[GRASS5] [jberry@innovativegis.com: MapCalc trade name]

[Rich Shepard]

On Sat, 28 Oct 2000, Markus Neteler wrote:

> some severe problem is attached.
> What's your opinion?

Markus and group:

  I know of Joe Berry and we've exchanged cummunications in the past; I read
his columns in the GIS mags and I have his books. So, I have tremendous
respect for him, Dana, and their products.

  I'm not a trademark attorney, and I know that we all want to avoid an
expensive and unnecessary legal battle. I have two thoughts to offer:

  1)  I believe there is a difference between a product named "MapCalc"
(however it is capitalized) and the GRASS module "r.mapcalc" that is a
compnonet of a product. If the argument is presented that someone could be
confused between the two, that confused person is demonstrably too stupid to
be using GIS software, regardless of name. This is, in my opinion, analagous
to someone trademarking a software product named "Save" and wanting every
other software product that uses that word in a menu to change.

  Reminds me of the Lotus look-and-feel suit against Borland for QuattroPro.

  In short, I don't think it's an issue. Berry's progeny is being renamed in
its entirety while the GRASS module is one of several hundred components of
a product with a completely different name.

  2)  If push comes to shove, it is possible that the existence of GRASS's
"r.mapcalc" for many years (almonst a decade) predates the trademark
application of the entire GIS package now being renamed "MapCalc". I'm sure
that an attorney could provide a strong legal argument that the prior use
establishes GRASS's right to the name.

  But, overall, I think the reasoning in my point 1 is the most important:
there is no potential legal conflict between a long-existing component named
"r.mapcalc" and a product being renamed in its entirety to "MapCalc". I hope
that Dr. Berry and crew agree that this is a petty and non-significant
issue. I hope that they have more meaningful ways to spend their time.

Rich

Dr. Richard B. Shepard, President

                       Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc. (TM)
              Making environmentally-responsible mining happen. (SM)         
                       --------------------------------
            2404 SW 22nd Street | Troutdale, OR 97060-1247 | U.S.A.
 + 1 503-667-4517 (voice) | + 1 503-667-8863 (fax) | rshepard at appl-ecosys.com


---------------------------------------- 
If you want to unsubscribe from GRASS Development Team mailing list write to:
minordomo at geog.uni-hannover.de with
subject 'unsubscribe grass5'