On Sun, Mar 8, 2009 at 8:49 AM, Damien Katz <[email protected]> wrote:
> Standard disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. > > The name of the official project is Apache CouchDB. I see CouchDB as being > like Linux, where (as far as I know anyone) is free to use the name. So, IMO > it is completely fair to name a company CouchDB Ltd. But it also means > anyone else can name their company CouchDB LLC or The Real CouchDB Ltd. This > is a bigger problem. You don't have a defensible trademark. > FWIW, the foundation has defended its project names as trademarks in the past, gently notifying companies that it'd be nicer if they didn't use that name (thinking of Tomcat and Wicket here for example). I don't know how that would stand in court but it's never been necessary to go to a court so far, so I guess the point is moot. Matthieu > > -Damien > > > > On Mar 8, 2009, at 12:41 PM, Chris Anderson wrote: > > Devs, >> >> I've felt the fair-competition argument a little on my own, so hearing >> it from other quarters gives it even greater weight. We're discussing >> ways to proceed that take into account the full community, including >> competitors (of which we hope to have many!) >> >> Thanks for the perspective, everyone. We'll have more to announce in >> the next few days. >> >> Cheers, >> >> Chris >> >> >> -- >> Chris Anderson >> http://jchris.mfdz.com >> > >
