FreeLists / openbeos / [openbeos] Re: Naming and trademark issues

["Ithamar R. Adema" <ithamar@xxxxxxxxx>]

At 15:49 18-8-2001 -0500, you wrote:

>Hello Michael Phipps et al...
>
>I was very interested reading the 'bedevtalk' message threads about
>creating a new open source version of the BeOS (I read them via the
>escribe site). I think this is definitely doable, and definitely worth
>doing.  So in my comments below I'm going to assume that you guys are
>truly serious about this and that this thing will really happen.

I sure am, and I think most of us, although it is hard to see the bumps in 
the road we've got ahead of us.


>The first issue that comes to mind (for me) is what to call the new OS.
>This may not seem important -- I'm sure as developers you've got all
>kinds of interesting technical ideas and concerns floating thru your
>head at the moment. But the problem is, Be Inc. still exists as I write
>this and will possibly continue to exist (even if only as a shell
>corporation) for many months ahead. This means they still own the name
>'BeOS' as a trademark and could sue any group trying to use that
>moniker as part of a product name (even a free one).  Or maybe Palm
>owns the trademark now.... same problem.

As far as I understand Palm has the trademarks, but IANAL ;=)

>I am not a legal expert in the least, so if I'm wrong on this, someone
>please correct me. But as far as I can see, you won't be able to create
>an operating system and name it 'openBeOS' or 'freeBeOS' or any other
>title with 'BeOS' somewhere in it. You would be open to a legal suit.

<snipped some more valid stuff about the legal stuff>

Yup, you've got a valid point there. Although, we're not really making 
anything new yet, we're just writing software _for_ BeOS ;-)) That all this 
new stuff will replace the whole of BeOS in the end, is just a detail ;-))

Seriously, we may even be able to negotiate with Palm as soon as we've got 
something more than a busy mailinglist and a set of geeks dreaming ;-) I 
definitely would keep it in mind, but I do not see so much of an urgency 
there, as I don't even think the kernel will be successfully replaced 
within a years time or so.

Regards,

Ithamar R. Adema.