RE: Don't you dare say "levitator!"

[Herb Schulz <herbs@interaccess.com>]

> Before the trademark Xerox was invented, there was no word "xerox" in the
> > langauge; before the trademark Kleenex was invented, there was no word
> > "kleenex".  We could test this by looking at dictionaries published at
> the time >of trademarking.
>
> On the other hand, I would bet you, seriously, that I can find the word
> "levitator" in dictionaries published before the Superconductive
> Components, Inc. Trademark.
>
> I think that most of us recognize that if you coin a new term, even if it
> is a minor variant of an earlier word like "xerography", that you have a
> claim.  But it seems outrageous to allow claims to pre-existing words.
>
> Richard Grandy
> Philosophy
> Rice University (neighbor to Paul Chu)

Howdy,

This reminds me about the time Zilog (maker of the Z80 Microcomputer Chip
[hands up for those who remember this chip and CPM and ...]) tried to
trademark the letter Z!  The request was throw out of court when they tried
to sue someone that used it "illegally."

Good Luck,

Herb Schulz
(herbs@interaccess.com)