On Fri, 4 Mar 2011 15:48:52 -0000, Vivian wrote in message <2E88AF8A470944229CC999467FDABD4D@MAIN>:
> Jon, > > MSF probably, X-Plane, possibly, I don't know. > > As I research this matter further, I think we have gotten ourselves > unnecessarily wound up about trademarks. At least in UK law. > > When a trademark is registered here in the UK, the company declares > in which business it trades within classes. ..in some jurisdictions, trade marks need merely be established, to become enforceable. In others, established trade marks needs to be registered before they become enforceable. Can of worms indeed. > For example, Red Bull > declares all sorts of things, but NOT computer games: > > http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ohim?ohimnum=E698506 ..no? ;o) The language below can all be construed as relevant to a "RB v FG" trademark on Red Bulls "computer game trademark", square bracket comment [samples] are mine: Class 09:Scientific, nautical, surveying, photographic, cinematographic, optical, weighing, measuring, signalling, checking (supervision), life-saving and teaching apparatus and instruments; electric apparatus and instruments (included in class 9); apparatus for recording, transmission or reproduction of sound or images; ... ; magnetic data carriers, in particular video tapes, recording discs; automatic vending machines and mechanisms for coin-operated apparatus; ... ; coin-operated fruit machines and entertainment machines; amusement apparatus adapted for use with television receivers only; ... , calculating machines, data processing equipment and computers; machine readable data carriers of all types with programs installed; Class 28:Games and playthings; ... ; electric or electronic games, [..is FG a game? Can FG be run on non-electric things?] including video games; ... ; practical jokes (novelties). [..pranks? Or physical items to execute a prank? Or, are they trying to trademark satirical etc jokes? Etc.] Class 35:Advertising, in particular promotion of the aforesaid goods and of competitive events, including competitive events of a sporting nature; arranging of advertising; distribution of goods for advertising purposes; ... [..product "placement"?] Class 41:Education; providing of training; entertainment, in particular musical performances and radio and television entertainment; sporting and cultural activities, in particular the staging of sports competitions; organisation of exhibitions and trade fairs for cultural and educational purposes; rental of video tapes and cassettes, video tape film production. Class 42:... ; scientific and industrial research; exploitation of industrial property rights; technical consultancy and providing of expertise; computer programming; ... ..yes, it's overbroad, RB tries to trademark jokes on themselves, and yes, IBM is still waiting to clear its name slam dunk style, and case law will tell you guys, satire is our safest defense, despite all it's flaws, Red Bull is neither Microsoft nor tSCOG. > This is the official UK government site, so I think we can take that > as good evidence. UK law conforms to European and International > standards: the classes are set by international agreement. I would > expect US law to be very similar. If we think of ourselves as a > computer game, I don't think we are liable to any action by Red Bull, > or pretty much anyone else on _trademark_ grounds. If on the other > hand we believe that we are a software flight simulator, then we are > getting closer to, for example, Boeing business activities. > > Copyright, hmm ..., the laws on copyright are draconian. ..yes, but more uniformly so, so they are easier to live with and to enforce on e.g. GPL violations. > That's hornets nest that I'm not going to poke with a stick. > > Vivian ..neither is Microsoft ;o) ... except by tSCOG etc proxies... -- ..med vennlig hilsen = with Kind Regards from Arnt Karlsen ...with a number of polar bear hunters in his ancestry... Scenarios always come in sets of three: best case, worst case, and just in case. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ What You Don't Know About Data Connectivity CAN Hurt You This paper provides an overview of data connectivity, details its effect on application quality, and explores various alternative solutions. http://p.sf.net/sfu/progress-d2d _______________________________________________ Flightgear-devel mailing list Flightgear-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/flightgear-devel
