Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Microsoft Owns the Trademark for “X”

tsdr.uspto.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 138 posts

Re: Microsoft Owns the Trademark for “X”

#51

Post by sghiassy »

TX81Z wrote: post #40
soligern wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren’t Musk and the Zuck feuding right now? This is a hilarious setup.

Elon had this planned out from the start, 50 steps ahead. Make an outrageously high bid on a site with no consistent profit, try desperately to get out of the deal, and fail (as a misdirection of course), alienate power users, kill 50% of revenue, totally nuke site reliability, lose all the top talent, and of course, rack up a pile of lawsuits a mile deep. And only THEN, blow everybody’s mind by jettisoning a brand s…

I’m jealous of Elon for being able to be on so many drugs simultaneously. I can only do one drug, max, at a time.

Re: Microsoft Owns the Trademark for “X”

#52

Post by electricmonk »

IANYL.

Microsoft owns a trademark registration for X [standard character] for certain goods and services (see: https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=2693757&caseSearchType=US...). Meta owns a trademark registration for X (Stylized), which Microsoft apparently assigned to Meta (see https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=87980831&caseType=SERIAL_...). Musk as been using X in various capacities since the 90s, and depending on the specifics of that use, may have some common law trademark rights in the mark.

Regardless of whether or not any party has a registration for a particular trademark/service mark identifying certain goods/services, the question about whether the marks should be allowed to co-exist depends on whether there is a likelihood that there will be confusion between the 2 marks in the marketplace (defining the appropriate marketplace is part of the test for any given likelihood of confusion analysis). There are some other concerns, such as dilution with respect to famous marks that may or may not come into play, but likelihood of [consumer] confusion is the root of it.

Re: Microsoft Owns the Trademark for “X”

#53

Post by AceJohnny2 »

TX81Z wrote: post #40
soligern wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren’t Musk and the Zuck feuding right now? This is a hilarious setup.

Elon had this planned out from the start, 50 steps ahead. Make an outrageously high bid on a site with no consistent profit, try desperately to get out of the deal, and fail (as a misdirection of course), alienate power users, kill 50% of revenue, totally nuke site reliability, lose all the top talent, and of course, rack up a pile of lawsuits a mile deep. And only THEN, blow everybody’s mind by jettisoning a brand s…

Because I need to vent...

I dreamt this morning that I was berating ElMo for being off his meds and making billion-dollar decisions while in manic phase. For months.

I'm actually pretty annoyed that I would even dream about it. I detest the expression, but this is a perfect example of "living rent-free in someone's head". I need to get off the internet.

Re: Microsoft Owns the Trademark for “X”

#54

Post by api »

TX81Z wrote: post #40
soligern wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren’t Musk and the Zuck feuding right now? This is a hilarious setup.

Elon had this planned out from the start, 50 steps ahead. Make an outrageously high bid on a site with no consistent profit, try desperately to get out of the deal, and fail (as a misdirection of course), alienate power users, kill 50% of revenue, totally nuke site reliability, lose all the top talent, and of course, rack up a pile of lawsuits a mile deep. And only THEN, blow everybody’s mind by jettisoning a brand s…

I’m starting to just feel sad because I’m suspecting serious cognitive decline or mental illness. At this point it’s just watching someone have a crisis.

Re: Microsoft Owns the Trademark for “X”

#55

Post by panzi »

killingtime74 wrote: post #24
thisgoodlife wrote: post #16

I didn’t know a letter can be trademarked. If let’s say Xerox decides to get into the video game business, can Microsoft sue them for trademark infringement?

Xerox is not "X". You may be interested in doing some research in this area what is trade markable and also the procedure. Even if the trademark is registered it can still be challenged. Other interesting things that can be trademarked include colours and sounds, even scents

In the EU there even is a "3D trademark". One famous example is the LEGO mini figure, which LEGO uses to sue anyone that tries to sell any remotely similar LEGO compatible mini figure.

