> > Is this just a bluff, or can they actually 'own' a word that has been in
> > general use in the English language for centuries?
>
> They cannot nor do they own word 'palm' however spelled. They do, however,
> own exlusive rights to use it commercially. This means that you cannot use
> word 'palm' to generate source of income or for advertising, or something
> like that... I don't see that it would be illegal for a program to be
> called "PalmAPP", there are arguements for both sides here. It would,
> however, be illegal to have a program that is called "Palm App".
Mostly true.. they probably cannot, in the long run, stop you from using
PalmApp as your name.. but they do have the ability to "shut you out" of
benefits that "properly named" things have, such as the ability to post your
products and links at the Palm Website. Trademark law is almost entirely
gray areas, with each section being open to interpretation.. Palm has to be
able to show they've tried to protect their trademark otherwise it becomes
"watered down" and they lose the ability to do it at all.. this is the sort
of thing that happened to Band-Aid and Kleenex both.. Even Palm has
encountered problems .. ask Pilot Pens why the device is no longer called a
Palm Pilot.
When it comes to threatened legal action, though... the bottom line is that
Palm has deeper pockets than you..
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