General Discussion

Effete Snob

(8,387 posts)

10. People have a lot of misconceptions about trademarks

Mon Jul 24, 2023, 05:22 PM

Jul 2023

This red triangle:

...is one of the oldest trademarks still in use.

The idea was originally to mark goods in trade so that illiterate riverboat workers could get them to the correct warehouse when they arrived on the barge.

For $300 you can file to register whatever you want, and a lot of dumb reporting is devoted to "so-and-so files to trademark (fill in dumb thing)" in the belief that by merely filing an application, one obtains some kind of monopoly on the word, phrase or whatever.

Anyone is free to draw red triangles.

What you are NOT free to do is to put it on your beer label, because it has been distinctive of Bass Ale for a very long time.

They even point it out on their label:

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By law, may one claim a single letter (e.g., X) of the alphabet as a brand name or as a trademark? [View all] xocetaceans Jul 2023 OP

It's a stylization of the letter... MiHale Jul 2023 #1

Yes, it's been done many times. WhiskeyGrinder Jul 2023 #2

Answer: yes... brooklynite Jul 2023 #3

No, it doesn't need to be stylized Effete Snob Jul 2023 #4

Associating it uniquely with a particular good or service and actually using it in commerce. Frasier Balzov Jul 2023 #8

People have a lot of misconceptions about trademarks Effete Snob Jul 2023 #10

"England's First Registered Trademark" Frasier Balzov Jul 2023 #14

The X Window System, familiar to any Mac owners using Unix software. keep_left Jul 2023 #5

It's a standard Unicode character Effete Snob Jul 2023 #6

So the Twitter logo is really just a Unicode character? keep_left Jul 2023 #9

On a quick look, I'm not seeing a registration related to Unix or X Windows, or Apple for Ms. Toad Jul 2023 #20

It may in fact be unregistered. The software goes back decades (1984) and is... keep_left Jul 2023 #21

The stylized X at the Wikipedia link Ms. Toad Jul 2023 #22

Yeah, it looks like Twitter is just using a Unicode character. keep_left Jul 2023 #23

Macs running OS X are using Quartz, not X Rob H. Jul 2023 #34

No, they use both. A beginner to intermediate user will probably never use X, but Unix... keep_left Jul 2023 #36

They *could* use both, but X11 was a separate install Rob H. Jul 2023 #37

Yeah, it was an optional install on the DVD, and XQuartz is the replacement. There are similar... keep_left Jul 2023 #38

This message was self-deleted by its author Initech Jul 2023 #7

Another common misconception about trademarks Effete Snob Jul 2023 #12

That table saw is missing a wing and that's why you can't fly it. Hermit-The-Prog Jul 2023 #27

Trademarking your whatever can be a royal pain. Not along ago I read that Disney keeps a full staff allegorical oracle Jul 2023 #17

There are well over 100 trademarked uses of the letter X Ms. Toad Jul 2023 #19

If he got any flak, Musk could declare it is one of his logos. As others have said: stylized. My allegorical oracle Jul 2023 #11

It doesn't have to be stylized. Ms. Toad Jul 2023 #18

He would have to use the (R) mark with the Z wouldn't he? nt allegorical oracle Jul 2023 #28

Do you mean with the Z? Ms. Toad Jul 2023 #29

A old friend of mine used to write "X" instead of his name. BigmanPigman Jul 2023 #13

Different kind of mark. Ms. Toad Jul 2023 #16

Trademarks are tied to the class in which they are used and cannot be descriptive Ms. Toad Jul 2023 #15

I seem to remember a trademark dispute between Apple Computers and the Beatles, marybourg Jul 2023 #24

The issue was Apple entering the music business. Ms. Toad Jul 2023 #25

Thank you. I think Musk is looking for trouble. Or publicity. marybourg Jul 2023 #31

I think he just has no impulse control. Ms. Toad Jul 2023 #32

I think you got that right! marybourg Jul 2023 #33

Prince did this: (not a letter, but a symbol) IcyPeas Jul 2023 #26

You could ask Eloons son, ğ+:č in a few years. TrotskyistTidings Jul 2023 #30

I'm amazed at the little things that bother people ripcord Jul 2023 #35