On 22 October 2013 08:50, Stefan Bodewig <[email protected]> wrote: > On 2013-10-22, Mark Thomas wrote: > >> On 22/10/2013 08:12, Emmanuel Bourg wrote: >>> Le 22/10/2013 00:33, Mark Thomas a écrit : >>>> On 21/10/2013 23:31, Emmanuel Bourg wrote: > >>>> Thatis using Fileupload as a noun which isn't the correct usage of the >>>> trademark. > >>> But how is it different from "Apache Tomcat" or "Apache Qpid"? We don't >>> say "The Apache Tomcat component" or "The Apache Qpid component", right? > >> http://www.apache.org/foundation/marks/pmcs.html#naming > > One thing that the above link doesn't solve is a problem I faced (in a > certain way still face) and that I might share with Emmanuel. It is a > problem of language. Even in "Apache Foo library" Foo remains a noun > (or rather part of a compound noun) in German and likely other > non-English languages, it still is not an adjective at all. > > I for one have accepted this as "I don't understand it and leave any > changes to native speakers" at this point. Not only do I not understand > the linguistic differences, I don't understand the relevance to > trademark law either. At one point in time I've learned that I don't > need to understand everything :-)
The comparison I often use is: 1) The Ford car is blue. 1a) The car is blue. 2) The Ford is blue. 2a) The is blue. In (1), the subject of the sentence is "car"; the attribute "Ford" can be dropped and the sentence still makes sense (1a). In (2) the subject of the sentence is "Ford"; it cannot be dropped without creating a nonsense sentence (2a). Another way to look at trademarks is that they are were originally marks which are applied to tradeable items (e.g. goods). The mark was a physical mark that was often physically applied to the tradeable item. They don't make sense without the item to which they apply. Also the field of use is important; think Apple records (Beatles) and Apple Computer. The lawsuits started when Apple Computer started getting into the music business. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
