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Old 06-23-2008, 08:23 AM   #9
the_logos
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Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Mill Valley, California
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Re: [ANN] The Fury .PvP. Project

Trademarks aren't attempting to redefine a word. They exist to reliably identify to consumers the origin of commercial goods or services. So, for instance, when a consumer sees the trademarked Apple logo on a computer or piece of consumer electronics, the consumer is able to reasonably expect that Apple had something to do with the product. Other companies are still able to use the word apple, just not in the same areas that Apple's trademark extends to. If you ran a fruit-harvesting service (provided labor to fruit-tree farmers) and nobody else had trademarked Apple in conjunction with fruit-harvesting or related activities, you'd be good to go on using it.

Well, that's the responsibility of the search provider. They're the ones providing you with the hits.

I'm not an attorney (though I do deal with trademark law somewhat frequently with our attorneys) but I believe that's the case, yes (though as always with the law there may be some corner cases that are exceptions). Trademark law exists to protect and promote commerce, so a hobby project isn't going to receive protection from trademark/servicemark law. Note the distinction is whether it is used in commerce though, so a non-profit that's engaging in commerce (World Wildlife Fund, Red Cross, etc) is still able to trademark its name, logo, etc.

(As always btw, the details really depend on what country's laws you're talking about. The above is directly about the US, though it's not much different in Canada and Europe, for instance.)
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