Use of "Lindows" name blocked in Sweden

Use of "Lindows" name blocked in Sweden

Posted Dec 12, 2003 9:22 UTC (Fri) by filipjoelsson (subscriber, #2622)
In reply to: Use of "Lindows" name blocked in Sweden by Ross
Parent article: Use of "Lindows" name blocked in Sweden

> It's a technical term which describes a GUI element used in MS
> Windows and other operating systems.

In english, yes. In swedish, we say "fönster" (which happens to be the translations of "window").

> Is calling X11 "The X Window System" also not allowed?

Good question. I doubt that they (tm)ed it in Sweden before MS (tm)ed MS Windows.

> How about referring to things on the screen as windows?

As I said before, we don't - unless speaking to a foreigner who don't know swedish.

> What about wxWindows?

Have they applied for a trademark here?

> It's really a mess if they don't recognize the term to be generic as it
> is.

The mess is the concept of trademarking a generic word, I agree. But what constitutes a generic word? Could I trademark a swedish, french or latin generic word in the US? Sure. Should I have to prove that my (tm)-to-be is not a generic word in _any_ language when I apply? That's silly. So, should we do away with the concept of (tm) alltogether? That's no good either. (How would I know that I really get the quality product I'm looking for in that case?) Do you have a solution?

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