4 ms·

I thought it was more or less required to defend your trademark, else you could loose it.

• jkaplowitz 7y ago
  That's true. But he's allowed to choose to lose it, or to discuss with Google and grant a trademark license.
• jordigh 7y ago
  He also needs to have registered it in the first place. Trademarks are not automatic like copyright is. I didn't try very hard, but I couldn't find a "curl" trademark here for software: http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=4808:iz1rln.1.1 http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=4808:iz1...
  • nerdponx 7y ago
    Sort of. The USA you can claim trademark rights without a registered trademark; that's the difference between ™ and ®. But the law follows "use it or lose it" rules. If you don't defend your trademark, then in the eyes of the court it is no longer a trademark.
    • pferde 7y ago
      Hold on, that's "defend it or lose it". Author of libcurl clearly is using the name, there are new releases coming out quite often.
      • nerdponx 7y ago
        My wording was unclear, yes. If you aren't defending it, you aren't using it as a trademark. Think of the term literally; if it's not exclusive to you, it's not longer a "mark" of your specific "trade". It's just a "mark".
        • pferde 7y ago
          Fair enough.
  • M2Ys4U 7y ago
    >He also needs to have registered it in the first place. Not true. Unregistered marks can still be defended (it's just harder). That's why there's both ™ and ® symbols. Trademark and Registered Trademark.