On 30/12/2007, Arnoud Engelfriet <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Jordi Guti?rrez Hermoso wrote: > > A lot of other local laws don't define "intellectual property", but > > people use the term anyways as if it were legally defined. It's sad > > news to see that France does and that other laws are also doing it. > > :-( > > Why do you think it's necessary for a law to define a term of art > for lawyers? As long as people know what is meant by the term, what > is the problem?
In this case, because I honestly *didn't* know what the term meant. I had no idea that geographical indication was also intellectual property, for instance. I do get the impression that there is widespread confusion about what it means. > Geographical indications: this refers to e.g. labeling sparkling wine > from California as "Champagne" (which is not allowed because Champagne > is a protected geographical indication). It's related to trademarks. I understand what it means, it's just a funny thing to call that "intellectual property", don't you think? Also, regarding trademarks, that's sometimes a very non-intuitive intellectual property. In Mexico, at least, I know that you cannot trademark a common word, although I'm guessing that only pertains to Spanish because Windows (r) is seemingly recognised as a trademark, for instance. > The two design rights are related but hava a different purpose. > IC layout designs are purely functional and technical, while industrial > designs are ornamental. They need separate criteria because of their > different purpose. I see, thanks. > Trade secrets: yes that's a pretty broad definition. If information is > undisclosed and has commercial value because it is secret, the owner > of the information has a cause of action against people who misappropriate > this information from him. Could I misappropriate your lighter's or matchbox's fire[1] for this candle I want to light in mourning of the spread of intellectual property concerns? > (Very funny, repeating that key here). Isn't it a Debian package by now?[2] Oh, I guess it hasn't gotten uploaded yet. It's important to have a sense of humour about these things, because otherwise I'd be crying about it. :-) - Jordi G.H. [1] http://everything2.com/?node_id=697430 [2] http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2007/05/msg00043.html -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]