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Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called

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Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called

#11

Post by chopsueyar »

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/metaschool/fisher/domain/tm.htm

7. What constitutes tradenmark infringement?

If a party owns the rights to a particular trademark, that party can sue subsequent parties for trademark infringement. 15 U.S.C. �� 1114, 1125. The standard is "likelihood of confusion." To be more specific, the use of a trademark in connection with the sale of a good constitutes infringement if it is likely to cause consumer confusion as to the source of those goods or as to the sponsorship or approval of such goods. In deciding whether consumers are likely to be confused, the courts will typically look to a number of factors, including: (1) the strength of the mark; (2) the proximity of the goods; (3) the similarity of the marks; (4) evidence of actual confusion; (5) the similarity of marketing channels used; (6) the degree of caution exercised by the typical purchaser; (7) the defendant's intent.

They sued a priest!

Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called

#12

Post by njharman »

GrangalanJr wrote: post #6
wccrawford wrote: post #2

Someone the other day was commenting on the whole 'everyone wants to be a geek now' thing and wondering what to call true geeks now. I told him not to worry and that another word would soon be coined to make fun of the true geeks, as always happens. People just can't resist tormenting people who are different. I am a little surprised that it hasn't happened yet... But then, maybe I'm too old and not hip with the new…

What distinguishes "true geeks" from the pretenders?

True geeks don't go around telling everyone they're a geek. That's all posers do. Geeks, it's just who they are. It's not a fad, or cool thing used get noticed. Geek is a personality type, you are born with it. It's not something you can buy at the store.

Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called

#13

Post by aridiculous »

jinushaun wrote: post #5

Checked out the offending work. New Egg's Geek On logo bares absolutely zero resemblance to Best Buy's Geek Squad logo. Best Buy doesn't own everything "geek" and orange. Are Syracuse geeks next?

I was ready to softly defend Best Buy on this one until I saw the logo in question. It's just a poorly made logo that happens to use orange and black (because they're elsewhere on the site). This is clearly a case where the sharks are smelling blood.

Good thing PG used the word "Hacker" instead of "Geek", otherwise HN would have been on the chopping block, too :)

Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called

#14

Post by elmomalmo »

wccrawford wrote: post #2

Someone the other day was commenting on the whole 'everyone wants to be a geek now' thing and wondering what to call true geeks now. I told him not to worry and that another word would soon be coined to make fun of the true geeks, as always happens. People just can't resist tormenting people who are different. I am a little surprised that it hasn't happened yet... But then, maybe I'm too old and not hip with the new…

> Someone the other day was commenting on the whole 'everyone wants to be a geek now' thing and wondering what to call true geeks now.

> I told him not to worry and that another word would soon be coined to make fun of the true geeks, as always happens. People just can't resist tormenting people who are different.

> I am a little surprised that it hasn't happened yet... But then, maybe I'm too old and not hip with the new slang.

I've heard/read the word 'neckbeard' used in this context.

Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called

#15

Post by hugh3 »

wccrawford wrote: post #2

Someone the other day was commenting on the whole 'everyone wants to be a geek now' thing and wondering what to call true geeks now. I told him not to worry and that another word would soon be coined to make fun of the true geeks, as always happens. People just can't resist tormenting people who are different. I am a little surprised that it hasn't happened yet... But then, maybe I'm too old and not hip with the new…

Note that it's only cool to call yourself a geek if you're not in any danger of being mistaken for an actual geek.

Hot guy/girl wearing glasses: cool.

Overweight unkempt dude in a sweaty t-shirt: still not cool regardless of whether wearing glasses or not.

Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called

#16

Post by pasbesoin »

wccrawford wrote: post #2

Someone the other day was commenting on the whole 'everyone wants to be a geek now' thing and wondering what to call true geeks now. I told him not to worry and that another word would soon be coined to make fun of the true geeks, as always happens. People just can't resist tormenting people who are different. I am a little surprised that it hasn't happened yet... But then, maybe I'm too old and not hip with the new…

We already have a term for the antithesis: leet (733t or whatever).

Perhaps, as often is the case, we'll end up defining ourselves at least partially in the negative. (Not cool, not leet... whatever.)

"Hacker" seemed to serve partially, for a while, until it became synonymous with every online break-in in the mainstream press.

Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called

#17

Post by gaius »

hvs wrote: post #7
sudont wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nerd chic is as dead as punk in 1990. Most social movements are commoditized by way of cultural signifiers, and when the cultural impact of those signifiers goes away, so does the soul of the movement. "Nerd" used to be about the intellectualism of it, the replacement of certain social interactions with an indie academic mindset. Now, "Nerd" is a marketing demographic, replete with physical identifiers: black plastic…

It sounds like you are describing a "hipster" more than a "nerd", but maybe the two have become one in the same in some ways. That said, "true nerds" were never in it for the recognition as a "nerd" or as part of some "movement" they just were. And they will continue to be that way after the general populations has moved on to usurp some other image. They may not be called "nerds" but they won't care what they are ca…

Call a hipster a hipster to their face, they really don't like it. It can't be used as a compliment as "geek" can. They are all too cool for their own subculture (or think they are).

Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called

#18

Post by bhousel »

chopsueyar wrote: post #11

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/metaschool/fisher/domain/tm.htm 7. What constitutes tradenmark infringement? If a party owns the rights to a particular trademark, that party can sue subsequent parties for trademark infringement. 15 U.S.C. �� 1114, 1125. The standard is "likelihood of confusion." To be more specific, the use of a trademark in connection with the sale of a good constitutes infringement if it is likely to…

They sued a priest driving around in a black Volkswagon Beetle with a God Squad logo that looks exactly like the Geek Squad logo.

It may seem counter-intuitive, but Best Buy did the right and necessary thing to defend their trademark.

Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called

#19

Post by Shenglong »

pasbesoin wrote: post #16
wccrawford wrote: post #2

Someone the other day was commenting on the whole 'everyone wants to be a geek now' thing and wondering what to call true geeks now. I told him not to worry and that another word would soon be coined to make fun of the true geeks, as always happens. People just can't resist tormenting people who are different. I am a little surprised that it hasn't happened yet... But then, maybe I'm too old and not hip with the new…

We already have a term for the antithesis: leet (733t or whatever). Perhaps, as often is the case, we'll end up defining ourselves at least partially in the negative. (Not cool, not leet... whatever.) "Hacker" seemed to serve partially, for a while, until it became synonymous with every online break-in in the mainstream press.

1337!

I think 'hacker' has already reached that level of notoriety. Yet, many of us continue to use it. Because really, other than referencing each other, we never introduce ourselves by these titles. "Hello, my name is ____ and I'm a geek" is a little silly.

On the other end, phrases like "I suppose so, for us hackers anyway" would most likely be addressed to to another hacker. For the community, I think, it's unlikely that outside sentiments will affect the terminology that much.

Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called

#20

Post by ZachPruckowski »

chopsueyar wrote: post #11

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/metaschool/fisher/domain/tm.htm 7. What constitutes tradenmark infringement? If a party owns the rights to a particular trademark, that party can sue subsequent parties for trademark infringement. 15 U.S.C. �� 1114, 1125. The standard is "likelihood of confusion." To be more specific, the use of a trademark in connection with the sale of a good constitutes infringement if it is likely to…

The priest thing seems more legit to me than the Newegg thing. The priests were deliberately trying to "cash in"[1] on similarity between their brand and the Geek Squad brand, whereas Newegg was just trying to use the positive associations between the work "geek" (which Best Buy doesn't own) and computer buying.

[1] - Personally I think there should be accommodations for the fact that it's non-commercial.

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