Don’t forget
This Monday (6 February), Lior Zemer, mostly of Leicester, but also of Boston University School of Law, will be speaking at Queen Mary IPRI on the interface between copyright and Lockean theory. All are welcome and nobody’s palm needs to be crossed with silver, but please RSVP to Ilanah. The fun begins at 12.30pm.
Here they go again
ZDNet reports Linux Mark Institute (the body set up by Linus Torvalds to protect the LINUX mark) may be appealing against the decision by the Australian Trade Mark Registrar to refuse to register LINUX as a trade mark. An application to register the mark was turned down last year on grounds of lack of distinctiveness. Linux Australia’s president stated with regard to the present proceedings
"The decision of the trademarks office can be appealed, and I believe that is in progress, however Linux Australia is not actioning that…That's being done by the Linux Mark Institute…Their legal team is going through the process, and we are providing them information as they request it, as they need access to local documentation, and things like that, but we're really a third-party to it…We're not directly involved in the process.".
The initial application caused furore amongst software developers who use Linux and feared that they were at risk of being deprived of the opportunity to use the term, or would be forced to pay royalties to the mark-owner.
The IPKat says that this decision certainly important enough to make it worth appealing. The idea of an operating system being generic has implications that could reach well beyond Linux.