From: "Michael H. Warfield" <mhw@wittsend.com>
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 06:57:51 +0800
To: eric@sac.net
Subject: Re: Trademarking CypherSpace???
In-Reply-To: <3.0.3.32.19971006132514.033f9a78@mail.sac.net>
Message-ID: <199710062241.SAA18130@alcove.wittsend.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



> At 06:52 PM 10/5/97 -0700, Bill Stewart wrote:
> >Sigh.  A company called I-Planet is trying to trademark the term 
> >"Cypherspace", even though we've been using it for a couple of years
> >in the cypherpunk community.  

> All this fuss is really not such a big deal, as long as the Patent and
> Trademark Office <http://www.uspto.gov> hears about it.  I know nothing
> about trademark procedure, but I imagine that a letter (or three) to the
> PTO referencing the right application number on it could scotch an
> application but quick.  Printing out email and adding a stamp seems almost
> sufficient.

	Oh man!  Better think again.  This really feels like Deja Vue.
If you are not familiar with it, take a look at what the Linux community
went through when some clown snuck through a trademark on "Linux".  You
can check out that story at <http://www.ssc.com/linux/trademark/>.  He
lost, but not without some ugly fighting.  Actually, he surrendered the
Trademark to Linus Torvalds in exchange for his original filling fees.
I think Linus, Linux International, SSC, et al decided that would be
cheaper than to continue to litigate, even though the individual in
question was facing possible criminal charges over filing a false PTO
application.

	Don't take it lightly and if you can beat it before the Trademark
is issued, DON'T WAIT!

> Maybe the nice folks at i-planet (I know you're getting this) could just
> post their application number and save us the trouble of finding it ourselves?

> And I checked:  The fee for a formal _ex parte_ appeal filing is only $100.
>  I'm sure the i-planet lawyers will spend far more than that defending one
> of those.

> Eric

	Mike
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