My reply here is definitely off-topic and I believe in keeping this mailing list on topic so while I will read what other has to say about my comments below, I will not post reply to any of the comments to the mailing list.<br>
<br>I think the US way of protecting "appellation of origin" is more sensible, i.e., you cannot create new one that infringe on it, but it tolerate old ones, especially those that which bleeds into the common vocabulary and has lose its original meaning. May be since I am from South East Asia and that influence me in the sense that I myself would not normally assume Feta is from Greece, Champagne is from French region of Champagne. I would have to find the words "Made in Greece" or "from the champagne region of France" before my sense of "appellation of origin" kicks in. To me, "Parmesan 'style' cheese" on labels are simply there to waste ink. If one wants to be so particular then all our "Singapore Fried Noodles" or
"Peking Duck" in Chinese Restaurant over in UK must be changed to
"Singapore style noodles" and "Peking style duck" since we are 99%
certain that nothing in the dish came from Singapore or Beijing, and that includes the chef.<br><br>However, I acknowledge that different cultures may have different ways of interpreting the word Champagne or Feta. What I do not think is that local culsture should not be exported throughout the world using WIPO or other organization. My rule of thumb for "trade marks"/"appellation of origin" and other non-time limited Intellectual Property is as long as there is no confusion in the target population, there is no problem.<br>
<br>Best Regards,<br>Cinly<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2008/6/13 Philippe Verdy <<a href="mailto:verdy_p@wanadoo.fr">verdy_p@wanadoo.fr</a>>:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"><span>"Champagne" is protected: it is invalid as a protected
trademark because it is a region name; it could only be used as a generic term
related to the geographic origin; however, you won't be able to create a perfume
named "Champagne" or smelling like Champagne because the protection of the
bubble wine still covers all its aspects: not just its taste or aspect or color
or use as a drink variety, but also its derived uses. There are effectively
derived products using true Champagne wines in their
composition.</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"><span></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"><span>The same could be said about Bordeaux, Beaujolais,
Camembert and many other "origin appellations" used in France, but also other
appellations used in all regions of Europe (the Italian "Chianti", the Swiss
"Gruyère", the Greek "Feta", the English "Sheddar", the Scottish
"Whiskey"...)</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"><span></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"><span>Note: "origin appellations" are now recognized
officially in Europe, and there was also an international agreement limiting the
right to reuse these appelations in other products or labels. This protection
takes the form of a registered definition of the designation name, and it works
exactly like a trademark. Most of them are effectively protected by a trademark
registered by some professional unions (that have a official legal identity)
that have defined quality labels with strict requirements recognized and
protected by law: they don't want any use of the protected designation in other
more or less related products because it would fade out this designation, and
there's apparently no limit if some other use is left
permitted.</span></font></div>
<div><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"><span></span></font> </div>
<div><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"><span>Open
sourced products should really avoid all reuse of protected designations in
their own name, otherwise it will severely limit the reusability of the product
(which could even become illegal in some countries and could expose its authors
or users to payment of damages).</span></font></div>
<div><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"><span></span></font> </div>
<div><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"><span>If
you're not convinced, just look why some PC maker is building notebooks named
"Ferrari": they are certainly not automotive products (except the vague
association with speed, which is not a speed on road but processing "speed" that
is not related to any movement or consumption of gasoline by its "engine"!), but
they still feature the red color and name under licence from the car maker. And
you'll pay the price for it on your PC! This is certainly not an open sourced
PC...</span></font></div>
<div><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"><span></span></font> </div>
<div><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"><span>There's now a very large commerce about the use of
trademarks in unrelated products. This is called "co-branding" and it's full of
legal protections.</span></font></div>
<div><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"></font><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"></font><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"></font><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"></font><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"></font><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"></font><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"></font><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"></font><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"></font><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"></font><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"></font><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"></font><br>
</div>
<blockquote dir="ltr" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 255); padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 0px;">
<div dir="ltr" align="left" lang="fr">
<hr>
<font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b>De :</b> Cinly Ooi
[mailto:<a href="mailto:cinly.ooi@gmail.com" target="_blank">cinly.ooi@gmail.com</a>] <br><b>Envoyé :</b> jeudi 12 juin 2008
19:11<br><b>À :</b> John Cowan<br><b>Cc :</b> Beth;
<a href="mailto:license-discuss@opensource.org" target="_blank">license-discuss@opensource.org</a><br><b>Objet :</b> Re: Use of "open source"
in website name<br></font><br></div>
<div></div>my $0.02:<br><br>Combining the word "Open" + "Source" does not
necessary have to mean software. I am sure most people does not have
problem with "Open Source Cola". It's around for many years.<br><br>I
personally do not see anything wrong with calling a perfume "Champagne" since
there is no confusion with the bubbly variety. But I live in Europe and it is
the law here.<br>
<p><font color="#0000ff" face="Verdana" size="2"></font> </p></blockquote><div class="Ih2E3d">
<br>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Best Regards,<br>Cinly