Date : Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:49:39 +0200
From : rick@... (Rick Murray)
Subject: A new Element 14
Darren Grant wrote:
> On 25/07/2009 10:26, "Rick Murray" <rick@...> wrote:
>> Isn't something a little bit dodgy going on here?
> I'm afraid legally they are doing nothing wrong,
What I was referring specifically to was the inclusion of:
? The ACORN trade mark has been registered since the 1980's and
is a well known brand in computing.
If this company was related to Acorn in a distant way as has been
suggested, then there may be *some* merit in it, but otherwise to even
mention that the name has been in use since the '80s when it wasn't your
brand... that's not really any different to the Argos/Wharfdale thing
[1]; the dodgy part being perhaps that referring to an existing
historical use of the name may have influenced the ultimate decision.
Surely if it was that simple to kick a person off a domain name, we
would have less problem with cybersquatting?
Equally though, the original owner not replying (not bothered? not
contactable?) won't have helped either!
No idea what my own domain says, I asked for the contact information to
be disabled. If it points to its own mail server... that doesn't work
[2]. And I bet it *still* mentions Richard Goodwin, which is historical
from like a dozen years ago when it was registered via Argonet. We both
contacted the UK naming people, I forget who, back when HeyRick was
hosted on coolfactor, but nothing was ever done about it...
> The Acorn trademark is just a trademark and can be used for any purpose
> providing it falls within the registration group.
Yup - that's how we have Acorn computers and Acorn furniture...
Thought - does the BBC own exclusive world rights to those initials?
They are frequently used over here (France) for "Batiment Bas(se?)
Consumption", in other words and eco-friendlier new-build house.
> The trademark was sold to a company who has given this new PC company
> the right to use the trademark in return for a fee.
...or else the trademark lapsed? There was a period when the Acorn brand
wasn't being actively used - the Pace/ROL/Castle period.
> It doesn't matter that the new company has nothing to do with the original,
> in fact most well known names have nothing to do with the original.
This opens up all sorts of interesting questions, for to talk about the
"Acorn Electron" or "Acorn FileStore" or... you get the point... or even
the Acorn Computers MOS versions, you are making constant reference to
trademarks, but outdated ones. Where does this fall in the lie of
things, and if the new company should (if they have the right?) us to
stop using what they perceive as their property, how do we refer to the
old equipment if not by its name?
> another company that now licenses Argos to use the name on electrical
> equipment.
That was probably quite a good commercial move for everybody except the
original owners of Wharfdale, but who cared about them afterwards? I
knew the company had either sold out or been bought out or something
when the brand started turning up in Argos catalogues!
Best wishes,
Rick.
--
Rick Murray, irregular internet access at local library.
BBC B: DNFS, 2 x 5.25" floppies, EPROM prog, Acorn TTX
E01S FileStore, A3000/A5000/RiscPC/various PCs/blahblah...