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Subject:Re: LEGAL: is PC a trademark? From:Bill DuBay <bill_dubay -at- PHOENIX -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 27 Jun 1997 16:46:13 PDT
PC is not a trademark. It is short for Personal Computer, which can be
nearly any device using a microprocessor.
Why acknowledge anybody else's trademark? The law prohibits stealing
another's trademark and using it as if it belonged to you. It does not
require acknowledging the owner every time you use it. I see many
publications today, in fact, with the disclaimer, "We cannot certify the
ownership of any trademarks accept our own." The law does not oblige you to
defend other people's ownership of their trademarks, only your own.
For example, Caterpillar gets very upset if you use the word "caterpillar"
as a generic term for anyone's tractor. But they do not get the least upset
if you use the word Caterpillar referring to one of their products without
adding "the trademark of Caterpillar Corp."
Bill DuBay
Technical Writer
Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
email: bill_dubay -at- phoenix -dot- com
(714)790-2049 FAX: (714)790-2001 http://www.phoenix.com
-------------
Original Text
From: <John -dot- Cornellier -at- PARIS -dot- IE -dot- PHILIPS -dot- COM>, on 6/27/97 3:06 AM:
If printing in a doc that software is PC-compatible, is PC copyrighted & if
so,
must one ack? Is this another chapter in the Fibreglass Kleenex story?
Suggestions? Comments?
Ta, John
john -dot- cornellier -at- paris -dot- ie -dot- philips -dot- com
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