Linux is a trademark
Linus wants money to defend it
Sunday, August 21, 2005 by Frogboy | Discussion: WinCustomize News
Linus Torvald has trademarked the name Linux and has moved forward to ask companies using the name to pay a trademark fee.
Late last week, an Australian company started pursuing companies using the name with the demand that they pay a $5,000 fee to use it.
The problem is, trademarks are not designed to protect companies. Trademarks exist to protect consumers from confusion. In this way, they are different from patents. One cannot treat a trademark the same as a patent.
At this stage, Linux has an uphill battle as a mark because it's been so widely used for something that is, after all, advocated for its freeness. Instead, the strategy should be to look to those who have a vested interest in in Linux meaning something definitive to contribute to a legal defense fund for the mark. Trademark enforcement is very expensive and because of how long the name has been floating around in use, it could be expensive to protect it.
A Linux mark institute has been set up to try to coordinate efforts on the mark. The question is, is it too little too late or can Linux, as a name, be effectively protected at this stage?
Late last week, an Australian company started pursuing companies using the name with the demand that they pay a $5,000 fee to use it.
The problem is, trademarks are not designed to protect companies. Trademarks exist to protect consumers from confusion. In this way, they are different from patents. One cannot treat a trademark the same as a patent.
At this stage, Linux has an uphill battle as a mark because it's been so widely used for something that is, after all, advocated for its freeness. Instead, the strategy should be to look to those who have a vested interest in in Linux meaning something definitive to contribute to a legal defense fund for the mark. Trademark enforcement is very expensive and because of how long the name has been floating around in use, it could be expensive to protect it.
A Linux mark institute has been set up to try to coordinate efforts on the mark. The question is, is it too little too late or can Linux, as a name, be effectively protected at this stage?
phill666
Reply #2 Sunday, August 21, 2005 6:57 PM
Sure he may have come up with the name but its a little to late to trademark it now, and He didn't want to use it to begin with.....
Link
Reply #2 Sunday, August 21, 2005 6:57 PM
| Linus Torvald has trademarked the name Linux and has moved forward to ask companies using the name to pay a trademark fee. |
Sure he may have come up with the name but its a little to late to trademark it now, and He didn't want to use it to begin with.....
Link
dgerghehdf
Reply #3 Wednesday, August 24, 2005 8:30 AM
Reply #3 Wednesday, August 24, 2005 8:30 AM
good on him i say. its funny when the shoes on the other foot
kona0197
Reply #4 Wednesday, August 24, 2005 3:20 PM
Reply #4 Wednesday, August 24, 2005 3:20 PM
Intersting. Linus Torvald lives in my neck of the woods.
StepASide
Reply #5 Friday, August 26, 2005 5:45 PM
Reply #5 Friday, August 26, 2005 5:45 PM
- Hmmm, seems Mr Torv. needs some money to update his buggy kernel..!! 
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Reply #1 Sunday, August 21, 2005 6:45 PM
One word....'Uggboot'.
So damn generic it exists as an entry in the Macquarie dictionary....yet a US co now claims it as its own.......ooh....just about half a century after the fact.