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Xref: sserve gnu.misc.discuss:6212 comp.org.eff.talk:9035 comp.unix.bsd:4994 comp.os.mach:2129 misc.int-property:516 Path: sserve!manuel!munnari.oz.au!constellation!unmvax!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sample.eng.ohio-state.edu!purdue!yuma!csn!boulder!ucsu!fido.Colorado.EDU!farrow From: farrow@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (J. Scott Farrow) Newsgroups: gnu.misc.discuss,comp.org.eff.talk,comp.unix.bsd,comp.os.mach,misc.int-property,alt.suit.att-bsdi Subject: Re: Are you sure UNIX is a trade mark? Message-ID: <farrow.716341761@fido.Colorado.EDU> Date: 12 Sep 92 23:49:21 GMT References: <KANDALL.92Sep9170758@globalize.nsg.sgi.com> <farrow.716074432@fido.Colorado.EDU> <18ns8rINNd81@agate.berkeley.edu> <1992Sep11.084516.16908@infodev.cam.ac.uk> <BZS.92Sep11185233@ussr.std.com> Sender: news@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (USENET News System) Reply-To: farrow@fido.Colorado.EDU Distribution: inet Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder Lines: 37 bzs@ussr.std.com (Barry Shein) writes: [...] >P.S. Realizing that someone who knows little or nothing about these >matters will now decide that it doesn't fit his/her world view of the >algorithmic reduction of trademark law to a single well-defined >sentence here is a cite: >Foster & Shook, Patents, Copyrights & Trademarks, John Wiley & Sons, >1989, p 183-4. >"Once you have a patent or copyright, you do not risk losing your >rights if you make a poor choice of a licensee. In the case of a >trademark, however, you do run that risk...you can lose your rights by >licensing to someone whom you do not require to maintain your standard >of quality...When you lose control of the quality, public deception >occurs, as the mark no longer indicates what people expect from the >product..." >-- > -Barry Shein Hmmm. In the AT&T/USL vs. BSDI/Berkeley case I think we have the opposite situation. AT&T has let numerous companies improve upon its product and now still want the credit. To paraphrase the above, the product (AT&T SysV, 32/V, Destiny, etc...) no longer represents what people expect of the "trademark" ie. "UNIX". This is going to be an extremely interesting case. Scott -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- J. Scott Farrow - Student Programmer & Operator, Computing & Network Services University of Colorado at Boulder, InterNet: farrow@spot.colorado.edu, farrow@hazelrah.cs.colorado.edu, Phone: (303) 492-4428