Hahaha!
Well put Ray.
On the list I forwarded this from the moderator and myself have been
writing an open response to Jonothon. I.e. We've been sending it to the
list but putting Jonothon in the cc: field.
They've got no responses.
I think it's probably an awkward position to be in but, well heck here's
what i wrote. I posted it to the list as well as to Jonothon so it's in
the public domain anyway.
"Jonothon,
I've listened to your ACB Main Menus, I've bought your tutorials, I've
chatted to you on Messenger.
As a trainer I respect you, but I think you've lost your objective in this
new role.
As far as the trademark thing goes, Freedom Scientific was formed in April
2000.
They immediately filed for the trademark of "Freedom Scientific" in the
US, and it was finally registered in December 2001.
Serotek, the company that sells the FreedomBox product line, was formed
in November 2001. "FreedomBox" is not a registered trademark.
References follow.
http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_about/history.asp
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=6nvm08.2.1
http://www.freedombox.info/AboutSerotek.htm
Jonothon, you used to be the guy who'd stand-up and would speakout against
this stuff, but I'm afraid you're falling the way of the corporate
executive.
I realise you work for the company and of course you're not going to be
seen
as to be slamming the people that pay all your luxurys that I'm sure you
couldn't aford before this new post in Freedom Scientific.
Please don't try and fool people though by stating you're speaking as a
journalist. It was riddled with support for Freedom Scientific as only a
Vice President can give.
I've pretty much kept myself to myself about this whole thing. My
feelings
are that the flagship product for Freedom Scientific, "Jaws" went way down
hill when all the companys merged. Essentially making a Microsoft the
assistive technology IT industry.
It really bugged me though when you came out in clear defense of your
employer but implyed the mask of a journalist.
I'd like to see you follow the example of Kevin Rose from dig.com, but I
fear you won't.
He stood up to the big boys and acknowledged his users, his community.
It's fair enough if you really believe Freedom Scientific are in the
right,
but please dont' come the implyed independent journalist.
I'd like to close by saying, yes I'm dissapointed. Will that make a
difference to you or Freedom Scientific, that some guy from Northern
ireland
thinks you guys are wrong? Most likely not, money talks etc etc.
Good luck Jonothon and I sincerely hope the power and money don't get to
you
anymore than they have, in my opinion already."
"
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ray's Home" <rays-home@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 11:15 AM
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Fw: [blind_geek_zone] Fw: [BCT] Some thoughts on
FreedomScientific verses Seroteck
Well DJ, after all said and done, Mosan is being paid highly to
proclaim the company line.
Oh how people can change, and not always for the better. A clever,
but in the end, shallow Breadhead is what he's become.
Cheers,
From Ray
I can be contacted off-list at:
mailto:ray-48@xxxxxxxx
-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On
Behalf
Of Dj Paddy
Sent: 23 May 2007 3:00AM
To: bcab@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Fw: [blind_geek_zone] Fw: [BCT] Some thoughts on
FreedomScientific verses Seroteck
I really had respect for Jonothon, untill i read this.
However, it seems he's been blinded by the almighty dollar and the
Corporate
life.
It's sickening that he's trying to write by pleading the role of the
humble
journalist, whilst admitting his position within the company.
I feel Freedom Scientific regardless of the out come have dealt
themselves a
blow in the eyes of their customers and potential customers.
Dj Paddy
Ôà
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rick Harmon" <rickharmon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blind_geek_zone@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 1:31 AM
Subject: [blind_geek_zone] Fw: [BCT] Some thoughts on
FreedomScientific
verses Seroteck
=======
Visit my webpage and podcast feed at www.blind-geek-zone.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Larry Gassman" <lgsinger@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Blind Cool Tech" <blindcooltech@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 7:36 PM
Subject: [BCT] Some thoughts on FreedomScientific verses Seroteck
Jonathan Mosen wrote the following on his Exploders list.
Larry
Last week, Freedom Scientific, Inc. filed suit against Serotek
Corporation
for trademark infringement with respect to the FreedomBox range of
products.
Since then, the matter has been discussed at length on some
blindness-related blogs and e-mail lists. I'd like by way of this
message
to
clarify what I view as some of the objectives of the suit. I am a
Vice
President at Freedom Scientific, and am extremely proud to work
there.
