atw: Re: BlackBerry devices? [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

Janice

Thank you for explaining this point. I suppose all this must be obvious to 
the lawyers or whoever make up these rules, but it certainly doesn't make 
much sense to me. Just how is using a term adjectivally or as a noun going 
to affect whether other people will then use it generically?

In answer to Jonathan's point - about asking RIM - I thought I'd already 
explained that I tried to do just that and got no response.

One further question on this. Does this 'rule' mean that, for example, I 
shouldn't write 'Word allows you to store information in document 
propeties' (which certainly is the style that Microsoft itself uses in its 
documentation), but instead write 'The Microsoft Word ® word processing 
software allows you to ...'?

Howard



Janice Gelb <Janice.Gelb@xxxxxxx> 
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atw: Re: BlackBerry devices? [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
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>
> I am currently writing a policy manual on BlackBerry devices.  I would
> like your opinion on what terminology to use.
>
> Is the term BlackBerry accepted widely enough so that I can use it
> without adding the word "device"? That is, do I use the term "BlackBery"
> alone or do I need to call it a "BlackBerry device"?
>

Deciding whether to use the qualifier noun "device" is not
so much a matter of whether the term "BlackBerry" is accepted
widely enough as it is a question of protecting RIM's trademark.
Trademarked terms should be used as an adjective not a noun so
that they are not used generically (for example, "Make a Xerox
copy of this" vs "Make a Xerox of this"). Doing so differentiates
a specific brand from other similar items.

>
> Following on from this, what is more acceptable in the plural,
> "BlackBerries" or "BlackBerry devices"?  I do not really want to
> have to  use the word "device" if I can help it, but somehow
> "BlackBerries" does not seem right.
>

For the same reason, there probably isn't a plural that is
recommended by the manufacturer.

-- Janice

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