reingold) (01/14/87)
In article <452@gouldsd.UUCP>, mjranum@gouldsd.UUCP (Marcus J Ranum) writes: > > In article <455@sii.UUCP>, drd@sii.UUCP (David Dick) writes: > > > 'vc' is a registered trademark of Software Innovations, Inc. for > > > our UNIX(R) spreadsheet. > > Gee, you *CAN'T* be using the letter 'c' in 'vc' !! That letter > was copyrighted a long time ago, and 'c' has been in use ever since. > For that matter, 'v' is probably a registered trademark of someone or > other. Be real ! > Maybe you're going to sue anyone who uses parts of the alphabet ? I have a slightly more moderate view than you do. I think that there is a place for trademarks and they should be respected but I also think that the rights of all trademarks should be enforced. Neither do I think that all trademarks are enforceable. I recently read in PC Week Magazine about a court case where Computer Land tried to sue Business Land because of the "Land" in their name. Business Land has a similar name and offers the same type of service as Computer Land and it was claimed that there could be confusion on the part of potential clients resulting in loss of business for Computer Land. As I hope you know, laws are often decided case by case, according to what seems appropriate at the moment, given the current circumstances. A given situation could be decided differently at different times. Well this judge saw this as ridiculous. He also had a sense of humor. He threw the case out, saying something like "What!? Next are you going to sue Disneyland?!" So "vc" may be a hard trademark to defend because it is short and so directly describes the programs purpose which is not a creation by the authors of the "vc" program. If it is registered, however, I might keep away from it. Their law suit, though improbable, could win, depending on the sense of humor (and other things) of those involved. -- Tom Reingold; The Rockefeller University; 1230 York Av; NY 10021 PHONE: (212) 570-7709 [office]; (212) 304-2504 [home] ARPANET: reintom@rockefeller.arpa BITNET: REINTOM@ROCKVAX UUCP: {seismo|ihnp4|yale|harvard|philabs|phri}!cmcl2!rna!rocky2!reintom
bobm@rtech.UUCP (Bob Mcqueer) (01/14/87)
in article <1532@kitty.UUCP>, larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman) says: > Ahem. How can you register ``vc'' as a trademark for use in the > UNIX (tm) environment when the command vc(1) - version control clearly > predates your spreadsheet program? I wondered about this too. I generally check for the name before I build something, which is how I found that "vc" already existed, so I built the thing as "vcalc". BUT, I notice that vc is /usr/ucb/vc - it probably DOESN'T conflict on SYS V systems. I still would have thought they'd have checked before marketing it. -- Bob McQueer {amdahl, sun, mtxinu, hoptoad, cpsc6a}!rtech!bobm
sl@van-bc.UUCP (01/15/87)
In article <1532@kitty.UUCP> larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman) writes: >In article <455@sii.UUCP>, drd@sii.UUCP (David Dick) writes: >> This morning I saw the posting that Bob Bond made of a >> public domain spread sheet calculator in net.sources. Based >> on Mark Weiser's previous version, he called the program "vc". >> What posting? We are still receiving net.sources, but I've never seen the article referred to. Our local backbone ubc-vision also denies any knowledge of same. Can we at least get some info on what we are missing? A description of article and mail address/route of author would be appreciated. I've been keeping my eye open for a spread sheet program, I would hate to miss it because our end of the net didn't get it. Are there any other remote corners of the net that didn't get it? -- Stuart Lynne ihnp4!alberta!ubc-vision!van-bc!sl Vancouver,BC,604-937-7532 Todays feature: The Problem of the Green Capsule, John Dickson Carr, 1939 Gideon Fell solves the "Psychologist's Murder Case". Five eye-witnesses, a film and still no one could identify the murder.
det@herman.UUCP (Derek Terveer) (01/15/87)
We picked up vc as well, and I renamed it Vc to cover the conflict, for we too have vc(1) on our system; a System Vr2.0.
chris@mimsy.UUCP (Chris Torek) (01/18/87)
One amusing thing about all this is that when James Gosling wrote the original program, he called it `sc'. The version Mark Weiser distributed was called `vc' only because we already had an `sc': the SIMPL compiler. So has anyone trademarked `sc'? If so, we could always call it `a-visicalcTM-like-spreadsheet-calculator'. :-) -- In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 7690) UUCP: seismo!mimsy!chris ARPA/CSNet: chris@mimsy.umd.edu
andy@cheviot.newcastle.ac.uk (Andy Linton) (01/19/87)
Followup-To: In article <350@sortac.UUCP> pls@sortac.UUCP (Pat Sullivan) writes: >VC is actually the trademark of a well known Southeastern Asia militia; >this predates both of the above. Surely VC stands for Victoria Cross - the highest gallantry award for military people in the British (and Commonwealth) armed forces. I presume this predates even the well known SE Asian militia. (:-)
mikel@codas.UUCP (01/19/87)
The compilation went fine, but at the end I got "_doprnt" as an undefined symbol. I understand this is what printf uses, but I cannot find when it exists. I'm on an AT&T 3B2/400 running SVR3 (System V Release 3). Any ideas? -- Mikel Manitius @ AT&T-IS mikel@codas.att.com.uucp
adam@miduet.UUCP (01/23/87)
In article <1677@cheviot.newcastle.ac.uk> andy@cheviot (Andy Linton) writes: ->In article <350@sortac.UUCP> pls@sortac.UUCP (Pat Sullivan) writes: ->>VC is actually the trademark of a well known Southeastern Asia militia; ->>this predates both of the above. -> ->Surely VC stands for Victoria Cross - the highest gallantry award [] I presume ->this predates even the well known SE Asian militia. (:-) Actually, old boy, VC is Roman numerals for ninety-five. That predate you by two thousand years. Na na na na na! 8^)