Re: Advice on project name change request

[Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>]

Patrick Schoenfeld <schoenfeld@in-medias-res.com> writes:

> that is probably a question that a lawyer can answer only. Otherwise
> ask the company who asked for the rename if they are okay with your
> favorite.

If one is to rely on such an informal response from the company, ask
for it in writing of some form, and get them to be clear that they
represent the company's position on this.

It makes absolutely no difference to some putative later iteration of
management if some predecessor informally okayed the name. Without a
firm statement of the position of the company at the time, you have
little to no defense.

Case in point: The Firefox trademark handball [0] that occurred to
Debian, with MozillaCorp deciding out of the blue that some
predecessor was not actually representing the company's position,
represented a total waste of negotiation effort up to that point.

With that in mind, you should try to get either expert legal advice
or, failing that, firm written commitment from someone who says (and
you believe) to be representing the company's official position.


[0]: bug#354622, <URL:http://bugs.debian.org/354622>

-- 
 \      “If you were going to shoot a mime, would you use a silencer?” |
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Ben Finney