5 ms·

It's kind of dumb that someone could trademark a letter.

by mywittyname 3y ago

vb6sp6 3y ago
[dead]
WalterBright 3y ago
Zilog attempted to trademark Z. They failed.
- code_duck 3y ago
  What about Nissan Z? Surely it was never open season for other automakers to name a model that, right?
  - ehnto 3y ago
    That's the context needed, someone can call their car a Nissan Silvia and expect to fight a Toyota Silvia trademark infringement. But I suspect you may not even beable to fight say, a Ferrari Silvia, since they aren't likely competing contexts.
  - CameronNemo 3y ago
    The Tesla Model 3 was supposed to be the Model E, but Ford wouldn't give up the mark. https://www.businessinsider.com/ford-model-e-elon-musk-tesla-model-3-electric-cars-2022-3?op=1 https://www.businessinsider.com/ford-model-e-elon-musk-tesla...
    - edgyquant 3y ago
      This is a bad example as they would be direct competitors within the same market.
  - WalterBright 3y ago
    The trademark is probably "Nissan Z", not "Z".
- t0bia_s 3y ago
  I'm sure that Russian troops don't care about trademarks.
arcticbull 3y ago
You can only trademark the use of that letter in a specific context - you can't blanket stop people from using an 'X' or even calling themselves 'X' - so long as there's no brand confusion. As mentioned in a different post there's Delta Airlines, Delta Faucets, Delta Fans and Delta Power Supplies. The Microsoft/Meta trademark happens to be literally the use of 'X' as a brand in the social network domain, lol. Between that and the requirement that they be defended, honestly, I think trademarks are one of the forms of IP that I like the most.
- chrisco255 3y ago
  Even in that context there's limited enforcement available for something so generic.
- michaelt 3y ago
  You might very well think that, but I've read articles saying [1] that Apple has engaged in legal battles with Fruit Union Suisse and a cycle path. It has even set its sights on logos that involve other fruits, like oranges and pears [2]. While you and I might think it's obviously legal to start Apple Airlines or Apple Faucets or Apple Fans, apparently this is not obvious to Apple's trademark lawyers. I'm not sure intellectual property law operates according to any rational rules that can be understood by us mere mortals. [1] https://www.wired.co.uk/article/apple-vs-apples-trademark-battle https://www.wired.co.uk/article/apple-vs-apples-trademark-ba... [2] https://archive.is/MKQpW https://archive.is/MKQpW
  - edgyquant 3y ago
    Have they won any of these frivolous suits? Don’t think so, they’re lawyers are trying to push as far as they go but they aren’t ignorant of the law.
notatoad 3y ago
this is just how trademark works, and it's mostly okay. it also sounds dumb that park tool can trademark the color blue, or kubota can trademark the color orange. but park tool's trademark is only in the context of bicycle repair tools, and kubota's is only for tractors. the law just isn't that dumb, it's interpreted by courts and real people, who are capable of saying "no, that's dumb" if something is dumb. kubota can keep their trademark, and everybody else can keep making orange things as long as those things aren't tractors or tractor-like things that are going to get confused with kubota products. similarly, any somewhat reasonable person will be able to see that twitter's rebrand to "X" isn't really going to confuse anybody into thinking they're using a microsoft product, so depite it being a very bad name it's probably not actually going to run afoul of anybody's trademarks.
- Dalewyn 3y ago
  >any somewhat reasonable person will be able to see that twitter's rebrand to "X" isn't really going to confuse anybody I feel that reasonable people and the people who suffer from Musk Derangement Syndrome (seemingly a lot of the people here...) are two very different groups.
t0bia_s 3y ago
What about colours? Could I trademark #906090?
- mkl 3y ago
  For a particular purpose or category, yes. E.g. https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/9-brands-trademarked-color https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/9-brands-trademarked-color
- supriyo-biswas 3y ago
  https://digitalsynopsis.com/design/trademarked-colors/ https://digitalsynopsis.com/design/trademarked-colors/
  - t0bia_s 3y ago
    That is insane. What else? Is taste trademarkable? Or some kind of smells? Or maybe a tone/frequency?

