On Monday 28 May 2007 01:35:57 pm David E Jones wrote: > We've discussed this a bit before and nothing has changed since then. There > is no registered trademark for OFBiz or "Apache OFBiz" or "The Open For > Business Project" or anything else that I'm aware of related to the > project. > > The only restrictions are those listed in the Apache 2.0 license. > > If we did try to register OFBiz or whatever as a trademark it would be very > public and open just like everything else, and in fact getting people > involved to help sponsor the effort and the legal costs and such would be > necessary. A trademark is not something cheap to get started and it takes a > LONG time to get finished, and a lot of effort including legal/government > efforts and enforcement efforts. > > I don't think there is any benefit in doing this, especially not one that > justifies the initial and ongoing cost, so chances are this will never be > done.
This would be additionally complicated by the fact that both IBM and American Express are actively using the phrase "Open for Business" as marketing campaigns. Amex uses it for their small business offerings and IBM, ironically, for their Open Source efforts. I was both pleased and discouraged that IBM was flying a huge banner that said "Open for Business" over their booth at JavaOne. -- Ean Schuessler, CTO [EMAIL PROTECTED] 214-720-0700 x 315 Brainfood, Inc. http://www.brainfood.com
