3 ms·

I believe because the last commit was released under the GPL this is actually not legally binding, just a request (which IMO should be honored). The GPL only re

I believe because the last commit was released under the GPL this is actually not legally binding, just a request (which IMO should be honored). The GPL only requires "The work must carry prominent notices stating that you modified it". The only legal way to prevent this would be if "uMatrix" was trademarked, and I don't believe it was. Not a lawyer, could be wrong about this.

cedilla 6y ago
Marks used in trade are automatically protected, just by their commercial use. uMatrix has been commercially used as a name, so it is a trade mark (nb: commercially here does not necessarily mean money is involved). Trademarks don't need to be registered to be enforceable. Registration makes things easier for everyone by stating the registrant's intented scope of the trademark and makes a few things easier for the owner. However, the enforceability of a trademark rests on its awareness by customers, active use by the owner, and active defence of the trademark by its owners. uMatrix certainly is certainly a trade mark, however, the two latter criteria are probably not met. I'm also not a lawyer, just interested in this stuff. This is not legal advice. And of course the details will be wildly different in different parts of the world.
- bscphil 6y ago
  > uMatrix has been commercially used as a name, so it is a trade mark (nb: commercially here does not necessarily mean money is involved). Again, I don't know anything, but I'm surprised that uMatrix would count as having been "commercially" used. And as you point out, these two criteria probably wouldn't be met if the project becomes inactive: > active use by the owner, and active defence of the trademark by its owners
  - cedilla 6y ago
    uMatrix is without a doubt used as a commercial trade mark. Again, commercial doesn't mean money is involved. It's also still used by the owner, as it's still listed in several extension stores. Trademark protection also doesn't end over night. Trademarks are generally protected for a few years after the owner ceased to use it. Also, one should keep in mind that trademarks aren't primarily an intellectual property concept like patents and copyrights. Their main purpose is to protect consumers from copycats and fake products.
starfallg 6y ago
Trade marks can be registered, but need not be. The use of the trade mark in normal commerce is sufficient to establish rights. However, the registration of the trade mark can confer additional benefits. This is the general rule in most common law jurisdictions. As uMatrix was distributed to users through the extensions platfrom, this is already sufficient to classify as commercial use.

cedilla 6y ago

Marks used in trade are automatically protected, just by their commercial use. uMatrix has been commercially used as a name, so it is a trade mark (nb: commercially here does not necessarily mean money is involved). Trademarks don't need to be registered to be enforceable. Registration makes things easier for everyone by stating the registrant's intented scope of the trademark and makes a few things easier for the owner. However, the enforceability of a trademark rests on its awareness by customers, active use by the owner, and active defence of the trademark by its owners. uMatrix certainly is certainly a trade mark, however, the two latter criteria are probably not met. I'm also not a lawyer, just interested in this stuff. This is not legal advice. And of course the details will be wildly different in different parts of the world.

bscphil 6y ago
> uMatrix has been commercially used as a name, so it is a trade mark (nb: commercially here does not necessarily mean money is involved). Again, I don't know anything, but I'm surprised that uMatrix would count as having been "commercially" used. And as you point out, these two criteria probably wouldn't be met if the project becomes inactive: > active use by the owner, and active defence of the trademark by its owners
- cedilla 6y ago
  uMatrix is without a doubt used as a commercial trade mark. Again, commercial doesn't mean money is involved. It's also still used by the owner, as it's still listed in several extension stores. Trademark protection also doesn't end over night. Trademarks are generally protected for a few years after the owner ceased to use it. Also, one should keep in mind that trademarks aren't primarily an intellectual property concept like patents and copyrights. Their main purpose is to protect consumers from copycats and fake products.

starfallg 6y ago

Trade marks can be registered, but need not be. The use of the trade mark in normal commerce is sufficient to establish rights. However, the registration of the trade mark can confer additional benefits. This is the general rule in most common law jurisdictions. As uMatrix was distributed to users through the extensions platfrom, this is already sufficient to classify as commercial use.