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I agree in principle, but do think there should be a minimum length for a trademark, to avoid destroying useful (x)TLA acronym space. "American Airlines" is ri

I agree in principle, but do think there should be a minimum length for a trademark, to avoid destroying useful (x)TLA acronym space. "American Airlines" is rightfully trademarkeable, but "AA" should not be (and in fact can be understood to mean all kind of things, even in aviation) "Lego" is a trademark for plastic bricks, but the London Electric Guitar Orchestra should be able to use "L.E.G.O" or even "LEGO" as an acronym - they make music, not construction toys. Unfortunately, there is no indication in the article what kik (as in the developers package) stood for, but if the package had nothing to do with Kik, the service, I think it should not be a trademark violation.

jimnotgym 5y ago
I think the point about AA is that it was in general use in language before there were Airlines. Kik is different. I have never used Kik, but I was aware of it in 2016. When I read the article I immediately thought of the messenger. It also does not have any other common English use to my knowledge. Trademarks are only valid in the domain you operate in. If you had a football school called kik there is no infringement, but there is an Internet company called kik hence this infringes.
- DocTomoe 5y ago
  According to [1], Koçulu's kik "a new module that would kick-start the set up of new projects, and he named this module “kik.”" Also, Stratton seemed to try and prevent the use of a "kik-starter" as well. That doesn't sound too much like the package to deal with social media to me. Arguing that they are in the same domain because of both of them being internet-related seems like American Airlines trying to sue Alcoholics Anonymous for an AA trademark violation, for both pilots and recovering alcoholics sometimes use roads. [1] https://kikloginonline.com/kik-npm-package-name/ https://kikloginonline.com/kik-npm-package-name/
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
traceroute66 5y ago
> "Lego" is a trademark for plastic bricks, but the London Electric Guitar Orchestra should be able to use "L.E.G.O" or even "LEGO" as an acronym - they make music, not construction toys. Whoah there. I think perhaps it might be time to take a step back and revise your basic knowledge of how trademarks work. Trademarks get registered in classes (goods and services are divided into 45 classes - 1 to 34 for goods and 35 to 45 for services). Not only that, but you can register for parts of a class, not necessarily an entire class. Trademark registration rules state that you should only seek registration in classes (or part-classes) for which you have actual business activities. This is because of the fundamental "use it, or lose it" rule that applies to trademarks (failure to use your trademark for a period of five years since it has been registered could lead to it being vulnerable to cancellation by a third party on the grounds of non-use). Coming back to your LEGO vs LEGO, if you take a moment to look at the LEGO (toy) trademark registrations, you will note that they hold trademark registration for the word "LEGO" in the following classes: - 6 with the following selection: Key rings and key fobs included in Class 6, all made wholly or principally of common metal. - 17 with the following selection: All goods included in Class 17 (Unprocessed and semi-processed rubber, gutta-percha, gum, asbestos, mica and substitutes for all these materials; plastics and resins in extruded form for use in manufacture; packing, stopping and insulating materials; flexible pipes, tubes and hoses, not of metal. ) - 26 with the following selection: Buckles and textile smallwares, all included in Class 26; tie-tacks, tie-pins and badges, all for wear, and cuff links, none of precious metals or coated therewith. - 28 with the following selection: Toy models and sets of parts for constructing such toys, all made of rigid plastics, ornaments and decorations for Christmas trees; all included in Class 28 - 35 with the following selection : Publicity, advertising and public relations services; shop window dressing and arranging of displays in shops, stores, exhibition halls and trade fairs; the setting up and operation of promotional shows; compilation and analysis of business statistical information; conducting business appraisals and marketing studies; transcription services; all included in Class 35. - 40 with the following selection:Printing services, Binding services; services for the finishing and/or treating of plastics and of articles made wholly or principally of plastics; all included in Class 40. - 41 with the following selection: Educational advisory services; arranging and conducting workshops; amusement park services; theme park services; all included in Class 41. - 42 with the following selection: Computer programming; rental of computers; computer services. - 43 with the following selection: Hotel, boarding house, tourist house, holiday camp, motel, restaurant, cafe and canteen services; food preparation services; travel agency services for booking accommodation; arranging and conducting of exhibitions. - 44 with the following selection: Sanatoria, rest home, convalescent home services. Now, IANAL, but to be fair to LEGO (toys) I would say they have nice tight definitions on their trademark classes which are clearly only for their own business purposes. I also don't see any mention of "music" in the above classes or anything that might stop an orchestra calling themselves LEGO (or indeed attempting to register a music-related trademark).

