On 9/18/2017 11:01 AM, Simon Poole wrote:
Am 18.09.2017 um 11:47 schrieb Stephan Knauss:
Hello Simon,
On 18.09.2017 10:17, Simon Poole wrote:
Depending on the territory you can have rights in marks that you have
not registered and it is probably completely undisputed that OSM is
associated as strongly as OpenStreetMap with the project.
My main interest is whether we actually have OSM as a mark.
I assume you refer to this:
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/markeng/__4.html
I wasn't actually specifically referenceing Germany, as said it really
depends on which territory you are looking at.
This requires a majority of the "users" associating OSM with the
OpenStreetMap Foundation, or maybe with the product the OSMF has which
is our database.
I assume without a registered trademark it would be up to the OSMF to
actually prove that they created the OSM mark by using it, right?
In general all trademarks require that you actually use them to at least
maintain your rights,
So wouldn't it be wise to actually register OSM to prevent any doubts
on having that mark? Costs don't seem that high. Googling mentions 300
EUR for a registration.
Are we confident, the majority associates OSM with OpenStreetMap?
There was the OSMAPS@ mark a while ago. It belonged to Ordnance Survey
Maps, which can also be abbreviated as OSM.
Can we even legally use OSM with Ordnance Survey having OSMM?
https://euipo.europa.eu/eSearch/#details/trademarks/002782688
Wouldn't they be legally required to protect their mark by asking us
to stop using OSM?
Where is the difference between us weakening the OSMM mark and FOSM
weakening the OSM mark?
Obviously I can't comment or even speculate on OS views on their marks,
and it is just as pointless speculating what we we would do if we were
not constrained by financial and manpower resources (as for example the
WMF for all practical purposes is not). As of now we are just covering
the most important things,
Simon
Under US law, at least, a trademark has to be defended (i.e.,
periodically searching for people making infringing use of the
trademark, and sending them cease-and-desist letters), or else risk
having a court later decide that the trademark has been abandoned and is
now in the public domain, free for anyone to use without requiring
permission. This has happened over the years to a number of
trademarks. Once a trademark has been defended for a certain number of
years (I am not certain how long), it gets further legal protection and
you don't have to defend it quite so vigorously. Back about 15 years
ago, I worked for a small company that was having to defend its
trademark, so I have a layman's understanding of the issue.
--
John F. Eldredge -- j...@jfeldredge.com
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out
hate; only love can do that." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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