Python trademark at risk in Europe [LWN.net]

Python trademark at risk in Europe

Posted Feb 22, 2013 13:28 UTC (Fri) by jschrod (subscriber, #1646)
In reply to: Python trademark at risk in Europe by Wol
Parent article: Python trademark at risk in Europe

> Prior use trumps registration! [...] Legally, it's extremely clear cut.

I don't think so. According to http://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/faq/trademarks.html#P41_1812

> In countries which have a legal system based on common law, “prior use” is generally sufficient for claiming rights over a given trademark in case of dispute. In civil law countries, however, this is usually not the case.

Europe has many civil law countries.

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Python trademark at risk in Europe

Posted Feb 24, 2013 12:39 UTC (Sun) by Jandar (subscriber, #85683) [Link] (10 responses)

> Europe has many civil law countries.

I didn't research but hope civil law countries are in the majority. Judges making case law seems to be a major violation of the principle of separation of powers.

Python trademark at risk in Europe

Posted Feb 24, 2013 16:33 UTC (Sun) by mpr22 (subscriber, #60784) [Link]

Civil law countries are the vast majority everywhere; only the UK and its former colonies use common law.

Python trademark at risk in Europe

Posted Mar 1, 2013 1:47 UTC (Fri) by Wol (subscriber, #4433) [Link] (8 responses)

Civil law was, I believe, invented by Napoleon. Hence its overwhelming use in Continental Europe and their colonies.

As for Common Law, it is NOT "Judges inventing case law". It comes from Englands "Courts of Equity" which, in turn, looks like it comes from the Judaic Judges. Read the Book of Judges, which describes Jewish life before their first King, Saul.

The Courts of Equity settled civil disputes between citizens. And before the reforms in Dickensian times (is it Great Expectations?), there was no case law - every dispute was settled "on the merits" based on the prejudices of the Judge and no reference (much) to anything else.

Statute law over-rides case law, in any case. And actually, there really is in law something called "time immemorial". It's the law as it was before the system of statute law was set up in 1200 and something (Magna Carta and all that). In other words, Common Law.

Like everything else, Common Law can be a good thing, or a bad thing. When you have sensible Judges able to use their discretion, it works well (like in the UK). When you have Judges hidebound by precedent and pretty much forbidden from using their judgement and common sense (like in the US) it's a mess.

From a common-law viewpoint, civil law looks an awful mess and I'm glad we don't have it ...

Cheers,
Wol

Python trademark at risk in Europe

Posted Mar 1, 2013 7:56 UTC (Fri) by anselm (subscriber, #2796) [Link] (2 responses)

Civil law was, I believe, invented by Napoleon.

Civil law actually goes back to the Romans, plus medieval influences. Napoleon promulgated a set of laws called the Code Civil, which is generally seen as an embodiment of the ideas of civil law, but not as the origin of these ideas.

Python trademark at risk in Europe

Posted Mar 1, 2013 13:24 UTC (Fri) by Jonno (guest, #49613) [Link] (1 responses)

>Civil law actually goes back to the Romans
While what the Romans had is what eventually evolved into the modern civil law system, they lacked the primary feature of modern civil law: A single book (or otherwise well-defined collection of documents that can be re-published as a single book) that is "the law".

To my knowledge the first one of those was the Code Civil by Napoleon, marking it the first civil law system, as the term is understood today.

Python trademark at risk in Europe

Posted Mar 1, 2013 16:32 UTC (Fri) by jwakely (subscriber, #60262) [Link]

Didn't Byzantium have several well-defined collections of "the law"? Creating such collections was a bit of a hobby for some emperors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_law
(Or "what have the Nova Romans ever done for us?")

Python trademark at risk in Europe

Posted Mar 1, 2013 9:47 UTC (Fri) by mpr22 (subscriber, #60784) [Link]

Bleak House, containing the equity (rather than common-law) case of Jarndyce v. Jarndyce.

Python trademark at risk in Europe

Posted Mar 1, 2013 18:09 UTC (Fri) by nix (subscriber, #2304) [Link] (3 responses)

As for Common Law, it is NOT "Judges inventing case law". It comes from Englands "Courts of Equity" which, in turn, looks like it comes from the Judaic Judges. Read the Book of Judges, which describes Jewish life before their first King, Saul.

My understanding is that it derives from a system which predates the Norman Conquest, and is similar to systems known in Icelandic and other Scandinavian cultures. Pre-Christian, so highly unlikely to be related to anything in the Book of Judges.

Python trademark at risk in Europe

Posted Mar 1, 2013 19:11 UTC (Fri) by hummassa (guest, #307) [Link] (2 responses)

You do know that the Book of Judges is on the Old Testament, don't you? It is the seventh book on the Bible.

Python trademark at risk in Europe

Posted Mar 1, 2013 20:27 UTC (Fri) by mpr22 (subscriber, #60784) [Link] (1 responses)

It seems exceedingly unlikely that anyone shared the contents of the Tanakh with the Germanic peoples in Scandinavia prior to the arrival of Christian proselytizers carrying Greek translations.

Python trademark at risk in Europe

Posted Mar 1, 2013 21:14 UTC (Fri) by hummassa (guest, #307) [Link]

For the second time in a couple of days (that I am aware of) I made a fool out of myself, because I did not take the time to fully understand what I was responding to.

I apologize, especially to nix, but to other people on the thread too.

IOW, nix is absolutely right.