3 ms·

This seems like a risky move for tumblr, no? Doesn't this mean they're not actively defending their trademark? In which case this could cause them legal probl

This seems like a risky move for tumblr, no? Doesn't this mean they're not actively defending their trademark? In which case this could cause them legal problems in the future.

darrenkopp 13y ago
IANAL, but to me it seems more like "we are actively defending our trademark (ala the hiring of the legal company), but we do not believe that you are infringing on that trademark and what you are doing is fair use, so carry on"
- AYBABTME 13y ago
  I can't help but read `I'm anal` when somebody uses this acronym. It always take me a couple seconds to remember `I am not a lawyer`. Sorry for the off topic.
- chimeracoder 13y ago
  DannyBee (who is a lawyer) pointed out in the thread last night that this doesn't need to be "defended" against. He explained that, since they use the term "Tumblr" to refer specifically to the real company Tumblr, and since it's clear that they're not trying to masquerade as Tumblr or cause any confusion, that this is a legitimate use of the term and does not need to be "defended against" in order to protect the trademark.
  - sillysaurus2 13y ago
    Thank you for answering my question.
  - pcwalton 13y ago
    The legal term here, incidentally, appears to be "nominative use". (I learned a lot from that thread!)
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - einhverfr 13y ago
    This is correct. However, I think it is good practice to properly attribute trademarks in those cases to make sure that it is clear that it is intended in this way. A small disclaimer at the bottom of the page saying: Tumblr(R) is a registered trademark of Tumblr, Inc. which is not affiliated with this site. All other trademarks are owned by their respective owners. goes a long ways towards avoiding problems like this.
spindritf 13y ago
This duty to defend a trademark has grown to completely mythical size. Like "fiduciary duty" of company officers.
lvs 13y ago
This type of thinking is poisonous to the industry and to all industries.
- sillysaurus2 13y ago
  It's not "thinking." It's a question. It's annoying that I can't ask a startup question in a startup community without being characterized as an evil capitalist.
  - diminoten 13y ago
    Who called you an evil capitalist?
  - Kequc 13y ago
    No it's not a "risky" move by Tumblr to not sue someone.
  - bcoates 13y ago
    You don't want to be "could this get us sued?" guy. Lots of people have run into the type that uses it as a go-to passive aggressive way of opposing things. It's superficially reasonable because literally anything can get you sued in the US, but it's also a completely counterproductive attitude to actually making correct decisions. Even if you, personally are asking the question in a reasonable context where the answer is probably "yes", just saying it gets you bucketed into the "toxic people who must be contained or avoided" bucket in a lot of otherwise reasonable people's minds. Unless you are actually employed as a lawyer, it would probably be a good career move to strike discussions of legal risk from your vocabulary. ps: Yes, I know you were asking more about what Tumblr needs to do to keep the right to stop others from using their trademark, but nobody read past "legal problems"
    - sillysaurus2 13y ago
      Even if you, personally are asking the question in a reasonable context where the answer is probably "yes", just saying it gets you bucketed into the "toxic people who must be contained or avoided" bucket in a lot of otherwise reasonable people's minds. Unless you are actually employed as a lawyer, it would probably be a good career move to strike discussions of legal risk from your vocabulary. This is America. We're here to make money, and to win. That means operating in a legal system that can work for us or against us depending on the law. If a startup is too immature to see my question as anything other than a straightforward request for information, then I wouldn't want to work for them anyway.
eCa 13y ago
The way I understand it (IANAL) is that you need to protect your trademark against people who uses confusing namings on things that isn't you. In this case "tumblr" clearly and explicitly refers to tumblr.com. If you had to make sure that no one uses your trademark to talk about you, wouldn't that lead to a very strange place?

This seems like a risky move for tumblr, no? Doesn't this mean they're not actively defending their trademark? In which case this could cause them legal problems in the future.

darrenkopp 13y ago

IANAL, but to me it seems more like "we are actively defending our trademark (ala the hiring of the legal company), but we do not believe that you are infringing on that trademark and what you are doing is fair use, so carry on"

AYBABTME 13y ago
I can't help but read `I'm anal` when somebody uses this acronym. It always take me a couple seconds to remember `I am not a lawyer`. Sorry for the off topic.
chimeracoder 13y ago
DannyBee (who is a lawyer) pointed out in the thread last night that this doesn't need to be "defended" against. He explained that, since they use the term "Tumblr" to refer specifically to the real company Tumblr, and since it's clear that they're not trying to masquerade as Tumblr or cause any confusion, that this is a legitimate use of the term and does not need to be "defended against" in order to protect the trademark.
- sillysaurus2 13y ago
  Thank you for answering my question.
- pcwalton 13y ago
  The legal term here, incidentally, appears to be "nominative use". (I learned a lot from that thread!)
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- einhverfr 13y ago
  This is correct. However, I think it is good practice to properly attribute trademarks in those cases to make sure that it is clear that it is intended in this way. A small disclaimer at the bottom of the page saying: Tumblr(R) is a registered trademark of Tumblr, Inc. which is not affiliated with this site. All other trademarks are owned by their respective owners. goes a long ways towards avoiding problems like this.

spindritf 13y ago

This duty to defend a trademark has grown to completely mythical size. Like "fiduciary duty" of company officers.

lvs 13y ago

This type of thinking is poisonous to the industry and to all industries.

sillysaurus2 13y ago
It's not "thinking." It's a question. It's annoying that I can't ask a startup question in a startup community without being characterized as an evil capitalist.
- diminoten 13y ago
  Who called you an evil capitalist?
- Kequc 13y ago
  No it's not a "risky" move by Tumblr to not sue someone.
- bcoates 13y ago
  You don't want to be "could this get us sued?" guy. Lots of people have run into the type that uses it as a go-to passive aggressive way of opposing things. It's superficially reasonable because literally anything can get you sued in the US, but it's also a completely counterproductive attitude to actually making correct decisions. Even if you, personally are asking the question in a reasonable context where the answer is probably "yes", just saying it gets you bucketed into the "toxic people who must be contained or avoided" bucket in a lot of otherwise reasonable people's minds. Unless you are actually employed as a lawyer, it would probably be a good career move to strike discussions of legal risk from your vocabulary. ps: Yes, I know you were asking more about what Tumblr needs to do to keep the right to stop others from using their trademark, but nobody read past "legal problems"
  - sillysaurus2 13y ago
    Even if you, personally are asking the question in a reasonable context where the answer is probably "yes", just saying it gets you bucketed into the "toxic people who must be contained or avoided" bucket in a lot of otherwise reasonable people's minds. Unless you are actually employed as a lawyer, it would probably be a good career move to strike discussions of legal risk from your vocabulary. This is America. We're here to make money, and to win. That means operating in a legal system that can work for us or against us depending on the law. If a startup is too immature to see my question as anything other than a straightforward request for information, then I wouldn't want to work for them anyway.

eCa 13y ago

The way I understand it (IANAL) is that you need to protect your trademark against people who uses confusing namings on things that isn't you. In this case "tumblr" clearly and explicitly refers to tumblr.com. If you had to make sure that no one uses your trademark to talk about you, wouldn't that lead to a very strange place?