However writing this message is my own initiative as a former
technology
journalist. My aim in doing this is that people at least get a
chance to
consider facts over rhetoric.
Firstly, let me talk a little about trademark law. A trademark's
purpose
is
to exclusively identify a source and origin of products.
Importantly, a
trademark only applies to a certain range of goods or services. One
of
the
questions I have seen on e-mail lists is, "how can Freedom
Scientific
claim
to own the word Freedom." By taking this action, Freedom Scientific
is
not
seeking to do this. Rather, Freedom Scientific is simply enforcing
the
Freedom Scientific trademark, which it owns for certain goods.
Freedom
Scientific has invested to establish its trademarks and is only
seeking
to
enforce these valuable rights. Freedom Scientific has the legal
right,
and
the obligation to its customers and shareholders, to protect the
use of
its
trademark in the context of assistive technology. The concept of
using
common words in trademarks is common - for example the use of the
word
Apple
to describe a computer company. As is well known through recent
news
stories, Apple is quite entitled to own this name in the context of
computer
hardware and software products. It does not, of course, mean that
Apple
has
any rights to the name when you eat a piece of fruit. Trademarks
can
co-exist where there is no similarity between the businesses. For
example,
Delta Airlines and Delta Faucets are trademarks, but there is no
issue
there
because the businesses' purposes are totally different and there is
no
room
for confusion. Freedom Scientific is confident that its trademark
rights
will be upheld. The broadening of scope of the FreedomBox products
to
include products like FreedomBox System Access (FBSA) offering
access to
mainstream applications only exacerbates the infringement.
Trademarks are not some abstract thing. They are a company's
reputation.
They are legal property, and you can't simply take someone's
property
without their consent.
Secondly, I'd like to turn to the question, "why now." All sorts of
bizarre
speculation have been put forward as to the timing of this suit.
Freedom
Scientific made Serotek well aware of its position on this matter,
but
unfortunately Serotek was unwilling to negotiate a settlement to
this
matter. No one likes having to go to court, but if you genuinely
believe
your property rights are being trampled upon, in the end there is
no
choice
but to do so if you are unable to get a resolution any other way.
Thirdly, it has been said that Freedom Scientific is giving the
blind
community no credit by taking this action, and that everyone knows
the
difference between the two product lines. Rest assured, this is
most
certainly not the case. I can tell you that Freedom Scientific has
been
contacted by Serotek customers seeking technical support, or even
wanting
to
buy a Serotek product. Thus, there is a likelihood of confusion.
Fourthly, a petition has been established by the hosts of ACB
Radio's
Main
Menu, calling itself the Save Serotek petition. The grossly
misleading
name
of this petition implies that somehow Freedom Scientific's
objective is
to
put Serotek out of business. As a result of the sensationalist
name, many
commenters to the Petition have made comments to this effect. All
Freedom
Scientific is seeking to do is protect its property and to seek
appropriate
compensation for the unlawful use of it.
The objective here is not to put Serotek out of business. 2007 has
already
seen great innovation from Freedom Scientific and there's plenty
more to
come. Honest competition inspires excellence and is good news for
the
customer. But I stress the word "honest." Yes, many people in
assistive
technology are motivated by a strong sense of purpose and
commitment to
making a difference. But these companies are still commercial
entities,
who
have every right to use the legal system to protect their property
if
they
think they need to, just as you have a right to use the legal
system if
someone breaks into your house and takes something belonging to you
In closing, I hope that those genuinely interested in the facts of
this
matter will take the time to read up on trademark case law, but
most
importantly, will let the judicial process take its course. It
occurs to
me
that if Freedom Scientific has got it as wrong as a few people
claim,
then
what do they have to fear? A jury will dismiss the case. I doubt
that
will
happen though. If the law has been broken as I believe it has, then
Freedom
Scientific is quite entitled to redress.
My hope is that sanity prevails and that Serotek has both the
courage and
the decency to brand its products in a fashion that wasn't already
being
used in this industry. I think they would gain a lot of respect
from the
blind community for acting honourably. Fair competition is not too
much
to
ask for, and it most certainly is worth fighting for.
Those interested in the subject of trademarks may like to take a
look at
the
Wikipedia entry on the subject, found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark.
Jonathan Mosen
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