jimnotgym 5y ago

I think the point about AA is that it was in general use in language before there were Airlines. Kik is different. I have never used Kik, but I was aware of it in 2016. When I read the article I immediately thought of the messenger. It also does not have any other common English use to my knowledge. Trademarks are only valid in the domain you operate in. If you had a football school called kik there is no infringement, but there is an Internet company called kik hence this infringes.

DocTomoe 5y ago
According to [1], Koçulu's kik "a new module that would kick-start the set up of new projects, and he named this module “kik.”" Also, Stratton seemed to try and prevent the use of a "kik-starter" as well. That doesn't sound too much like the package to deal with social media to me. Arguing that they are in the same domain because of both of them being internet-related seems like American Airlines trying to sue Alcoholics Anonymous for an AA trademark violation, for both pilots and recovering alcoholics sometimes use roads. [1] https://kikloginonline.com/kik-npm-package-name/ https://kikloginonline.com/kik-npm-package-name/

deleted 5y ago

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traceroute66 5y ago

> "Lego" is a trademark for plastic bricks, but the London Electric Guitar Orchestra should be able to use "L.E.G.O" or even "LEGO" as an acronym - they make music, not construction toys. Whoah there. I think perhaps it might be time to take a step back and revise your basic knowledge of how trademarks work. Trademarks get registered in classes (goods and services are divided into 45 classes - 1 to 34 for goods and 35 to 45 for services). Not only that, but you can register for parts of a class, not necessarily an entire class. Trademark registration rules state that you should only seek registration in classes (or part-classes) for which you have actual business activities. This is because of the fundamental "use it, or lose it" rule that applies to trademarks (failure to use your trademark for a period of five years since it has been registered could lead to it being vulnerable to cancellation by a third party on the grounds of non-use). Coming back to your LEGO vs LEGO, if you take a moment to look at the LEGO (toy) trademark registrations, you will note that they hold trademark registration for the word "LEGO" in the following classes: - 6 with the following selection: Key rings and key fobs included in Class 6, all made wholly or principally of common metal. - 17 with the following selection: All goods included in Class 17 (Unprocessed and semi-processed rubber, gutta-percha, gum, asbestos, mica and substitutes for all these materials; plastics and resins in extruded form for use in manufacture; packing, stopping and insulating materials; flexible pipes, tubes and hoses, not of metal. ) - 26 with the following selection: Buckles and textile smallwares, all included in Class 26; tie-tacks, tie-pins and badges, all for wear, and cuff links, none of precious metals or coated therewith. - 28 with the following selection: Toy models and sets of parts for constructing such toys, all made of rigid plastics, ornaments and decorations for Christmas trees; all included in Class 28 - 35 with the following selection : Publicity, advertising and public relations services; shop window dressing and arranging of displays in shops, stores, exhibition halls and trade fairs; the setting up and operation of promotional shows; compilation and analysis of business statistical information; conducting business appraisals and marketing studies; transcription services; all included in Class 35. - 40 with the following selection:Printing services, Binding services; services for the finishing and/or treating of plastics and of articles made wholly or principally of plastics; all included in Class 40. - 41 with the following selection: Educational advisory services; arranging and conducting workshops; amusement park services; theme park services; all included in Class 41. - 42 with the following selection: Computer programming; rental of computers; computer services. - 43 with the following selection: Hotel, boarding house, tourist house, holiday camp, motel, restaurant, cafe and canteen services; food preparation services; travel agency services for booking accommodation; arranging and conducting of exhibitions. - 44 with the following selection: Sanatoria, rest home, convalescent home services. Now, IANAL, but to be fair to LEGO (toys) I would say they have nice tight definitions on their trademark classes which are clearly only for their own business purposes. I also don't see any mention of "music" in the above classes or anything that might stop an orchestra calling themselves LEGO (or indeed attempting to register a music-related trademark).