7 ms·
We probably shouldn't allow common words to be individually trademarked, let alone SI units.
by guitarbill 10y ago
We probably shouldn't allow common words to be individually trademarked, let alone SI units.
- awqrre 10y agoalphabet is another one... this is ridiculous
- thomaskcr 10y agoTechnology company named alphabet seems reasonably specific in my opinion. It's not like the Alphabet Farm is going to get shut down or you'll need to start writing "The Alphabet(tm) Song"
- awqrre 10y agoAlphabet is one common English word... how can that be specific?
- thomaskcr 10y agoBecause the trademark is for a specific category - there was already a company named Alphabet (with that trademark) owned by BMW and that didn't pose an issue to Google. You could start an alphabet plumbing or something. It's not like they own the word.
- StephenConnell 10y agoSo, do they own the word Google? Can you use that name in other categories? Google plumbing?
- tracker1 10y agoGoogle being a made up word is probably copyright and trademarked... and probably could be more broadly enforced.
- michaelmrose 10y agoYou cannot copyright a singular word, even a made up one, and sue anyone who says it the universe doesn't work like this.
- awqrre 10y agoAre you saying that Alphabet invest in only one category?
- detaro 10y agoHaving or not having a trademark for a category has nothing at all to do with where they can invest.
- hogrammer 10y agoI'm sure glad we don't allow HN commenters to work at the Trademark office.
- Turing_Machine 10y agoThat horse left the barn when Microsoft trademarked "Windows". Likely before.
- scintill76 10y agoIn the US at least, I believe trademarks are scoped to a certain industry or something like that. So Microsoft would only have claim to operating systems named Windows, not the word itself in all contexts. Which might still be a bit broad, but not as crazy as it may sound at first.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- catshirt 10y agosomething like that, yeah. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v_Apple_Computer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v_Apple_Computer though, in your example, i'd have to wager the Windows trademark extends way further than just "operating systems". "computing" at large seems more likely.
- arthurgibson 10y agoWent down a rabbit hole and ended up with Guy Goma's famous BBC interview on the verdict of Apple Corp vs Apple Computer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Goma https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Goma https://vimeo.com/108900641 https://vimeo.com/108900641
- DannyBee 10y agoThis is true everywhere. In fact, this app is for "Downloadable computer software for modifying and enabling transmission of images, audio-visual and video content; downloadable computer software for viewing and interacting with a feed of images, audio-visual and video content and associated text and data; computer software for social networking. "
- 10y ago