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List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: KDE 1.2-Preview: eyecandy.png
From:       dep <dep () westnet ! com>
Date:       1999-07-27 18:34:39
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On Tue, 27 Jul 1999, Stephan Kulow wrote:

|Well, phrases, slogans, etc. - something you could have been invented.
|But you can't hardly say Apple invented the word Trash. Afaik that's the
|difference between trademarks and registred brands.

the case law suggests that you cannot trademark the word trash, so
long as that is what it is. but if you have a product called "trash,"
and it is a laundry detergent, and you trademark it, no one else can
market a laundry detergent called "trash." so the question comes down
to whether what the kde use of "trash" does. does it meet the
standard of common usage? probably not. what kde calls trash is
actually a holding directory for files believed to be no longer
needed. 

example: microsoft has trademarked the word "windows." you will note
that this has not precluded anyone in the window business from using
the word windows, nor do they have to pay tribute to bill in using
it. many, many companies have that word as part of their names, with
total impunity. only in the use of the word in connection with
computer windowing software is microsoft protected. if apple wishes
exclusive rights to the word "trash" when it comes to computing --
well, they know their products better than anyone else does.

perhaps "file purgatory" would be good, or "cyberlimbo." with an icon
that depicts stephen hawking.
-- 
dep__________________________________________________________________
                2000 is a number that breaks computers.
                01-01-01 is when the millennium begins.

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