Flamers force lawyer to drop application for Bitcoin trademark (opens in new tab)

(betabeat.com)

22 pointspadrack14y ago15 comments

15 comments

This reminds me of the asshole who tried to trademark Linux back in the day. Jerks like these have always existed.

Trademarks aren't like patents or copyrights, there isn't a strong presumption of validity attached. Even if he should manage to get one he shouldn't be able to much beyond send threatening letters (at least in the US).

naner14y ago

Maybe some cheeky bitcoin user could trademark Magellan Capital Advisors in France, Italy, Spain, Japan and China.

caf14y ago

This, and the story about modified versions of VLC being used to distribute malware, seem to be timely illustrations of why Open Source projects should file for and protect their names as trademarks.

marshray14y ago

I like how he equates filing for IP ownership on something that was obviously developed by others with a gainful venture under capitalism.

citadrianne14y ago

I think it's fair to call it capitalism--he's obviously capitalizing. What's debatable is how conscionable that is.

He would have done better to go to someone in the Bitcoin community and offer his services. Someone should own the trademark to protect it. Lots of cc and open source stuff has registered trademarks so the name can't be abused.

marshray14y ago

Capitalism as an economic system means more than just that "people capitalize". It encompasses things like competitive free markets and legal systems to enforce contracts and discourage fraud.

Filing for IP protections on something that is not by any stretch of the imagination your own IP sounds to me like some combination of fraud and perjury.

rcxdude14y ago

someone tried to do a similar thing for cyanogenmod. He tried to pass it off a 'protecting' the project in some way.

scythe14y ago

Uh, would this paper count as "strong compelling evidence"?

http://www.bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

dctoedt14y ago

To serve as evidence, its date of publication would have to be established with reasonable reliability. For a fee, The Wayback Machine will provide an affidavit confirming that Document X was archived on their servers as of a given date.[1]

[1] http://www.archive.org/legal/faq.php

Jach14y ago

Alternatively you could just print it out and mail it to yourself with a seal and never open it unless called for.

1 more reply

tzs14y ago

No. Trademarks are to protect the use of marks used in commerce. That paper doesn't provide any evidence of the use of the term in commerce.

shareme14y ago

the problem is he used a Lawyer License form the USA to file a US trademark which he knew at the time contained some false statements as he was fully aware of the prior art of the trademark being claimed..

anyone know what state he was licensed in?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

15 comments

RexRollman14y ago

This reminds me of the asshole who tried to trademark Linux back in the day. Jerks like these have always existed.

Symmetry14y ago

naner14y ago

Maybe some cheeky bitcoin user could trademark Magellan Capital Advisors in France, Italy, Spain, Japan and China.

caf14y ago

This, and the story about modified versions of VLC being used to distribute malware, seem to be timely illustrations of why Open Source projects should file for and protect their names as trademarks.

marshray14y ago

I like how he equates filing for IP ownership on something that was obviously developed by others with a gainful venture under capitalism.

citadrianne14y ago

I think it's fair to call it capitalism--he's obviously capitalizing. What's debatable is how conscionable that is.

marshray14y ago

Capitalism as an economic system means more than just that "people capitalize". It encompasses things like competitive free markets and legal systems to enforce contracts and discourage fraud.

Filing for IP protections on something that is not by any stretch of the imagination your own IP sounds to me like some combination of fraud and perjury.

rcxdude14y ago

someone tried to do a similar thing for cyanogenmod. He tried to pass it off a 'protecting' the project in some way.

scythe14y ago

Uh, would this paper count as "strong compelling evidence"?

http://www.bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

dctoedt14y ago

[1] http://www.archive.org/legal/faq.php

Jach14y ago

Alternatively you could just print it out and mail it to yourself with a seal and never open it unless called for.

1 more reply

tzs14y ago

No. Trademarks are to protect the use of marks used in commerce. That paper doesn't provide any evidence of the use of the term in commerce.

shareme14y ago

anyone know what state he was licensed in?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse