uname@pyuxqq.UUCP (Ulysses Naime) (03/19/84)
>> Practically, there is little that a company can do if someone continues >> to misuse a trademark, especially on something like netnews. I would >> be interested to hear what a company can do. >> John Haller What a company should do is seek a change in the law so that using a trademark WITHOUT the TM does NOT eventually cause the company to lose the trademark. On copywrites, I feel that the period of protection from unrestricted copying is much TOO long. Example: If I invent a billion dollar product like a transistor, I can only get patent protection for 17 years, however, if I write a poem about transistors, I can get protection for close to 100 years, depending on the life span of the author.
jhh@ihldt.UUCP (John Haller) (03/20/84)
> I think that the registered trademark indication, (TM), is > overused on the net. It is especially prevalent in net.micro > where one might see - " ... the Pacman (TM) Atari Game > Cartridge (TM) ..." First of all, (TM) is only an indication of trademark, it is not an indication of a registered trademark. To indicate a registered trademark, an R in a circle, or a footnote stating that the term is a registered trademark of foobar. > Manufacturers are happy to have their registered names used by > the public, in fact that's their goal. What they don't want is > their registered trademarks associated with other manufacturers > products. If I ask for help with an "Apple //" I am using the > trademark as it was intended and (TM) is not required. But if > Franklin uses it in an Ace advertisement, they better use the (TM) > to avoid associating the name "Apple //" with their product. Wrong again. Kimberly-Clark sends out many letters to journalists who use the word Kleenex* as a noun, and without mentioning the trademark. If a company fails to do this, it may lose its trademark, as has happened several times in the past. Mimeograph used to be a trademark of A. B. Dick, but they failed to protect their trademark, and lost it. This most recently happened to Parket Bros. with Monopoly. Practically, there is little that a company can do if someone continues to misuse a trademark, especially on something like netnews. I would be interested to hear what a company can do. John Haller --- Kleenex is a registered trademark of Kimberly-Clark