Re: Trademarks...again

[Deborah Hemstreet <dvora -at- tech-challenged -dot- com>]

Hi Gail,

Thanks for this information. I was aware of the adjective issue, but had 
no idea this was legislated!

Deborah

Gail Ludvigson wrote:
> As a former trademark attorney, let me chime in with the rest of the posters. Asking your law department is important, especially since it ultimately is their responsibility to ensure that you use the company's intellectual property correctly.
>  
> However, there's something else to think about besides the use of the various symbols (TM, SM, (r)). You also have to use the trademark correctly in order to protect it. U.S. law requires that a trademark be used as an adjective rather than a noun or verb (descriptive use). This is where many users have gone wrong--and committed what has come to be known as "genericide." The best examples are aspirin and escalator. They became nouns rather than "brand names" and passed into the public domain as common words--their users could no longer claim them as private property. This almost happened to Xerox and Band-Aid as well. If you listen closely, you may hear "Band-Aid brand" bandages or "photocopy" instead of "xerox."
>  
> Besides federal law, there's also a labyrinth of state laws to navigate concerning notices and registration.
>  
> Just my two cents from previous experience.
>  
>
> Gail Ludvigson
> Seattle, WA 98105
>
>
>       
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing 
> solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor,  Microsoft Word or 
> HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. 
> http://www.doctohelp.com
>
> Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
> authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
> once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as dvora -at- tech-challenged -dot- com -dot- 
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
> techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/dvora%40tech-challenged.com
>
>
> To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
> http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info. 
>
> Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
> http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat
>
>
>   
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing 
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor,  Microsoft Word or 
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. 
http://www.doctohelp.com

Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info. 

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat