Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 12:42:34 +0200 (SAT) From: Robert Nordier <rnordier@iafrica.com> To: supporters@nanyang-computer.com (FreeBSD commercial support) Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: BSD copyrights Message-ID: <199804131042.MAA11727@ceia.nordier.com> In-Reply-To: <199804130939.CAA03635@implode.root.com> from David Greenman at "Apr 13, 98 02:39:17 am"
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
David Greenman wrote:
> >Somebody suggested that BSD was a copyright of BSDI.
>
> It is. Their disclaimer is incomplete.
This is really an issue of a trademark rather than a copyright.
A trademark is fundamentally different from a copyright or a patent,
in that there is no automatic protection afforded by the state.
Because new works of "art" or "artifice", and new ideas, are social
benefits, the state effectively says, "Go ahead, and don't worry,
and for X years we'll grant you protection."
Trademarks aren't social benefits. So there's no automatic protection
(and so, incidentally, also no expiry date).
To establish a trademark, you have to find some token which
unambiguously identifies your product within a particular domain.
Thereafter you have to fight tooth and nail to maintain that
association.
This (pretty much literally) means registering a protest every time
you become aware that someone is using your trademark inappropriately.
Inappropriate use includes someone using your chosen token as though
it refers to a generic class of objects of which your product is
just an instance.
The essential point is that defense of trademarks must be readily
apparent, continuous (no lapses), and allow of no precedents.
There are many textbook cases of trademarks that have been "lost"
to companies (who were lax in defending them) by becoming merely
generic terms.
When AT&T still owned UNIX, they provided a good example of how
things should be done. If FoodleWare came up with a "ProUNIX"
package, they would probably have been obliged to include the
following disclaimer:
UNIX is a registered trademark of UNIX System Laboratories,
Inc. FoodleWare is not affiliated with AT&T.
Because "BSD" doesn't unambiguously map to BSDI; because "BSD" does
refer to a generic class of operating systems; and because BSDI
has no visible record of tenaciously defending the letters "BSD"
as its sole property (in the OS domain), trademark issues should
not be a concern.
--
Robert Nordier
To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?199804131042.MAA11727>