On Thu, 19 Aug 1999, "M. Uli Kusterer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> >Yes, I think Linux is trademarked. Not sure. However, a trademark (as
> >opposed to a registered trademark) costs nothing.
>
> If it's not registered, what's the use?
It's still useful, even if it isn't registered, at least in the US.
Here, use is more important than registration. It's kind of like
copyright. You don't have to officially file a copyright registration
here, your work is automatically covered. All filing a copyright
registration (or a trademark registration) does is make it easier to
sue someone who infringes and increases the amount of money you can
collect (actual damages if unregistered, treble (triple) damages if
registered). Other countries are different, but filing for a
trademark in other countries is an expensive, timeconsuming, and
usually unnecessary process if you have a US copyright or trademark
registration.
There was a nasty piece of business with Linux awhile back where some
enterprising individual here in the US filed a trademark registration
for the name "Linux". But the Linux community organized a protest and
the application was thrown out because of the existing use of the
term. Later, some Linux backers refiled an application naming Linus
as the owner and that application was accepted.
As for priority, it seems to me that the naming issue can wait until
you near the actual release of something. The only thing you risk is
that the one of the good names maybe taken by that time. You should
be fine using OpenCard as a project name, although I know of at least
one case (Apple's infamous Sagan/BHA project) where legal action was
taken to stop the use of a particular code name.
Regards,
Scott
> Cheers,
> - -- M. Uli Kusterer
>
> - ------------------------------------------------------------
> http://www.weblayout.com/witness
> 'The Witnesses of TeachText are everywhere...'
********************************************************
Scott Raney [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.metacard.com
MetaCard: You know, there's an easier way to do that...
