dricejb@drilex.UUCP (Craig Jackson drilex1) (09/11/90)
If anyone is really concerned about the legalities of these things,
then there should be no 'comp.unix.xxx' groups. They should all
be 'comp.unix.operating.system.xxx'.
Use of Unix as a noun is an encroachment on AT&T's trademark, to which
they are legally obliged to object in order to retain their trademark.
(Trademarks can only be adjectives. If a trademark becomes a noun, it
becomes the common name for something, rather than a word which distinguishes
a particular variety from the general case.)
Look around in the manuals--at least as far as the lawyers have read, it
will always be written as the Unix operating system.
--
Craig Jackson
dricejb@drilex.dri.mgh.com
{bbn,axiom,redsox,atexnet,ka3ovk}!drilex!{dricej,dricejb}matt@group-w.uchicago.edu (Matt Crawford) (09/12/90)
) Use of Unix as a noun is an encroachment on AT&T's trademark, ... We who are not in the business of selling a derivative of the unix(tm) brand operating system can use the word any way we please. For instance, in my DNS records, I label any OS that ends with an X as "unix." I may get a letter someday from AT&T's lawayers, but I don't think they have a cause of action. ________________________________________________________ Matt Crawford matt@oddjob.uchicago.edu
tp@mccall.com (09/13/90)
In article <15489@drilex.UUCP>, dricejb@drilex.UUCP (Craig Jackson drilex1) writes: > If anyone is really concerned about the legalities of these things, > then there should be no 'comp.unix.xxx' groups. They should all > be 'comp.unix.operating.system.xxx'. Of course, it should have always been comp.os.unix.xxx, since usenet is NOT a unix oriented network, or so I was told while being flamed over creating VMSnet. :-) -- Terry Poot <tp@mccall.com> The McCall Pattern Company (uucp: ...!rutgers!ksuvax1!mccall!tp) 615 McCall Road (800)255-2762, in KS (913)776-4041 Manhattan, KS 66502, USA
dhesi%cirrusl@oliveb.ATC.olivetti.com (Rahul Dhesi) (09/13/90)
In <15489@drilex.UUCP> dricejb@drilex.UUCP (Craig Jackson drilex1) writes:
Use of Unix as a noun is an encroachment on AT&T's trademark...
If a trademark becomes a noun...
Too late...My observation is that UNIX has been a noun for about ten
years now. Its adjective status probably exists only in the minds of
AT&T's lawyers.
--
Rahul Dhesi <dhesi%cirrusl@oliveb.ATC.olivetti.com>
UUCP: oliveb!cirrusl!dhesi