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Subject:Re: Trademark infringements From:Janice Gelb <janiceg -at- MARVIN -dot- ENG -dot- SUN -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 4 Jun 1997 16:02:06 -0700
Geoff Hart said:
>
> While I agree with the sentiment, it's annoying to me, as a
> reader, to encounter "Velcro-brand fastener" when I've
> never heard this phrase in daily speech; everyone I know
> simply says "Velcro". It's also unrealistic to use brand
> names solely as adjectives, since we're supposed to use
> language that's familiar to our readers. Jane used the
> examples of Kleenex, Oreo, and Xerox, but nonetheless,
> these are used incorrectly everywhere and everywhen.
> Although each company no doubt would prefer it to be
> otherwise, they've long since lost the battle to keep these
> trademarks out of the public domain.
>
[snip]
>
> If I appear to be saying that it's OK to perpetuate a wrong
> practice simply because everyone else does it, that's not
> my point. We must certainly respect the legal niceties, but
> also respect the fact that our readers aren't lawyers and
> will refuse to read text written on behalf of lawyers.
>
And one of the reasons the above-cited trademarks were lost is that
people were sloppy about using their trademarks and they were sloppy
about defending them. In the cases cited, readers won't suffer if the
writer says "photocopy" instead of "Xerox," or "tissue" instead of
"Kleenex."
Currently, our legal department requires us only to protect our own
trademarks and the trademarks of third-party companies with whom we
have entered into agreements. Many companies have specific policies
that they require, and that's probably the first avenue you should
check. Plus, if you can use a generic instead of a name you know is
copyrighted, try that.
-- Janice
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