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Xref: sserve gnu.misc.discuss:6191 comp.org.eff.talk:9015 comp.unix.bsd:4908 comp.os.mach:2110 misc.int-property:497 Newsgroups: gnu.misc.discuss,comp.org.eff.talk,comp.unix.bsd,comp.os.mach,misc.int-property,alt.suit.att-bsdi Path: sserve!manuel!munnari.oz.au!constellation!greg From: greg@gallifrey.ucs.uoknor.edu (Greg Trotter) Subject: Re: Are you sure UNIX is a trade mark? Originator: usenet@midway.ecn.uoknor.edu Sender: usenet@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu (Usenet Administrator) Message-ID: <1992Sep11.123540.19263@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu> Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 12:35:40 GMT Distribution: inet References: <farrow.716074432@fido.Colorado.EDU> <18ns8rINNd81@agate.berkeley.edu> <1992Sep11.084516.16908@infodev.cam.ac.uk> Organization: A Planet Of His Own Lines: 42 In article <1992Sep11.084516.16908@infodev.cam.ac.uk> rwe11@cl.cam.ac.uk (Richard Earnshaw) writes: >In article <18ns8rINNd81@agate.berkeley.edu>, ag@cogsci.Berkeley.EDU >(Keith Gabryelski) writes: > .... >|> When I four years old I used the words `Kleenex' and `Band-Aid' to >|> refer to generic products of their respected kind. Neither company >|> paid much attention to my obviously wrong use of their trademarked >|> brand names. > >I was always under the impression that dilution of a trade mark came from >other companies being permitted to sell products using the same mark, if the >manufacturer of `Scotties' were to start calling their product `Kleenex' >and no action were taken then dilution would have occurred, but to say >"pass me a Kleenex" is not. Similarly, many people I know call a vacuum >cleaner a Hoover; but, to the best of my knowledge Hoover is still a trade >mark of guess who... > >The same applies to the brand name Unix; what you or I call it is pretty >irrelevant, so long as other companies don't try to market under the same >name. Asprin and Lineoleum were once brand names. But common usage (that's us, dude) dictated that the brands had become generic. Specifically, in the case of Aspirin, there were other companies selling the drug (under the name (I hope I spell this right) acetacylic pain releiver), but only the trademark holder, Bayer, could use the name Asprin. Eventually, someone else used the name Asprin. Bayer sued, and *lost* because they had not taken appropriate steps to express Asprin as a brand name instead of just a plain ol' noun. That's why the makers of Kleenex, Band-Aid, Scotch Tape, Jell-O, Unix and other such companies must fight constantly to remind the consumer that their product is set apart by the others in at least name. Right now, I'm sure A. G. Bayer Co. would *love* to have a royalty on all use of the work Asprin for commercial purposes... ;-) - greg -- Greg Trotter -- Norman, Oklahoma greg@gallifrey.ucs.uoknor.edu