LitReview: FOSS Primer Chapter 5

Who?

• Richard Fontana
• Bradley M. Kuhn
• Eben Moglen
• Matthew Norwood
• Daniel B. Ravicher
• Karen Sandler
• James Vasile
• Aaron Williamson

What?

FOSS Primer - A Legal Issues Primer for Open Source and Free Software Projects (Chapter 5)

Where?

http://bizlegfoss-ritigm.rhcloud.com/static/books/decause-foss-primer.pdf

When?

4 June 2008

The Gist

This chapter of the FOSS Primer was all about trademarks, from what they are, to how to go about registering one.  It also describes situations in which a trademark can be lost, and how a FOSS Project might want to make use of a trademark.

The Good

1. Great quick general description of what a trademark is.  I found this helpful because I really did not know what a trademark was prior to reading this.
2. I like how this explains how trademarks work, but always tries to focus on how they would apply in the world of FOSS, for example when they recommend using class 9 for classification of goods.
3. It's nice that the primer explains the scare tactic behind cease and desist letters, because I think my first reaction to a cease and desist would be to panic.

The Bad

1. Does not constitute legal advice so might not be what someone in a specific situation is looking for
2. I would have liked explanations of other goods classifications aside from just the recommendation of class 9.
3. I wish it was not so expensive to register trademarks.

Questions

1. Exactly how is the scope of a product distributed through the internet determined in trademark issues?
2. At what point is a trademark legally no longer in use due to circumstances like genericide or failure to enforce?
3. Using the "R" symbol, how do you determine whether it is registered by state or federal level?

Review

Next to the Patent Chapter, I think this was my favorite chapter of the Primer so far.  It is extremely to the point and very helpful for someone like me with little prior knowledge in the legal areas.  I also like that although this does not constitute legal advice, the primer does give extremely solid examples of possible scenarios and suggestions of what action to take in such scenarios.

9/10