Comments on: Cory was off the grid - so my apologies to Cory http://blog.broadbandmechanics.com/2006/05/cory-was-off-the-grid-so-my-apologies-to-cory Digital Lifestyle Aggregation - helping to establish open source infrastructure Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:46:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2 By: Marc’s Voice » Blog Archive » Trademarks vs Copyrights vs Patents http://blog.broadbandmechanics.com/2006/05/cory-was-off-the-grid-so-my-apologies-to-cory#comment-42744 Marc’s Voice » Blog Archive » Trademarks vs Copyrights vs Patents Mon, 29 May 2006 15:28:05 +0000 http://blog.broadbandmechanics.com/2006/05/cory-was-off-the-grid-so-my-apologies-to-cory#comment-42744 [...] Continuing the conversation, Ian Betteridge writes (in a comment): [...] […] Continuing the conversation, Ian Betteridge writes (in a comment): […]

]]> By: Ian Betteridge http://blog.broadbandmechanics.com/2006/05/cory-was-off-the-grid-so-my-apologies-to-cory#comment-42738 Ian Betteridge Mon, 29 May 2006 14:52:43 +0000 http://blog.broadbandmechanics.com/2006/05/cory-was-off-the-grid-so-my-apologies-to-cory#comment-42738 Marc, look into the history of trademark laws and you'll find all the answers you need. Trademarks laws are designed to protect consumers, not to ensure a revenue stream for companies. They're designed so that no one can make crappy vacuum cleaners and call them "Hoover" (except, Hoover themselves, of course :) ), thus fooling you out of money and incidentally protecting the company from damage to its reputation. Copyright, on the other hand, is designed to benefit the creator of works by granting a limited-term exclusive license to the work to them. It's completely different both in origin and in scope. So let's get back to the whole "Web 2.0 Conference" thing. O'Reilly/CMP have spent time and money building up the good name of the "Web 2.0 Conference". People go to that conference because they know it's well-run with interesting speakers and they'll meet interesting people. Suppose someone comes along and just decides to create a conference called "Web 2.0 Conference London". Because the names a similar, there might be an expectation from people that it's an O'Reilly conference - but it turns out that it's badly organised, badly executed, and has idiots talking at it. Now, the "Web 2.0 Conference" brand is damaged, and anyone who went along expecting something like the O'Reilly/CMP conference is going to be very unhappy. That's the difference. Trademarks aren't about "owning a concept", as many people have jumped into saying lately, but about ensuring that one company can't pass off its product or service as that of another. People are confusing patents and copyright with trademarks, because they're all types of intellectual property, without actually thinking things through and realising that they're all different, and have different roles and functions. No one sane - even in the anti-IP camp - thinks trademarks are a bad thing. You want that bottle with Coca-Cola on the label to be Coke and not SchmoCola made from ground up wombat shit, right? Marc, look into the history of trademark laws and you’ll find all the answers you need. Trademarks laws are designed to protect consumers, not to ensure a revenue stream for companies. They’re designed so that no one can make crappy vacuum cleaners and call them “Hoover” (except, Hoover themselves, of course :) ), thus fooling you out of money and incidentally protecting the company from damage to its reputation.

Copyright, on the other hand, is designed to benefit the creator of works by granting a limited-term exclusive license to the work to them. It’s completely different both in origin and in scope.

So let’s get back to the whole “Web 2.0 Conference” thing. O’Reilly/CMP have spent time and money building up the good name of the “Web 2.0 Conference”. People go to that conference because they know it’s well-run with interesting speakers and they’ll meet interesting people. Suppose someone comes along and just decides to create a conference called “Web 2.0 Conference London”. Because the names a similar, there might be an expectation from people that it’s an O’Reilly conference - but it turns out that it’s badly organised, badly executed, and has idiots talking at it. Now, the “Web 2.0 Conference” brand is damaged, and anyone who went along expecting something like the O’Reilly/CMP conference is going to be very unhappy.

That’s the difference. Trademarks aren’t about “owning a concept”, as many people have jumped into saying lately, but about ensuring that one company can’t pass off its product or service as that of another. People are confusing patents and copyright with trademarks, because they’re all types of intellectual property, without actually thinking things through and realising that they’re all different, and have different roles and functions.

No one sane - even in the anti-IP camp - thinks trademarks are a bad thing. You want that bottle with Coca-Cola on the label to be Coke and not SchmoCola made from ground up wombat shit, right?

]]> By: Bernie Goldbach http://blog.broadbandmechanics.com/2006/05/cory-was-off-the-grid-so-my-apologies-to-cory#comment-42577 Bernie Goldbach Sun, 28 May 2006 07:04:52 +0000 http://blog.broadbandmechanics.com/2006/05/cory-was-off-the-grid-so-my-apologies-to-cory#comment-42577 Isn't it irritating that the baying masses think this issue constitutes a business emergency substantial enough to stop aircraft, interrupt vacations and call after-hours conferences? While some good discussion has emerged, Tim himself needs to review the backlash that emerged from a cease and desist letter and to lend his voice to the issue. He may discover that Marc Canter was on stage during a previous Web 2.0 conference in Ireland and needs to be determine if that act also erodes CMP's Web 2.0 conference trademark position. Isn’t it irritating that the baying masses think this issue constitutes a business emergency substantial enough to stop aircraft, interrupt vacations and call after-hours conferences? While some good discussion has emerged, Tim himself needs to review the backlash that emerged from a cease and desist letter and to lend his voice to the issue.

He may discover that Marc Canter was on stage during a previous Web 2.0 conference in Ireland and needs to be determine if that act also erodes CMP’s Web 2.0 conference trademark position.

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