tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post1187208855126809593..comments2024-03-28T13:45:42.289+00:00Comments on The IPKat: Looking back over this GreeKat's shoulder… Part IV: "JE SUIS… un opportuniste" – the public order as a trade mark barrierVerónica Rodríguez Arguijohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05763207846940036921noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-82391362589067616922015-12-19T15:56:45.044+00:002015-12-19T15:56:45.044+00:00Try to sell a vacuum cleaner by the name of iSuck...Try to sell a vacuum cleaner by the name of iSuck which is neither a phone nor a computer and count how many days it takes before you get mail from Apple's attorneys. If it is not too similar to iPhone they'll tell you it's reminiscent of the failed Newton hand held. The guy who invented gravity was called iSuck Newton, wasn't he? You can always change that the name of your product to uSuck.<br />Trademarks keep judges and attorneys busy without any justification. They should tend to more useful business. Steve's having a laugh in nirvananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-55909499589906947032015-12-19T13:13:10.367+00:002015-12-19T13:13:10.367+00:00JP Proudhorn,
I think that you over-estimate the ...JP Proudhorn,<br /><br />I think that you over-estimate the "exclusivity" nature of the trademark.<br /><br />Vocabulary is not a reasonable measure, as merely speaking ("utter[ing] in a commercial context") the mark is not violating the mark.<br /><br />Attempting to use the mark on similar goods in a similar market context is what is - and the only thing - protected.<br /><br />The Pigsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-72964269920189647062015-12-19T09:35:25.183+00:002015-12-19T09:35:25.183+00:00Cross subsidizing is not an issue. Trademarks are ...Cross subsidizing is not an issue. Trademarks are subject to fees not to prices. The purpose of a fee is regulatory in nature, not to raise a profit. The fee for parking in inner cities is not chosen to maximise income but to reduce traffic to what is considered reasonable. 1.7 million active trademarks in Germany alone is definitely not reasonable. That's 50 times as much as the vocabulary of a reasonably educated person. Under the domain of similarities thousands of times as much. Whatever you utter in a commercial context is certain to violate the trademark rights of thousands of right owners or should we call them highwaymen as A. K. did. IP has developed into an alltogether ridiculous trade. The only reason it still exists is its unenforcability. JP Proudhonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-60291986339160635062015-12-18T21:31:16.620+00:002015-12-18T21:31:16.620+00:00@Adam: I agree that currently monopolies are hande...@Adam: I agree that currently monopolies are handed out too cheap.<br />All under the pretext of higher number of applications=more innovation.<br /><br />I understand the desire to make applications cheap, so that even market newcomers are not deterred but encouraged to use these means, but at the latest after a grace period of two years (checking market acceptance), the costs should reflect the damages done to the public by limiting their freedom through another granted monopoly.<br /><br />Through these higher renewal fees, cross subsidy for cheap first two years can easily be payed, even more so if you limit discount application prices to smaller users of the IP systems (e.g. discount only for SMEs, or users with less than ten current minopolies of the same type,...).<br /><br />Best wishes,<br />- one of those EPO examinersAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5574479.post-71588694273337257352015-12-18T18:27:52.196+00:002015-12-18T18:27:52.196+00:00Trademarks, like patents, copyright etc.. are no ...Trademarks, like patents, copyright etc.. are no instrument for the free-market in the first place, on the contrary. They are are limiting free trade. A regulatory instrument. This may have some justification for the 2000 or 3000 top trademarks. I want to have Nutella in the Nutella. I do not care who produced the Je suis Charlie diapers, I would not buy them anyway, even I had kids at the right age.<br /><br />The millions of trademarks to follow are just a means for printing money. The vast majority of trademarks registered is never ever used to market anything. Allowing these Is just a limitation to the freedom of the public with no justification whatsoever.<br /><br />To cut through the thicket limiting I.a. freedom of expression, it would be desirable to make their registration and maintenance prohibitively expensive. A couple of thousand euros a year would not deter SMEs it would deter highwaymen, like those who filed these "trade marks"<br /><br />Evidently I do not expect too much support in a forum many of the members of which make a living on filing useless and abusive IP instruments, such as trademarks.Adam Kaynesnoreply@blogger.com