On 3/13/11 10:28 AM, Mark Thomas wrote: > On 13/03/2011 16:45, Phil Steitz wrote: >> On Mar 13, 2011, at 1:24 AM, Mark Thomas <ma...@apache.org> wrote: >>> On 12/03/2011 18:03, Phil Steitz wrote: >>>> On 3/12/11 10:41 AM, Mark Thomas wrote: >>>>> On 12/03/2011 15:52, Phil Steitz wrote: > <snip/> >>>>>> Please anyone else chime in with different opinions. I want to make >>>>>> sure I am not misrepresenting our views. >>>>> I think we would have difficulty claiming "Commons" as a trademark. >>>>> >>>>> I think we should be claiming/protecting: >>>>> - Apache Commons >>>>> - Apache Commons Foo >>>>> - Commons Foo >>>> Why, exactly? >>> Because I don't want BigCorp to be able to create a product called >>> "Apache Commons Math". If we don't protect our marks then we have no way >>> of stopping abuse. >> Do you honestly think that the probability of that is distinguishable from 0 >> as a double? > For all Commons components, over their potential lifetime, yes I think > the probability is a lot closer to 1 than 0. > >> Seriously, I have a hard time envisioning this, and an even harder time >> convincing myself that we should be spending precious volunteer hours making >> changes throughout the commons sites to mitigate this risk. Especially when >> these changes may give the wrong impression to some users / potential >> volunteers. > I don't see how claiming our trademarks can give the wrong impression. The impression that we are a commercial entity, or that we are representing the interests of other commercial entities. Most people see trademarks as only meaningful in commercial settings. We have a more sophisticated view @apache that views trademarks as meaningful outside of commercial use, or more precisely as limiting commercial use of the names. My admittedly minority view is that aggressively "claiming marks" does not help our public image.
I will shut up about this now and we can proceed with the changes, since this is consistent with ASF policy and we do not have consensus to challenge that policy. Phil > Mark > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@commons.apache.org > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@commons.apache.org > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@commons.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@commons.apache.org
