[TriLUG] [OT] Common Public Attribution License / Open Source Initiative
Phillip Rhodes
mindcrime at cpphacker.co.uk
Wed Aug 15 16:01:30 EDT 2007
Steve Litt wrote:
> On Wednesday 15 August 2007 13:50, Magnus wrote:
>
>> Unfortunately they own the trademark to the term "Open Source".
>>
>> It would be interesting to see a more openly run group coin a related
>> trademark with a narrower definition and operate more transparently.
>
> When did that happen? Last I heard, they backed out of trademarking it because
> it was too difficult to trademark (probably because it's descriptive). I
> don't have time right now, but someone should look up on USPTO whether it's
> trademarked at all.
My understanding is that they don't have a *registered* trademark, but
that that doesn't mean they don't still have a trademark. I'm not
even close to being an expert on trademark law, but apparently there's
something akin to a "common law" trademark where you gain a trademark
simply through use in commerce, even if you don't register with the
USPTO. As I understand it, the OSI claims that they have such a
trademark on the term "Open Source" despite pulling their application
to register it with the USPTO.
TTYL,
Phil
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