*BSD News Article 10273


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From: dfox@quack.sac.ca.us (David Fox)
Subject: Re: [386BSD] pcvt 2.00 - VT220 console driver: Name change?
Message-ID: <fYjd0rz@quack.sac.ca.us>
Keywords: 386BSD console driver VT220 namechange
Organization: The Duck Pond public unix: +1 408 249 9630, log in as 'guest'.
References: <1617@hcshh.hcs.de> <1628@hcshh.hcs.de> <61950@aurs01.UUCP> <1jhmvhINNor0@life.ai.mit.edu>
Date: 22 Jan 1993 18:38:31 UTC
Lines: 32

In article <1jhmvhINNor0@life.ai.mit.edu> mycroft@hal.gnu.ai.mit.edu (Charles Hannum) writes:

>| Why would the name of a driver subsystem require a name change because
>| a program that runs under a completely different os has a similar
>| name?
>
>Not only that, but you can't copyright a name.  This person is confused.

Sure you can.  It's not a copyright per se, but one can put a TM next to
it, or make it a registered trademark.

One does need to be careful about this.  If you wrote a program (doesn't
even have to be a spreadsheet) for 386bsd called Lotus something or other,
you might be sued. :)

Then again, Lotus might say "386bsd? What's that?!? No-one uses that, so
we'll overlook this trademark infringement." :)

> \  /   Charles Hannum, mycroft@ai.mit.edu
> /\ \   PGP public key available on request.  MIME, AMS, NextMail accepted.
>Scheme  White heterosexual atheist male (WHAM) pride!


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