[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: [OT] Harassment of open source developer !



Am 05. Jul, 2001 schwäzte Jan Ulrich Hasecke so:

> "Eric G. Miller" <egm2@jps.net> writes:
> 
> > Protest all you like, but I think Adobe probably has a valid claim of
> > trademark infringement.  
> 
> Today KIllustrator, tomorrow M$ sues KWord and KOffice. Every project
> can be sued this way, it only a question of ill fantasy. In the end
> you can only use numbers for your projects. 
> 
> If we do not defend our rights, who should? The american way of buying
> words out of our languages must be stopped. So I think it is good to
> protest.

Actually, this appears to be the German way in this case :). First it's
in .de. Second, notice that it's a German word, not an English word, e.g.
Illustrator vs. illustrator. He should change it to Killustrator and see if
the .us portion of Adobe comes after him ;-).

The real problem isn't that it's a normal word being used, but that it
appears to be a brand X version of a name brand. It's the 'K "Illustrator"'
vs. the 'Adobe "Illustrator"'.

Still stupid, but illustrator isn't near as common a word as say word or
draw or office. There are also other things that could've been used, e.g.
KVectorGraphics, KArtist or probably even K Illustration Package.

I don't know if I'd rather have companies getting to trademark words in
specific industries or have them throwing in more words, e.g. kleenex,
crescent wrench ( the crescent wrench co went out of business long ago ),
Q-tip, bandaid, etc. All those stodgy profs in .de deciding to change the
language is bad enough[1]. Letting marketing weasels do it is a true horror
of modern times ;-).

The real problem is that they apparently didn't just ask that he change
it. The 4.000 DM bill is what sucks the most.

cioa,

der.hans

[1] I like »Donaudampfschifffahrtskapitänsgesellschaftpräsident« to have 3
fs. Not as good as Pfeiffer »mit 3 F«, but still good ;-).
-- 
# der.hans@LuftHans.com home.pages.de/~lufthans/ www.DevelopOnline.com
#  Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
#  I took the one less traveled by,
#  And that has made all the difference. -- Robert Frost
#  I, OTOH, prefer to just go stomping through the desert... - der.hans



Reply to: