Live data from Hacker News

OpenAI loses trademark dispute at EU court

dpa-international.com

151–160 of 177 posts

Re: OpenAI loses trademark dispute at EU court

#151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I seem to remember the company behind either Monster Cables, or Monster energy drinks, going after anyone that used the word “monster,” even in casual context.

It was Monster Cables who, blessedly, are nearly irrelevant nowadays. Apparently they tried to pivot into online gambling a few years ago.

Actually I have grabbed a couple of USB-C Monster-branded cables at the hardware store, and they work great as replacement charging cables for my devices (Chromebook and Pixel phoned) for rapid charging at 6 feet rather than 3.

Re: OpenAI loses trademark dispute at EU court

#152
post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that Open Systems hold a trademark on "Open Systems" is less a signal that OpenAI should be allowed to hold "Open AI", and more a sign that Open Systems should start considering changing their name because they'd lose their trademark if someone disputed it.

Does EU court follow stare decisis, given that most member states follow civil law?

[deleted]

Re: OpenAI loses trademark dispute at EU court

#153
post #37
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More pertinently "the term is purely descriptive and therefore lacks the distinctiveness required for trademark protection." I.e. the problem isn't that OpenAI's products don't match their description, but that trademarking it would unduly prevent others from describing their openly accessible artificial intelligence as "open AI."

I think there is most likely set of adjectives that would fall under same reasoning. GreenAI or FreeAI likely would be also be refused. On other hand RedAI or BlueAI might very well pass. It is not entirely unreasonable decision if you consider if the terms would be used in regular conversations on AI.

MMAcevedo does respond to red motivation, though poorly.

Re: OpenAI loses trademark dispute at EU court

#155
post #22
post #6

> The EUIPO found that the word "open" would be understood by the relevant public as meaning freely accessible, while the combination with "AI" (artificial intelligence) would be interpreted as referring to products based on openly accessible artificial intelligence. > for certain software and information technology goods and services, the term is purely descriptive and therefore lacks the distinctiveness required fo…

More pertinently "the term is purely descriptive and therefore lacks the distinctiveness required for trademark protection." I.e. the problem isn't that OpenAI's products don't match their description, but that trademarking it would unduly prevent others from describing their openly accessible artificial intelligence as "open AI."

While the industry is currently using "open weights" or "open models", the use of open AI could equally be used now.

Re: OpenAI loses trademark dispute at EU court

#156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was Monster Cables who, blessedly, are nearly irrelevant nowadays. Apparently they tried to pivot into online gambling a few years ago.

Actually I have grabbed a couple of USB-C Monster-branded cables at the hardware store, and they work great as replacement charging cables for my devices (Chromebook and Pixel phoned) for rapid charging at 6 feet rather than 3.

They aren't bad cables, they just are over priced. Decent warranty though.

Re: OpenAI loses trademark dispute at EU court

#158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, they could have used a less generic and misleading name (it is not very open, as noted in the article). OpenAI only really have themselves to blame here.

Plenty of companies use generic words for their name, and they still get trademarks. American Airlines for example is indeed just an American airline. The Container Store, Vision Center, General Motors, International business machines (IBM), the list goes on. Even Microsoft is just a contraction of their original product, microcomputer software.

> is indeed just an American airline.

I would say there is nothing descriptive about calling something American. America doesn't even refer to a single country, does it operate out of Brazil? Would that even be relevant information to anyone using an Airline?

Re: OpenAI loses trademark dispute at EU court

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure that’s an adjective

If you use it like unicorn poop, then it is describing the kind of poop just like Open/Green/Free in previous examples would be describing AI

That doesn’t mean it’s an adjective though

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noun_adjunct

Re: OpenAI loses trademark dispute at EU court

#160
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whether it evokes a specific company now isn't relevant to the ruling. The trademark was refused, and this was a challenge to that initial refusal, and the refusal was upheld. I somewhat agree with the EU here. It's far too generic, "Open" and "AI." To grant the trademark would mean any AI product that actually IS open, or open source, etc. cannot say they are "Open AI" which IMO would be a problem. Where I might dis…

I completely agree with your last point. They shouldn't have ownership of "Open" in relation to "AI" broadly speaking, but their company name "OpenAI" should be protected. Entirely possible, seeming more likely, that I didn't have enough background information on the short article.

They should have to change their name to not misell their product.
Post reply on HN