Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about ÜBER?
What has Uber done?
Very questionable tactics when fighting competition, particularly Lyft. Google it (I don't want to misrepresent it from memory), it's been on HN quite a few times.
Help the Gnome Foundation Defend the Gnome Trademark Against Groupon
121–130 of 224 posts
Re: Help the Gnome Foundation Defend the Gnome Trademark Against Groupon
#122What's the point on trademarking something when later you need to pay $80,000 to defend it? The US... smh
Someone has to pay to do the work of determining if GNOME has a valid complaint. Even if the government were to foot the bill, they would still ask GNOME to put their best case forward, which would involve GNOME hiring lawyers.
Re: Help the Gnome Foundation Defend the Gnome Trademark Against Groupon
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not only that, but those $80k could have paid for quite a few months of development, but instead those will be money going down the drain because of a broken justice system. And they have the nerve to say that IP laws are fueling innovation.
Well, without these IP laws GNOME wouldn't have any recourse, would they?
[deleted]
Re: Help the Gnome Foundation Defend the Gnome Trademark Against Groupon
#124I don't get it either. If GNOME (the desktop environment and the foundation) have a trademark on GNOME, why do they need $80k to defend it? Shouldn't the trademark office then simply reject any further application for GNOME name related to computers, software and operating systems? Is this because of the idiotic defunc. justice system the US is imposing on themselves? Where you can sue mall owner for millions because…
IIRC, the rule is that if you don't step up yourself to defend your trademark whenever someone else tries to use it, your trademark becomes void.
What is the rationale behind that?
Re: Help the Gnome Foundation Defend the Gnome Trademark Against Groupon
#125Donated.
I hope that Groupon finds its ability to attract and retain engineering talent substantially degraded.
Re: Help the Gnome Foundation Defend the Gnome Trademark Against Groupon
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about ÜBER?
What has Uber done?
This for example.
http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/26/6067663/this-is-ubers-play...
Re: Help the Gnome Foundation Defend the Gnome Trademark Against Groupon
#127Donated few bucks. I encourage everyone to do more than me. Lads, this tiny bit of freedom is in your hands. Please do the proper thing.
Re: Help the Gnome Foundation Defend the Gnome Trademark Against Groupon
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not a lawyer, but it seems that they're applying under a different class of usage.
I don't know about that. The GNOME project links to their trademark here: http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=76368848&caseType=SERIAL_N... Under "Goods and Services", I see it as being marked "U.S Class(es): 021, 023, 026, 036, 038" (also classes 100 and 101, which appear to be services). Here's one of the trademarks Groupon's filing: http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=86287930&caseType=SERIAL_N... In contrast to the G…
I've not looked at the marks that GNOME (the linux distro/project) hold - as you say someone else can file for marks in other classes, separation by market area and geography allow for otherwise coterminous use of registered trademarks.
However Groupon's _use_ http://investor.groupon.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=8487... is clearly going to cause confusion [in the legal, TM sense] with GNOME's whether GNOME's mark is registered or not.
I'm not sure about the details of confusion clauses under the USC but it's definitely a thing in trademark law. Also, as your 2nd link shows Groupon's is a current application that is awaiting applicant response: presumably it's the use of the mark that GNOME are fighting at present rather than the ongoing trademark application (which they can simply make observations on that the examiner can use to reject the mark [or not if they're insane]).
Re: Help the Gnome Foundation Defend the Gnome Trademark Against Groupon
#129How is this trademark infringement? Generally speaking, you're allowed to use a trademarked word in a different field (and even trademark in that field yourself!).
The classic example is Dominos pizza vs. Domino sugar:
http://www.wolverine-startuplaw.com/2014/03/06/analyzing-the...
Here, "Gnome" is being used in two "technical" contexts... but that's a pretty broad brush to paint with for claiming overlap.
Re: Help the Gnome Foundation Defend the Gnome Trademark Against Groupon
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
That I have no idea what in this whole process takes so much money. If trademarks take this much money to defend, you might as well just sue anyone trying to use your name without filing a trademark.
And then lose spetacularly, since you don't own the trademark.
At least in Europe you're not required to register a trademark to be able to use it. If I've been selling red toy cars in Dutch toy stores for five years and they all had a clearly recognizable logo on them, then someone else uses a logo that is almost identical to sell orange toy cars in the same or nearby toy stores, I might very well win that lawsuit.
It is geographically limited and limited to the market segment, and I'm not sure about international laws, but technically they just stole something you've been using for years. If the trademark system is this expensive for legitimately protecting a registered trademark, I see no use for the whole registered trademark system.