4 ms·
Yes. Microsoft has a character mark for "X", as mentioned in the article (https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76041368&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEF
by vimda 3y ago
Yes. Microsoft has a character mark for "X", as mentioned in the article (https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76041368&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76041368&caseSearchType=U...). The reason that's allowed is because it's _narrowly tailored_:
> Providing on-line chat rooms for transmission of messages among computer users concerning video and computer games; providing on-line electronic bulletin boards for transmission of messages among computer users concerning video and computer games
> Entertainment services, namely, providing interactive multiplayer game services for games played over computer networks and global communications networks; providing computer games and video games downloadable over computer global communications networks; providing information on the video game and computer game industries via the Internet; and providing information on computer games, video games, video game consoles and accessories therefor via the Internet
So for _those narrow usecases_, Microsoft can (in theory) enforce a trademark over the character "X". Any attempt to use that trademark here would be tossed immediately IMO.
- oneeyedpigeon 3y agoIs Microsoft's trademark for "X" or for their specific 'design' of "X"?
- Retric 3y agoTrademark are there to reduce confusion in the marketplace so it’s not about the look of X alone but also the products involved. Acura’s A logo is very distinctive but Audi couldn’t just swap their logo an A in a circle using a different font and be ok. They are both car companies so having different A logos would be confusing. Where the specific design of the logo is critical is for shirts etc. If you’re selling clothing with other people’s logos that’s a problem, but a distinctive X design is going to be fine.
- InitialLastName 3y agoThis is (to my understanding) the difference between a character mark and a design mark. The Acura logo is a design mark. Acura don't, AFAIK (but I haven't searched because searching the USPTO for "A" sounds like hell) have a character mark on the letter A for use in cars. Consider the counterexample in the same industry: Honda and Hyundai both have H in a frame as a logo, and I have no knowledge of a trademark dispute between the two. The X trademark in question appears to be a Service Mark[0], meaning it is a name to represent a service (in this case some kind of social media chat service). My understanding is that the trademark applies to competing services regardless of the artwork or logo, so the social media chat service formerly known as Twitter may have trouble avoiding a collision with it if they want to rename themselves X. [0] https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76041368&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76041368&caseSearchType=U...
- Retric 3y agoYes, though my point about the circle should have been more clear. I think Audi could be fine with an A inside of an triangle because it would be plenty distinctive. Similarly the Honda and Hyundai logos use very different frames rather than the common circle which makes them far easier to distinguish than different fonts inside a circle. Namely a box with rounded corners vs an oval. Honda’s H also floats in the frame where Hyundai connects to the oval etc. The point of a logo is to be distinctive and they are.
- playingalong 3y agoAnecdotally I have heard people confusing these two brands - e.g. seeing a Hyundai and calling it a Honda.
- Retric 3y agoThat’s hardly limited to Hyundai and Honda.
- turtledragonfly 3y agoMicrosoft's trademark is for just the letter "X", not the specific design. This is extra-confusing on the USPTO site[1] because it says "Standard Character Claim: No" (which usually means not text), but it also says "Mark Drawing Type: 1 - TYPESET WORD(S) /LETTER(S) /NUMBER(S)". And that last part is merely the old way of saying it is Standard Character Claim (that's the newer terminology). See their documentation[2] (page 7); the terminology changed in 2003. Some more info here: https://trademarkgarden.com/2018/03/09/amazon-and-you/ https://trademarkgarden.com/2018/03/09/amazon-and-you/ So my understanding (not a lawyer) is that Microsoft's "X" is indeed generic text, though still limited to the specific goods/services listed in the application. [1] https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=2693757&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=2693757&caseSearchType=US... [2] https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/products/applications-documentation.pdf https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/products/applicati...
- JshWright 3y agoThose narrow use cases definitely seem to overlap with Twitter though. Obviously Twitter is not exclusively about video and computer games, but a subset of Twitter users certainly use Twitter "for transmission of messages among computer users concerning video and computer games"
- brookst 3y agoNot a lawyer but I don’t think that matters. Twitter isn’t using the mark for a service about video games, inasmuch as nobody would describe Twitter in one sentence as “a messaging platform about video games” any more than they’d describe email or SMS that way. You never know but I think this would be too far of a stretch to pose a real risk.
- runako 3y agoNot yet, but if Twitter aims to become an everything app, it will naturally infringe.