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Subject:Re: Trademarks and nouns - how often? From:edunn -at- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com To:Annamaria Profit <inteltek -at- erols -dot- com>, TECHWR-L -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com Date:Fri, 6 Oct 2000 14:08:04 -0400
Unfortunately public use is virtually impossible to stop. Indeed it's a sign of
success when the general public links your name to the product.
What is important is to protect the trademark from becoming public domain.
There's no harm in the public comparing the quality of a product by saying it's
the cadillac of its catagory. If someone uses that in a campaign, then it's
another story.
If as a company you can show that you have diligently avoided the name becoming
public use and have defended against the name's use in the public domain by
other companies then the trademark remains yours.
Eric L. Dunn
(I'm not a lawyer so this is only an opinion. This is only how I understand the
issue.)
Annamaria Profit wrote:
"The other issue here is the diligence with which the legal depts
challenge all public use of the trademark. Writers can "tm" and "r" all
mentions, but if the legal beagles aren't out there tracking public-use
incidents, the effort fails. Public use happens because the
lawyers/execs are asleep to the consequences. And once it happens,
there's a serious counter challenge in the courts to any claim of
trademark infringement."
