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RE: to The or not to The.....

Subject: RE: to The or not to The.....
From: "Fred Ridder" <docudoc -at- hotmail -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 06 Sep 2005 11:42:52 -0400


Trademarks are supposed to be treated grammatically as adjectives,
which means that it is correct to use "the". After all, you wouldn't
say "I take express train to work," do you? Instead, you'd say
"I take the express train...".

But is "Widget" the trademark adjective and "XYZ" the noun that
identifies the type of product? Or is "Widget XYZ" the trademark?
If it's the latter, you'd properly need to refer to "the Widget XYZ
system". Using a trademark as a noun undermines trademark
protection and may ultimately lead to the trademark becoming a
generic term like aspirin (which is still a trademark outside the US)
or jello.

My opinions only; I don't speak for Intel.
Fred Ridder
Intel
Parsippany, NJ

From: "Victoria Wroblewski" <vwroblewski -at- bridgeport-networks -dot- com>
Subject: to The or not to The.....
Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 10:20:13 -0500



Why does it still feel like a Monday?

I know I've seen discussions on the subject of "the" before, and it
looks like we're about to have a go-round with marketing about the
correct terminology for our products.

In the past, speaking about our Widget XYZ (a combined software/hardware
solution-type thing) I've leaned towards calling it "Widget XYZ". It's
our product, trademark and all, and darn it I like the Microsoft Manual
of Style. Marketing, it appears, calls it "the Widget XYZ". There is
no style guide or tablets from the mountain top to clear up this issue.


I know we have to just pick one and stick with it, but is one more
correct? Is one more trendy?

- Victoria

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References:
to The or not to The.....: From: Victoria Wroblewski

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