Hi! This was intended for debian-mentors, but since it is a legal issue, I thought it would be more appropriate here.
I'm packaging Shishi, a Kerberos implementation, for Debian. The term "Kerberos" is a trademark held by MIT, according to RFC 1510: Project Athena, Athena, Athena MUSE, Discuss, Hesiod, Kerberos, Moira, and Zephyr are trademarks of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). No commercial use of these trademarks may be made without prior written permission of MIT. The trademark is registered with USPTO: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=case6n.2.2 I am familiar with the GNU policies on trademark, and I am trying to adhere to them when possible. My question is: What is Debian's policy on trademarks for terms used in documentation and package descriptions? Do Debian require that certain usages of a trademarked terms is permitted to be included in Debian? I have established a contact with the MIT Technology Licensing Office, and while I have a basic answer permitting me the usage permitted by law, I'm wondering if there are particular permissions that would be useful to request as far as Debian is concerned. Further, in this case, the "Kerberos" trademark is marked as DEAD with the USPTO. There is an explanation of what it means at: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=help&state=case6n.2.2#FAQ_DEAD But I don't understand the legal consequences of that. If anyone here know more what this means, I'd be interested. Specifically, can the MIT continue to claim rights to the trademark when it is DEAD? Thanks, Simon -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