It's kind of dumb that someone could trademark a letter.

vb6sp6 3y ago

[dead]

WalterBright 3y ago

Zilog attempted to trademark Z. They failed.

code_duck 3y ago
What about Nissan Z? Surely it was never open season for other automakers to name a model that, right?
- ehnto 3y ago
  That's the context needed, someone can call their car a Nissan Silvia and expect to fight a Toyota Silvia trademark infringement. But I suspect you may not even beable to fight say, a Ferrari Silvia, since they aren't likely competing contexts.
- CameronNemo 3y ago
  The Tesla Model 3 was supposed to be the Model E, but Ford wouldn't give up the mark. https://www.businessinsider.com/ford-model-e-elon-musk-tesla-model-3-electric-cars-2022-3?op=1 https://www.businessinsider.com/ford-model-e-elon-musk-tesla...
  - edgyquant 3y ago
    This is a bad example as they would be direct competitors within the same market.
- WalterBright 3y ago
  The trademark is probably "Nissan Z", not "Z".
t0bia_s 3y ago
I'm sure that Russian troops don't care about trademarks.

arcticbull 3y ago

You can only trademark the use of that letter in a specific context - you can't blanket stop people from using an 'X' or even calling themselves 'X' - so long as there's no brand confusion. As mentioned in a different post there's Delta Airlines, Delta Faucets, Delta Fans and Delta Power Supplies. The Microsoft/Meta trademark happens to be literally the use of 'X' as a brand in the social network domain, lol. Between that and the requirement that they be defended, honestly, I think trademarks are one of the forms of IP that I like the most.

chrisco255 3y ago
Even in that context there's limited enforcement available for something so generic.
michaelt 3y ago
You might very well think that, but I've read articles saying [1] that Apple has engaged in legal battles with Fruit Union Suisse and a cycle path. It has even set its sights on logos that involve other fruits, like oranges and pears [2]. While you and I might think it's obviously legal to start Apple Airlines or Apple Faucets or Apple Fans, apparently this is not obvious to Apple's trademark lawyers. I'm not sure intellectual property law operates according to any rational rules that can be understood by us mere mortals. [1] https://www.wired.co.uk/article/apple-vs-apples-trademark-battle https://www.wired.co.uk/article/apple-vs-apples-trademark-ba... [2] https://archive.is/MKQpW https://archive.is/MKQpW
- edgyquant 3y ago
  Have they won any of these frivolous suits? Don’t think so, they’re lawyers are trying to push as far as they go but they aren’t ignorant of the law.

notatoad 3y ago

this is just how trademark works, and it's mostly okay. it also sounds dumb that park tool can trademark the color blue, or kubota can trademark the color orange. but park tool's trademark is only in the context of bicycle repair tools, and kubota's is only for tractors. the law just isn't that dumb, it's interpreted by courts and real people, who are capable of saying "no, that's dumb" if something is dumb. kubota can keep their trademark, and everybody else can keep making orange things as long as those things aren't tractors or tractor-like things that are going to get confused with kubota products. similarly, any somewhat reasonable person will be able to see that twitter's rebrand to "X" isn't really going to confuse anybody into thinking they're using a microsoft product, so depite it being a very bad name it's probably not actually going to run afoul of anybody's trademarks.

Dalewyn 3y ago
>any somewhat reasonable person will be able to see that twitter's rebrand to "X" isn't really going to confuse anybody I feel that reasonable people and the people who suffer from Musk Derangement Syndrome (seemingly a lot of the people here...) are two very different groups.

t0bia_s 3y ago

What about colours? Could I trademark #906090?

mkl 3y ago
For a particular purpose or category, yes. E.g. https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/9-brands-trademarked-color https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/9-brands-trademarked-color
supriyo-biswas 3y ago
https://digitalsynopsis.com/design/trademarked-colors/ https://digitalsynopsis.com/design/trademarked-colors/
- t0bia_s 3y ago
  That is insane. What else? Is taste trademarkable? Or some kind of smells? Or maybe a tone/frequency?