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

Python trademark at risk in Europe

pyfound.blogspot.ca

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 168 posts

Re: Python trademark at risk in Europe

#121

Post by pbhjpbhj »

VanL wrote: post #116
pbhjpbhj wrote: post #108

> They blew us off and responded by filing the community trademark application claiming the exclusive right to use "Python" for software, servers, and web services - everywhere in Europe. // I'm not a TM lawyer by a long shot but this looks like a knee-jerk response to an entirely frivolous claim. Python lacks distinctiveness in the category covering software because it describes a long standing computer language and…

They are claiming the image mark, but the image is the word "Python" with only minimal embellishment. Further, they have added broader rights in private conversation.

There's at least one company that already has a similar trademark registered, indeed looking at the Python image marks this one from Veber looks pretty close to a prior registered one (also in class 9 IIRC).

PSF are not going to want to use this companies image mark, really.

You don't gain legal rights by mentioning in conversation what you wish you had the right to do/prevent.

Re: Python trademark at risk in Europe

#122

Post by Tehnix »

KPLauritzen wrote: post #99
Alphasite_ wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

University Of Glasgow as well, and this (rather incomplete) list from your own website, http://wiki.python.org/moin/SchoolsUsingPython#United_Kingdo... .

There is no universities from Denmark on that list, and I know that several of them offer courses in Python. I've reached out to a professor from University of Copenhagen who teaches a course on Molecular Dynamics using Python. Another course from Copenhagen teaching Python is listed here http://sis.ku.dk/kurser/viskursus.aspx?knr=130419

DTU (Technical University of Denmark) also has a Python course http://www.kurser.dtu.dk/02820.aspx?menulanguage=en

Re: Python trademark at risk in Europe

#123

Post by pbhjpbhj »

arcatek wrote: post #51
detst wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I considered that and I'll admit that I was being a bit lazy with my comment but I think it could be written in a reasonable way. Perhaps a license fee attached to any failed legal action. Or even limit to certain types of legal action.

We can't even be sure that Python-the-company is using Python-the software, so ... Furthermore, I think the problem is not here, the PSF clearly made a mistake by not registering the name (it's not a matter of 'bad law'). If we apply your solution, then it would mean that a company which does not use Python can still ask to register a global trademark named on the term.

>the PSF clearly made a mistake by not registering the name (it's not a matter of 'bad law') //

You acquire some pretty reasonable rights in a trademark by virtue of use alone.

Re: Python trademark at risk in Europe

#124

Post by pbhjpbhj »

SoftwareMaven wrote: post #90
avar wrote: post #25

It's unclear from this whether or not Python would have to change the name of the programming language if they didn't get the trademark, or whether this UK company would just have the right to call their products "Python" too. Early in the article it says: "There is a company in the UK that is trying to trademark the use of the term "Python" for all software, services, servers... pretty much anything having to do wit…

That's not the way trademarks work. Trademarks cover one or more industries, so your snake is completely safe. In fact, if you wanted to make a car called the Python or a chair called the Python or just about anything else called the Python, you would be welcome to it (assuming somebody else hadn't trademarked that). Even in software, you could incorporate the word Python as long as it didn't cause confusion (for ins…

>if this company was given the trademark, they would have no choice but to threaten legal action against the PSF //

I'm afraid that, at least in UK and USA, you're wrong in your assumption of "fight for it or lose it".

You have to pay your registration fees and use the trademark for trade. You can allow unpaid use, you can even ignore de minimis use without any notification.

Even if it were "fight it or lose it" then it would only be for use of their mark to indicate the origin of goods or services that they could object to. If it's clear the goods don't originate with the owners of Python RTM then there is no trademark infringement (this doesn't quite apply to "famous" marks however that get extra protection).

"Fight it or lose it" sort of applies to genericisation but there's absolutely no chance that python is going to become a generic term in the software field for something other than python-the-language for the foreseeable future.

On a general issue I don't think it's right for PSF to attempt to gain a registered mark for python in the context of computing. Nor indeed should any sane TM office grant them a word mark as python is not distinct enough to indicate that goods or services originate with PSF. Indeed in terms of CTM it appears a registration is held by an individual that covers the software class already.

Re: Python trademark at risk in Europe

#125

Post by pbhjpbhj »

pvaldes wrote: post #112
SoftwareMaven wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not the way trademarks work. Trademarks cover one or more industries, so your snake is completely safe. In fact, if you wanted to make a car called the Python or a chair called the Python or just about anything else called the Python, you would be welcome to it (assuming somebody else hadn't trademarked that). Even in software, you could incorporate the word Python as long as it didn't cause confusion (for ins…

like this for example... http://www.amazon.com/Master-Lock-Adjustable-Camouflage-8418... Probably those companies with products with Python in its name will be interested in this. You could contact them

It's a different Nice class, it's not relevant.

Re: Python trademark at risk in Europe

#126

Post by pbhjpbhj »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #108

> They blew us off and responded by filing the community trademark application claiming the exclusive right to use "Python" for software, servers, and web services - everywhere in Europe. // I'm not a TM lawyer by a long shot but this looks like a knee-jerk response to an entirely frivolous claim. Python lacks distinctiveness in the category covering software because it describes a long standing computer language and…

Should be "Nice class 9", not Vienna, sorry.

Re: Python trademark at risk in Europe

#128

Post by 7952 »

DanBC wrote: post #68

Concentrating on the other company: A Google search for [python hosting] doesn't even return them on the first page of hits; it returns a bunch of other companies offering hosting for python (the language) stuff or questions about hosting python (the language) based stuff. You offered them the limited "python cloud hosting" and they refused? Baffling. Good Luck.

Its probably a way of getting higher rank on "python cloud servers". Cloud servers is actually claimed as trademark by rackspace:)

Re: Python trademark at risk in Europe

#130

Post by Blahah »

mseebach wrote: post #66

First there's Google. They are heavy on Python and has several offices in the EU. I think the original version of their crawler was written in Python. Academia: Cambridge has a Python course. I think Python as a teaching language has potential to go quite far back. Historical documents could be course catalogues, slides, handouts or even exams. Commercial training: Quick Googling brings up qa.com and learningtree.co.…

A few of the Cambridge Python courses:

http://www.ucs.cam.ac.uk/docs/course-notes/unix-courses/Pyth...

http://www.ucs.cam.ac.uk/docs/course-notes/unix-courses/Pyth...

http://www.ucs.cam.ac.uk/docs/course-notes/unix-courses/Pyth...

http://www.ucs.cam.ac.uk/docs/course-notes/unix-courses/Nume...

http://www.ucs.cam.ac.uk/docs/course-notes/unix-courses/pyth...

Since UCS at Cambridge have been teaching Python for a long time, you could request a statement of support from them: escience-support@ucs.cam.ac.uk

Post reply on HN