Gaim becomes Pidgin
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Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Apr 8, 2007 16:35 UTC (Sun) by mbottrell (guest, #43008) [Link]
It goes to show the anal lengths some corporations go to protect 'perceived' branding.
In this instance GAIM was using the name well become AOL commenced using 'AIM' for there own IM client.
There was little confusion between AIM and GAIM. Users were well aware of the differences and certainly AOL users have AIM pushed down there throats so there was little or no confusion on their behalf.
It must have been tempting to name it 'Pigeon' - as I'm sure the AOL lawyers need to be crapped on, though the 'Pidgin' name will take some time to 'grow' on it's user-base it does aptly describe it's purpose.
Now with 2.0 able to get out the door things will hopefully move along. 2.0 has definitely been long in waiting... no help to AOL.
Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Apr 8, 2007 16:53 UTC (Sun) by khim (subscriber, #9252) [Link]
In this instance GAIM was using the name well become AOL commenced using 'AIM' for there own IM client.
Huh ? AIM was part of Netscape Communicator 4.0 bundle more then 10 years ago! GAIM is old too, but I don't think it's that old. And since GAIM started as AIM replacement... you get the picture. Yes, for a long time AIM was just a name of program, not trademark, but GAIM is less old then AIM - that's for sure...
Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Apr 8, 2007 17:19 UTC (Sun) by tetromino (guest, #33846) [Link]
GAIM was known as "GAIM" since at least 2002, maybe earlier (I don't remember the very early history of the project). Back then, AOL's product was called "AOL Instant Messenger", no acronym. Of course, like most zero-budget open-source project, GAIM developers never applied to the USPTO to officially trademark their name. Then on September 6, 2005, AOL applied to trademark the word "AIM" for communication software and several other areas (you can look it up in on uspto.gov). USPTO granted them the trademark because they weren't aware of GAIM's existence. Then AOL renamed its technology "AIM" and started harassing GAIM developers, even though GAIM had been using the name for years before AOL. GAIM developers were forced to get lawyers and were prevented from releasing a non-beta version. Finally the GAIM team gave up and renamed their project, just because AOL had a much bigger legal budget.
AOL wasn't protecting its intellectual property. It stole GAIM's.
Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Apr 8, 2007 19:10 UTC (Sun) by khim (subscriber, #9252) [Link]
Back then, AOL's product was called "AOL Instant Messenger", no acronym.
Suure... Let me refresh your memory:
---
Installing the AOL Instant Messenger (SM) Software
After you have downloaded AIM, install the service onto your computer:
1. Locate the AIM95 setup file that you downloaded to your system, and double-click it to start the installation process.
By default, the installer stores the AOL Instant Messenger (SM) in your Program Files directory in the AIM95 folder.
2. Follow the installation instructions on your screen.
---
Can you guess when this instruction was written ? Right:1995 year. May be AIM acronym was not trademarked then but sure as hell it was used extensively in supporting documentation, help and elsewhere. Full name was used from time to time, but AIM acronym was used as well.
Of course it does not mean it can be trademarked and used to force GAIM developers to rename the project.
AOL wasn't protecting its intellectual property. It stole GAIM's.
Oh, here I agree 100%. Either there are confusion between AIM and GAIM - and then AIM can not be trademarked at all because GAIM was in use for years before AIM was trademarked. Or there are no confusion between AIM and GAIM - and then it means GAIM is free to continue.
Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Apr 9, 2007 13:02 UTC (Mon) by jospoortvliet (guest, #33164) [Link]
Well, GAIM seams to mean Gnu AIM, and I can see why AOL doesn't like that.I'm not sure what I think about it, but I can't say I'm totally opposed to
them enforcing a namechange for GAIM.
Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Apr 8, 2007 20:49 UTC (Sun) by tetromino (guest, #33846) [Link]
Corrections:AOL applied for its "AIM" trademark in 2000 and received it in 2001 (the September 2005 one was for the AIM logo). However, Gaim has been called Gaim since 1999, so the basic point still stands.
Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Apr 9, 2007 3:01 UTC (Mon) by hp (guest, #5220) [Link]
While IANAL, I'm pretty sure trademarks can be trademarks purely due to usage, even without registration. Wikipedia INAL either, but seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark#Establishing_trade... for example
Not saying anything either way about the merits of AOL's case in general, just saying that the trademark registration date may not mean very much.
Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Apr 9, 2007 12:20 UTC (Mon) by k8to (guest, #15413) [Link]
This may be so, but the AOL Lawyers "accepted" the name "gaim" as avoiding their trademark "AOL Instant Messenger". So in some sense AOL tacitly accepted an in-use mark which conflicted with one they later registered. It's possible this is not a strong legal argument, but to me it's bad faith.
And certainly when you look at the AOL lawyer brigade practices over the years, I see a whole bunch of deplorable activity. (offtopic:) It saddens me that in order to get acceptable treatment, these humans (developers) had to create a corporation. Normal people, real humans, seemingly cannot get justice in our system.
Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Apr 8, 2007 17:16 UTC (Sun) by Robin.Hill (subscriber, #4385) [Link]
I'd be very interested to see what the project/developers actually got from this settlement. From the announcement, it would appear to have been "settled" by caving in totally to AOL's demands (in which case, it would seem that the initial legal advice was pretty poor as well).
Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Apr 8, 2007 17:52 UTC (Sun) by bk (guest, #25617) [Link]
They probably got an agreement that AOL/TW wouldn't sue them into oblivion. Regardless of the merit of the 'brand confusion' complaint we all know that big corporations can bankrupt individuals with legal fees, presumably the gaim folks wanted to avoid that.
Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Apr 9, 2007 17:06 UTC (Mon) by jimmybgood (guest, #26142) [Link]
Sure AOL could "sue them into oblivion", but that's no big deal. I read the crocodile tears at the Pidgin site and it makes no sense to me. Gaim was legally controlled by the Instant Messaging Freedom Corporation, which had no assets other than 1) the name Gaim 2) the code and 3) the support of the developers. The last two can go anywhere leaving only the name and they gave that up.
They talk about how they can now "release our new version." But there was nothing preventing them from releasing it months ago under the name "Pidgin" thereby making the AOL lawsuit moot. It seems pretty obvious to me that they were delaying the release and the name change to shake down AOL for some cash. If they weren't doing that than they were really foolish and they don't seem like fools to me.
The reason they never trademarked "Gaim" was because they that would have attracted AOL's attention at a time when AOL could have more easily squashed them and would have had a much better legal case.
This is analogous to opening a burger shop called "OldMcDonald's" and selling "OldBigMacs", after finding out that McDonald's had not been trademarked. The Pidgin folks have been fending off AOL succesfully for years. Why would they suddenly give AOL everything they want for nothing?
Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Apr 9, 2007 3:31 UTC (Mon) by paravoid (subscriber, #32869) [Link]
I am the only one that thinks that they should have done this much earlier?
Even if Gaim had the name since 1999 (as one poster said above, I can't corraborate it), AOL's product had a much bigger fame since they started calling it AIM, 1 year after (again, according to the above post).
Add to that that Gaim was an AIM-service client and not the other way around.
It's not like AOL needed to steal a name to have a famous IM service...
The Gaim developers should have changed a name when it was early. Everyone would know Gaim now by its new name, we would have a saner release schedule, probably a better product since the developers would have more time in their hands -- not to mention that they wouldn't have spent so much money on this.
I wouldn't say the same if some big company decided to name a new operating system "ENTOO" but in this case, I think the Gaim developers went too far with this.
Judging from the program, they're excellent developers and reverse-engineers. Their time is better spent doing what they know to do best and without worrying that one of the biggests corporations in the world will sue their ass off.
Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Apr 9, 2007 10:22 UTC (Mon) by Los__D (guest, #15263) [Link]
I feel that the namechange is super... The reason is stupid, don't get me wrong, but Gaim wasn't really a good name.
- It sounds like it is only an AIM client.
- The name strikes fear in Windows users, as it is very close to GAIN, a very annoying piece of adware software. I know, we don't care, but like Firefox and OO.org, it is one of those apps that helps free people from the MS stranglehold, and makes it a little less painful to change the desktop in the end.
Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Apr 9, 2007 16:53 UTC (Mon) by flewellyn (subscriber, #5047) [Link]
While I think the reason for the name change is unfortunate, the actual name is much better. The "GAIM" name left people with the idea that this was only an AIM client, while the truth is that GAIM...sorry, Pidgin...is a highly flexible, multi-protocol client.
But also, the name "Pidgin", which of course means a trade or contact language, brings to mind the role of the program in bringing together multiple IM protocols and contact lists in one place.
So really, I think the new name may be for the best.
Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Apr 9, 2007 17:50 UTC (Mon) by jdahlin (subscriber, #14990) [Link]
Does this mean that we will see more of ))<>(( ?
Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Apr 13, 2007 12:52 UTC (Fri) by kevinbsmith (guest, #4778) [Link]
Posting undocumented links is annoying in general. When the links go somewhere that seems completely unrelated to the topic, it's just a waste of people's time. Please don't do that. For those who haven't clicked it yet, it goes to the IMDB description of the movie "Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005)".
I figured ))<>(( might be an emoticon, but couldn't find it in wikipedia or another list. So I have no idea what that means either.
On topic, I agree that pidgin is probably a better name in the long run, and that AOL were total jerks for requiring the change, but that they may have had some grounds for the request. Too bad so much time and presumably money was wasted on the dispute.
Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Aug 31, 2007 20:14 UTC (Fri) by jdahlin (subscriber, #14990) [Link]
It's not unrelated, the linked movie includes screens with gaim. To find out what the emoticons means, see the movie :-)
Gaim becomes Pidgin
Posted Apr 18, 2007 20:11 UTC (Wed) by roelofs (guest, #2599) [Link]
The Gaim messaging client has been renamed Pidgin.And the Number One answer in the word-association game is... crap. :-)
I would have gone with EndGame, personally. (Of course, maybe that's a trademark, too.)
Greg