Re: Microsoft Owns the Trademark for “X”

#56

Post by MBCook »

TechBro8615 wrote: post #44
TX81Z wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elon had this planned out from the start, 50 steps ahead. Make an outrageously high bid on a site with no consistent profit, try desperately to get out of the deal, and fail (as a misdirection of course), alienate power users, kill 50% of revenue, totally nuke site reliability, lose all the top talent, and of course, rack up a pile of lawsuits a mile deep. And only THEN, blow everybody’s mind by jettisoning a brand s…

Is Twitter usage (measured in daily active user hours per day) lower now than it was before the acquisition?

I don’t know if we know. But they have changed the metric they’re measuring publicly to one that is more “accurate” (according to them) and going up quite a bit.

So I’m sure it’s all wine & roses and they’ll be profitable any day.

Re: Microsoft Owns the Trademark for “X”

#57

Post by TX81Z »

TechBro8615 wrote: post #44
TX81Z wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elon had this planned out from the start, 50 steps ahead. Make an outrageously high bid on a site with no consistent profit, try desperately to get out of the deal, and fail (as a misdirection of course), alienate power users, kill 50% of revenue, totally nuke site reliability, lose all the top talent, and of course, rack up a pile of lawsuits a mile deep. And only THEN, blow everybody’s mind by jettisoning a brand s…

Is Twitter usage (measured in daily active user hours per day) lower now than it was before the acquisition?

Sorry forgot that aspect of the master plan: increase “engagement”, raise server costs, and cut revenue in half at the exact same time to prove once and for all that traffic as a universal measure of site value is an entirely corrupt idea that should be abandoned to focus on actual revenue.

50 steps ahead. Man is a genius.

Re: Microsoft Owns the Trademark for “X”

#58

Post by 10g1k »

The Microsoft application (which was granted) was only in relation to online games, messaging services related to such games, and so on, as described in the trademark application. It's not a universal "We own the letter x!"

Re: Microsoft Owns the Trademark for “X”

#59

Post by lolinder »

ehhthing wrote: post #50
freehorse wrote: post #39

> Standard Character Claim: No > Mark Drawing Type: 1 - TYPESET WORD(S) /LETTER(S) /NUMBER(S) They do not own the trademark for the letter "X" (that would make a "Standard Character Claim") but the very specific typeset, as featured on the right side of the linked page. Here [1] it patents a specific illustration format of X. Again no standard character claim. So no issue for former twitter, as you can easily see the…

https://trademarkgarden.com/2018/03/09/amazon-and-you/ The two are equivalent.

No, they aren't, and your source doesn't say they are. This is your source's description of the type of trademark that Meta has on X (AN ILLUSTRATION DRAWING WITH WORD(S) /LETTER(S)/ NUMBER(S) INSTYLIZED FORM):

> This Type is similar to “STANDARD CHARACTER MARK” in that it can only include words or phrases, and not images, however it does include a claim as to the particular stylization (font) and may, but do not have to, claim color. For example, the trademark “NETFLIX” written in stylized red font.

Edit: The source below is a bit more clear on the differences.

https://www.mavenip.com/blog/standard-character-mark-or-logo...

Re: Microsoft Owns the Trademark for “X”

#60

Post by TX81Z »

sheeshkebab wrote: post #46
TX81Z wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elon had this planned out from the start, 50 steps ahead. Make an outrageously high bid on a site with no consistent profit, try desperately to get out of the deal, and fail (as a misdirection of course), alienate power users, kill 50% of revenue, totally nuke site reliability, lose all the top talent, and of course, rack up a pile of lawsuits a mile deep. And only THEN, blow everybody’s mind by jettisoning a brand s…

Elon is a genius

No, he’s not. He’s something so much better than that we don’t even have a word for it. He is a human singularity, I can’t believe we get to be alive on this earth at the same time as this man.
Post reply on HN