Another "annoying" trademark :)

[Gary W. Swearingen]

"Simon L. Nielsen" <simon at FreeBSD.org> writes:

> On 2003.08.26 09:51:48 +0200, Marc Fonvieille wrote:
...
>> Maybe we can wait for the registration to be effective...
>
> That could take a very long time, so when somebody from XFree86 respond,
> I plan to handle it along with all the other unregistered trademarks.
...

I'm curious why unregistered and registered trademarks should be
handled differently.  IMO, they should be be handled the same, with
some default treatment (eg, use "(TM)" or not) and some special
treatment for owners who are known to desire it (not necessarily the
treatment they desire), regardless of registration.

It seems safest to assume that any (?) claims of trademark are valid
claims and that you are dealing with a proprietary trademark which
gives someone rights in the use of the trademark.  I'm fairly sure
that the owner can sue you (and even win) with or without
registration, with the main difference being whether it's going to
cost you a lot or a whole lot.

There should be one difference in handling, according to the USPTO web
site's intro material: It says that the circle-R symbol may not be
used except with registered trademarks.  

(I'm not so sure about that.  I've never seen any law against it or
even against a false claim of copyright or non-registered trademark
ownership.)

The statute also has a footnote saying that there are other ways to
mark a trademark (other than the circle-R and "Registered in
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office" and "Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off.") to
give notice that it is registered, but it refers to some old law that
I couldn't find.

AFAIK, "(TM)" and the small raised "TM" only imply a trademark claim,
not registration.  Anyone know of (semi?) official documents on the
matter?