4 ms·
Isn't this trademark infringement? Or perhaps it's time we extended some IP law to protect smaller companies against bigger ones for a change.
by squiggleblaz 7y ago
Isn't this trademark infringement? Or perhaps it's time we extended some IP law to protect smaller companies against bigger ones for a change.
- kazinator 7y ago"base camp" is a term in the English language; gluing the words together without a space doesn't materially change this.
- squiggleblaz 7y agoSure, if they were advertising places to go camping maybe. But in the field of project management tools, it has a specific meaning. Trademarks are always field specific. J. R. McDonald could start a carting business called "McDonalds Carting" with no real problem. But they would struggle to get away with starting a burger restaurant called "McDonald's Fine Burgers".
- wmf 7y agohttps://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6118 https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6118 Sounds like Google considers it OK as long as the ads don't mention Basecamp by name.
- squiggleblaz 7y agoGoogle doesn't make trademark law nor do they get decide if some behavior follows the law or not. Google obviously considers it okay; they get to profit from both the aggrieved party and the malicious party. The question of whether a business practice is illegally unethical should not be determined by a person who profits from it.
- wmf 7y agoI assume Google's policy is informed by trademark law and all the lawsuits that they have defended. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericgoldman/2015/06/02/google-and-yahoo-defeat-last-remaining-lawsuit-over-competitive-keyword-advertising/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericgoldman/2015/06/02/google-a...
- oceliker 7y agohttps://twitter.com/peterwallhead/status/1168988035846934533?s=21 https://twitter.com/peterwallhead/status/1168988035846934533... The ads shown in this tweet have Basecamp in their url. I don't think they should have allowed this.