5 ms·

Trademarks aren’t universal; they are divided into classifications e.g. market segments. Just because the name is the same, doesn't mean the PTO will think of

Trademarks aren’t universal; they are divided into classifications e.g. market segments. Just because the name is the same, doesn't mean the PTO will think of them as being in the same space.

gaius 12y ago
Groupon’s product is a tablet based point of sale “operating system for merchants to run their entire operation." Could be close enough... This is no Vax vs Vax.
- venomsnake 12y ago
  Also for a lot of people the shell is the OS. So yeah. A big criteria about trademarks - customer confusion is plausible here.
thaumasiotes 12y ago
Did you read the article? Here are some of the goods and services covered by GNOME's registered mark: - downloadable computer software for creating and managing a computer desktop - downloadable computer software for use as a graphical user interface - technical consulting services in the field of computer software whereas the Groupon product is "a tablet based point of sale operating system for merchants to run their entire operation." Except I'm pretty sure they mean "operating system" in the plain-english sense, not the "computers" sense. Groupon could apparently avoid infringing in the goods categories by not making its PoS app downloadable, but it's hard to imagine it not infringing in the category "technical consulting services". And yeah, going just from my own idiosyncratic views of the world... a PoS app for tablets does not differ significantly, in terms of what it is, from desktop software for PCs. Here's some coverage from 2012 of an effort to get GNOME software to run on android: http://lwn.net/Articles/510465/ http://lwn.net/Articles/510465/
- zaphoyd 12y ago
  The groupon trademark application (linked elsewhere in the thread) specifically mentions "non-downloadable" before every mention of "software". It does however mention "technical support services" relating to computer software.. is that sufficiently different than consulting services?
  - thaumasiotes 12y ago
    I strongly suspect that the totemic use of "non-downloadable" before "software" in the Groupon filings is related to this piece from the article: > It was almost inconceivable to us that Groupon, with over $2.5 billion in annual revenue, a full legal team and a huge engineering staff would not have heard of the GNOME project, found our trademark registration using a casual search, or even found our website, but we nevertheless got in touch with them and asked them to pick another name. Not only did Groupon refuse, but it has now filed even more trademark applications
kaoD 12y ago
I always thought that was more theoretical than real. For instance, could I launch an OS called CocaCola? I don't think so...
- psykovsky 12y ago
  Google launched one called KitKat, so I don't see why not. ;)
  - vidarh 12y ago
    Google did it with the willing cooperation of the trademark holder [1], who clearly saw it as good marketing. [1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23926938 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23926938
- riffraff 12y ago
  It seems very much real. Someone once wrote me menacing to sue me because of my nickname which was infringing on some of their "IP" (I kid you not). I did a quick check and it turns out there is a half dozen brands named something like "riffraff". For the gnome case, just to stay in topic: http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=toc&state=4809%3Aoi1out.1.1&p_search=searchss&p_L=50&BackReference=&p_plural=yes&p_s_PARA1=&p_tagrepl~%3A=PARA1%24LD&expr=PARA1+AND+PARA2&p_s_PARA2=gnome&p_tagrepl~%3A=PARA2%24COMB&p_op_ALL=AND&a_default=search&a_search=Submit+Query&a_search=Submit+Query http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=toc&state=4809%3Ao... "GNOME: hosting software for use by others for accessing weather information, for use in monitoring and controlling irrigation systems"
  - OracleApple 12y ago
    I get that, too.
- privong 12y ago
  My understanding is the outcome of the Apple Computer vs Apple Corps series of legal battles[0] was consistent with trademarks being siloed into market segments. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v_Apple_Computer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v_Apple_Computer

Trademarks aren’t universal; they are divided into classifications e.g. market segments. Just because the name is the same, doesn't mean the PTO will think of them as being in the same space.

gaius 12y ago

Groupon’s product is a tablet based point of sale “operating system for merchants to run their entire operation." Could be close enough... This is no Vax vs Vax.

venomsnake 12y ago
Also for a lot of people the shell is the OS. So yeah. A big criteria about trademarks - customer confusion is plausible here.

thaumasiotes 12y ago

Did you read the article? Here are some of the goods and services covered by GNOME's registered mark: - downloadable computer software for creating and managing a computer desktop - downloadable computer software for use as a graphical user interface - technical consulting services in the field of computer software whereas the Groupon product is "a tablet based point of sale operating system for merchants to run their entire operation." Except I'm pretty sure they mean "operating system" in the plain-english sense, not the "computers" sense. Groupon could apparently avoid infringing in the goods categories by not making its PoS app downloadable, but it's hard to imagine it not infringing in the category "technical consulting services". And yeah, going just from my own idiosyncratic views of the world... a PoS app for tablets does not differ significantly, in terms of what it is, from desktop software for PCs. Here's some coverage from 2012 of an effort to get GNOME software to run on android: http://lwn.net/Articles/510465/ http://lwn.net/Articles/510465/

zaphoyd 12y ago
The groupon trademark application (linked elsewhere in the thread) specifically mentions "non-downloadable" before every mention of "software". It does however mention "technical support services" relating to computer software.. is that sufficiently different than consulting services?
- thaumasiotes 12y ago
  I strongly suspect that the totemic use of "non-downloadable" before "software" in the Groupon filings is related to this piece from the article: > It was almost inconceivable to us that Groupon, with over $2.5 billion in annual revenue, a full legal team and a huge engineering staff would not have heard of the GNOME project, found our trademark registration using a casual search, or even found our website, but we nevertheless got in touch with them and asked them to pick another name. Not only did Groupon refuse, but it has now filed even more trademark applications

kaoD 12y ago

I always thought that was more theoretical than real. For instance, could I launch an OS called CocaCola? I don't think so...

psykovsky 12y ago
Google launched one called KitKat, so I don't see why not. ;)
- vidarh 12y ago
  Google did it with the willing cooperation of the trademark holder [1], who clearly saw it as good marketing. [1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23926938 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23926938
riffraff 12y ago
It seems very much real. Someone once wrote me menacing to sue me because of my nickname which was infringing on some of their "IP" (I kid you not). I did a quick check and it turns out there is a half dozen brands named something like "riffraff". For the gnome case, just to stay in topic: http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=toc&state=4809%3Aoi1out.1.1&p_search=searchss&p_L=50&BackReference=&p_plural=yes&p_s_PARA1=&p_tagrepl~%3A=PARA1%24LD&expr=PARA1+AND+PARA2&p_s_PARA2=gnome&p_tagrepl~%3A=PARA2%24COMB&p_op_ALL=AND&a_default=search&a_search=Submit+Query&a_search=Submit+Query http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=toc&state=4809%3Ao... "GNOME: hosting software for use by others for accessing weather information, for use in monitoring and controlling irrigation systems"
- OracleApple 12y ago
  I get that, too.
privong 12y ago
My understanding is the outcome of the Apple Computer vs Apple Corps series of legal battles[0] was consistent with trademarks being siloed into market segments. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v_Apple_Computer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v_Apple_Computer