APL license - What about the enforced logos?

[Lawrence Rosen]

> Uhhhhh, I'd like to correct this misrepresentation of history.  We
> tried to protect it as a trademark, however it is too descriptive.  In
> order to gain a trademark on something so descriptive, you need an
> expensive legal staff.  We don't have that, and so, no trademark for
> "Open Source".

Uhhhhh, I'd like to correct that. In order to gain a trademark on something
so descriptive, you need a change in the law. :-)

/Larry

Lawrence Rosen
Rosenlaw & Einschlag, a technology law firm (www.rosenlaw.com)
Stanford University, Lecturer in Law
3001 King Ranch Road, Ukiah, CA 95482
707-485-1242  *  fax: 707-485-1243
Author of "Open Source Licensing: Software Freedom and 
                Intellectual Property Law" (Prentice Hall 2004)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Russ Nelson [mailto:nelson at crynwr.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 12:46 PM
> To: license-discuss at opensource.org
> Subject: Re: APL license - What about the enforced logos?
> 
> Matthew Flaschen writes:
>  > Unfortunately, those who popularized the term Open Source failed to
>  > protect it as a trademark;
> 
> Uhhhhh, I'd like to correct this misrepresentation of history.  We
> tried to protect it as a trademark, however it is too descriptive.  In
> order to gain a trademark on something so descriptive, you need an
> expensive legal staff.  We don't have that, and so, no trademark for
> "Open Source".
> 
>  > But they really can't do anything about an objectionable use of the
>  > phrase "open source".
> 
> Yes, we can.  We can point out to the misuser that they are going to
> confuse their customers.  "Open Source" is a well-understood term.
> Claiming to have an open source product when you don't will mislead
> your customers.  Customers don't like it when you lie to them.
> 
> --
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