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ES/2 will be renamed e/OS2

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RickCHodgin:

--- Quote from: Sergey Posokhov on November 21, 2018, 11:35:07 pm ---It's a trademark. Don't touch other's trademark under any circumstances.

--- End quote ---

What's a trademark?

Martin Iturbide:
Hi

Something with the OS/2 name can be a potential problem.
You can search trademarks in the US here: https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-application-process/search-trademark-database

Here are the results attached.

Regards

Sergey Posokhov:

--- Quote from: Rick C. Hodgin on November 21, 2018, 11:56:31 pm ---What's a trademark?

--- End quote ---

Technically, trademarks and brands are just words that companies tells to their customers. Like IDs and numbers in a price list, but here lies roots of the problem known as "what is genuine and what is not".

If you will put a margarine in a box with picture of a cream-milk butter and start to sell it, people eventually will hate both you and your fake butter. Sooner or later, they will realize that it is a poison full of omega 6 trans fat (because it is a margarine from cotton oil, and omega 6 TF is a poison), and will start to buy 25%-fat baked milk and 50%-fat butter with a true vengeance (both contains a saturated fat, which keeps temperature of human body close to 36.6 C). They will treat your product as "not genuine" and will never buy it again.

To understand this particular example, you could read a book "Fat for Fuel" by Joseph Mercola. But there are same problems with other goods and services, from chocolate and green tea to clothes and shoes, from ballroom dances and relaxing music to... for example, software.

So... despite you would prefer to keep API compatibility, don't imitate other's trademark (including icons, fonts and colors) because people will feel that "this is not a genuine software".

RickCHodgin:

--- Quote from: Sergey Posokhov on November 22, 2018, 04:20:41 am ---So... despite you would prefer to keep API compatibility, don't imitate other's trademark (including icons, fonts and colors) because people will feel that "this is not a genuine software".

--- End quote ---

Sergey, I'm not imitating anything, especially someone else's trademark.  The target is to be an OS/2 clone, but it is not "OS/2" it is "e/OS2" which is different.  And, if IBM has any problem with me using that convention I'll change it.

This is twice now you've suggested that I'm infringing on someone else's trademark.  I do not think that I am.  If there is a legal relationship between my name choice and OS/2, I'd like to have it pointed out explicitly as by example of former companies that could not use a particular name as by a judge's ruling due to similarities like mine.

Dave Yeo:
Generally, trademark infringement revolves around whether people can be confused by the names. I'd think that e/OS2 and OS/2 are close enough to confuse people. Whether IBM would care at this point, who knows, but they do look similar and both describe an operating system.

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