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submitted 1 year ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

Meta given 30 days to cease using the name Threads by company that trademarked it 11 years ago::undefined

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[-] newIdentity@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago

I don't like Meta, but this is fucking ridiculous. You can't just trademark a word.

[-] madeinthebackseat@lemmy.world 60 points 1 year ago

Yes you can, that is the definition of what a trademark is.

Could you imagine 20 different brands of Coke on the shelf?

The usage is specific to a market, however. For example, Delta Airlines and Delta Faucets. Both trademark "Delta."

[-] dosaki@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago
[-] LaChaleurDeLaNuit@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I see tugas are in the place. Nice.

[-] newIdentity@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago

Could you imagine 20 different brands of Coke on the shelf?

Yes because that's exactly how it is in Germany. Coke isn't a trademark. CokaCola is.

[-] SuperJetShoes@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

So you could hava "Delta decent airlines" and "Delta fucking shit piss-stained seats threadbare aircraft $15 50ml Coke cans" then?

Totally different market sectors.

[-] Hildegarde@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago

You literally can. That's what trade marks are.

You can't copyright a word. You can't patent a word. But you can trademark a word. Trademarking a word gives you the exclusive right to use that word to identify your products but only within the specific market it is registered in.

A few more examples of trade marked words, apple, meta, cherry, target, zoom.

Are any of those trade names invalid simply because they are preexisting words? No. That's trademark law.

[-] Dozzi92@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

Meta will disclaim the word Threads because it is too generic. So you can trademark whatever you want, but when someone comes along and wants to use it, if you've trademarked something generic, like Threads, then you go to court and presumably have them rule whether or not you can use it. And that probably will happen.

[-] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

According to Trademark law in many places you can.

Generally, you can only enforce your trademark (successfully) if the infringing group is in the same industry. So if I sold an educational service or toilet bowl cleaner called Apple the tech and music giant can't go after me for trademark infringement, though for music, computer tech and software they would have a case.

[-] PeleSpirit@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago
[-] hedgehog@ttrpg.network -4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I agree, but tell that to Rockstar.

EDIT: I assume the downvoters aren’t familiar with Rockstar suing every indie game dev who released a game with “Monster” or “Monsters” in the title.

this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023
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