On Mon, 5 Dec 1994 15:13:17 -0400 Terry Oakes
<[log in to unmask]> said:
 
>Are other listowners  registering their listnames as  trademarks and the
>lists as patents and what are the legal ramifications.
 
I think you'd  have a hard time  registering a list name  as a trademark.
First of  all, you're  talking about flushing  a couple  thousand dollars
down the drain, unless you do  everything on your own, and with something
so atypical I  wouldn't be surprised if you had  trouble figuring out how
to connect  all the legal  pipes together. Then  you're going to  have to
describe the kind of business the trademark is used for and give the date
of the  first inter-state or  international sale. No sale,  no trademark.
Trademarks are supposed to be used  for business, and you're not supposed
to be able to  register a trademark and then not use  it, just to prevent
others from  using that word.  So while I  don't expect any  problem with
registering a  list name  associated with a  commercial offering  (ie you
have to pay to  be on the list), it would appear  difficult to register a
free list.  Actually, you'd be  better of  registering a service  mark in
that case.
 
Registering a list as a patent... I don't see how you could do that. What
is it you'd want to patent? The idea of starting a list for professionals
in the  XYZ field?  I doubt you  could convince the  PTO that  this isn't
"trivial", since just about everyone does that.
 
  Eric