[legal] Questions about OpenID Europe Trademark Policy

[Bill Washburn]

Hi Snorri,

What precisely are you saying "yes" to?  

On the one hand, naturally it is highly desirable to have OpenID become a widely used and recognizable term.  Yes that much is good, for sure.

OTOH, it is important/imperative that OpenID as a brand/trademark of the OpenID community be legally protected and carefully policed regarding its "correct, proper, appropriate" use, as amazing as that might sound to all of us non-attorneys, because if we (the OpenID Foundation in behalf of the OpenID community) fail to assiduously watch over, control, and maintain it's proper/correct/authorized use, then the term "OpenID" runs the risk of becoming entirely abused, misused, and ultimately having no definitive meaning attached to it whatsoever.

So this is a real balancing act, no doubt.

Also, it important to say that there is a trademark committee just getting going anew that is tackling these and related issues globally with the objective to establish/articulate a set of policies and guidelines that are understandable, well aligned, and coordinated across jurisdictions around the globe.  Please let me know if any of you would like to volunteer for that committee.

cheers,
-bill

----- Original Message ----
From: Snorri <snorri at snorri.eu>
To: Hans Granqvist <hans at granqvist.com>; Snorri <snorri at snorri.eu>
Cc: legal at openid.net
Sent: Saturday, March 8, 2008 10:06:52 AM
Subject: Re: [legal] Questions about OpenID Europe Trademark Policy

Yes of course!
And it is precisely why it is necessary to propose same rules for everybody.

-----Message d'origine-----
De : legal-bounces at openid.net [mailto:legal-bounces at openid.net] De la part
de Hans Granqvist
Envoyé : samedi 8 mars 2008 18:56
À : Snorri
Cc : legal at openid.net
Objet : Re: [legal] Questions about OpenID Europe Trademark Policy

> There has been a lot of conversation about the use of the TM symbol, all
> lawyers explain that it is important to write it
 to avoid in the future
> OpenID become a word like "kleenex", "email"


But... Don't you *want* that to happen?

"Nobody should own this. Nobody's planning on making any money from this."
and all that, you know.

Hans
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