Editorial
Who Owns It?
Trademarks receive much less media attention than patents or copyrights – at least in open source circles – but it looks like the trademark buzz might be heating up again with the recent
news that a company in China called Proview owns the name “iPad” and is preparing to throw down with Apple over the use of it. The fact that iPads are actually made in China adds urgency to this problem, with the company threatening to stop all exports until Apple settles.
Trademarks receive much less media attention than patents or copyrights – at least in open source circles – but it looks like the trademark buzz might be heating up again with the recent news that a company in China called Proview owns the name “iPad” and is preparing to throw down with Apple over the use of it. The fact that iPads are actually made in China adds urgency to this problem, with the company threatening to stop all exports until Apple settles. Like other intellectual property concepts, trademark issues can vary from the obvious to the arcane. You might think that vendors would strive for clarity and avoid the nebulous, undefined spaces that lurk within the IP landscape, but it seems that the companies with the largest and most powerful legal teams often intentionally seek out the gray areas and lay claim to no man’s land just to maximize the boundaries of their ownership.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
Danish Ministry of Digital Affairs Transitions to Linux
Another major organization has decided to kick Microsoft Windows and Office to the curb in favor of Linux.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.