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> MarkLaw offered the following summary, "The government grants trademark
> owners the right to exclude all other businesses from using a similar mark
> on related goods or services." Whether 2 people or 2 billion people knew
> it, you were attempting to produce a product with a trademarked name. The
> product I am producing is "[program name] User Manual." I am not
> calling my
> manual, "The Adventures of Clark Kent."
>
> In the earlier case of the daycare center's murals, that was an issue of
> them using trademarked images.
Of course it was. Of course, it became not only a trademark issue, but a
public relations issue as well, and Hanna-Barbera capitalized on that. All's
fair in love and war, and in a free market economy, as long as you're
willing to live with the consequences. Just remember that corporate
attorneys rarely share your keen sense of humor. :)
>
> Furthermore, to say that this names can never be used in print would
> probably come as a shock to all the real people who have those names. Do
> any AnyWho search on any of those names, and you will get an entire list.
>
Of course you can use your own name for personal reasons on the 'net and
elsewhere. But if someone else has your name trademarked, think twice about
using your name for commercial use. My name might be really be Walt Disney,
but I'd better not try to start a recording studio or even a plumbing
business using that name.
An example that Harry Hager brought up in another post where he mentioned
the AMD Athlon may not be the best example. When AMD started marketing the
K7 chip with the Athlon name, they found themselves in a pretty fair legal
tiff with a French company that already had dibs on that name.
Now for a question. Could someone give me the short version of the legal
difference between the (r) registered trademark symbol, and the TM
trademark? What I've heard in the past is that you can use TM without
registering it, and that it is only meant to protect the particular way you
display something; for example, name a product Platypus Plus and always
display that name in bold NuptialScript font. For the (r) mark, I understand
that you can register a name, and no one else can use that name for
commercial purposes. Is this correct?
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