Re: Do our trademarks conflict?
Rippit the Ogg Frog writes:
> A Kuro5hin member named Water claims my software's trademarked logo
> infringes another programs trademark. While both programs have the
> GNU General Public License, they are both commercial products of
> private companies. I would take any threat to my livelihood
> seriously, as I imagine they would too:
>
> http://www.kuro5hin.org/comments/2006/7/21/203616/307/21#21
>
> I don't think there is actually a conflict, but it's easy to
> understand why this fellow thought so.
>
> To head off such a costly dispute, I'm seeking expert advice. If
> there is any doubt whatsoever, I will of course consult an attorney.
> But the best advice I can get at four in the morning is from
> debian-legal.
Any opinion you get from debian-legal is not going to mean a thing to
either a court or a trademark office. For legal advice in general,
but especially for issues at the level of detail you are talking
about, you need to ask a lawyer if you intend to rely on the advice.
My guess is that a lawyer's first suggestion would be to change your
logo, regardless of whether he or she thought one infringed on the
other, since that is the surest and probably cheapest way to avoid any
dispute.
Another simple way might be to have a written letter of agreement
between you and Azureus that neither mark infringes on the other's
rights, and that neither will sue the other for trademark
infringement. You would definitely want a lawyer to draft such a
letter so that it will hold up. Since both works are GPLed, I would
hope this would be acceptable to the trademark owners.
Michael Poole
Reply to: