Re: Facespan and Mac OS X
Re: Facespan and Mac OS X
- Subject: Re: Facespan and Mac OS X
- From: Bill Cheeseman <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 06:51:33 -0500
Trademark law is a strange beast.
Can I publish a web site called "AppleScript Sourcebook"? Sure. It isn't
software, and the title is always used with both words so it is obviously a
publication about AppleScript, not AppleScript itself. Ditto for books like
"AppleScript in a Nutshell," "AppleScript for Dummies," and so on, even if
they include CDs containing software. There is no possibility of confusion
that might cause somebody to buy the book when they meant to buy the
software.
Can somebody publish a software product called "AppleScript Helper" or
"FaceSpan for AppleScript"? I should think so. But "AppleScripter" or
"Visual AppleScripter"? -- that cuts it pretty close, and Apple would surely
sue. It is a fact of life that getting sued is as bad as losing, if you're a
small company.
It's all a matter of judgment, where the touchstone is likelihood of
confusion among potential customers of the trademark owner. Many factors
bear on confusion. Similarity in wording. Similarity of product. Relative
prices. And so on. I once won a law suit for Polaroid, where the maker of
the very expensive high-end "Alpa" 35mm camera sued for infringement by
Polaroid's $25 "Polaroid Alpha SX70" snapshot camera. A pretty easy victory,
I thought, although it went to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston twice
before it was over.
The good news, of course, is that FaceSpan is coming to Mac OS X.
on 11/14/01 8:56 PM, What does not kill you only makes you stronger at
email@hidden wrote:
>
http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/0111/14.facespan.php
--
Bill Cheeseman - email@hidden
Quechee Software, Quechee, Vermont, USA
http://www.quecheesoftware.com
The AppleScript Sourcebook -
http://www.AppleScriptSourcebook.com
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http://www.stepwise.com/Articles/VermontRecipes
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http://members.valley.net/croquetvermont