On Mon, Nov 01, 1999 at 04:42:50PM -0400, Neil Kandalgaonkar wrote:
> Joshua Chamas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> That said, they do allow non-profits and others to use the camel, e.g. the
> Perl Mongers. It's not evil, they're just trying to protect a trademark
> which they built. AFAIK no one associated a camel w/perl before the ORA
> books.
There's a slightly different reason that you are all missing. It's not
that they WANT to defend their trademark, it's that they HAVE to defend
their trademark, or they lose it. As I recall under US trademark law, if I
can prove that you knew of a use of your trademark and did nothing, The
courts can say that you werent defending it, and take it away.
Want an example? There's a band here in town that's been around for 20
years called The Raisins. When the California Raisin Board began using
those horrid purple claymation raisins in their commercials, they issued a
cease and desist order to the band because their "Musical band called the
raisins" was too close to their trademarked "Musical singing raisins that
really are dried grapes even though they're really clay"
After a legal battle the courts decided that the band The Raisins predated
the trademarked clay raisins, and could continue.
About two years later, the band added semi-famous guitaris Adrian Belew,
and toured the country for two years as "The Bears", then Adrian left the
band and they went back to schlepping about Cincinnati as "The Raisins".
They got ANOTHER cease and desist order, and this time, the judge said
that they had ABANDONED the name, and no longer had rights to it. So, they
now play out as Psychodots.
Just goes to show, in the US if you dont vigorously defend your rights to
any registered or implicit trademark, you can lose it.
-Chris
