Groupon is trying to steal the Gnome trademark

[viking60]

The multi billion dollar company Groupon has made a proprietary tablet and they have called it Gnome. The Gnome Foundation has the trademark so they called the company and asked them to pick another name.
Groupon answered by filing even more trademark requests to the Gnome name.
Trademarks like G NOME etc.

Having a lot of techs working on this tablet - it is pretty much out of the question that they did not know of the Gnome DE, so they are deliberately provoking.

The Gnome Foundation claim to need $80000 to defend the trademark.

If this is true then it is tragic that so much money is needed to defend a clear cut case. If Groupon wins this one then there is no point in registering trademarks anymore.

More here

[jkerr82508]

If Groupon wins this one then there is no point in registering trademarks anymore.

Unless you are a multi-billion dollar corporation with an army of lawyers available.

Jim

[viking60]

Yes then we can have a trademark war after the pattern of the patent war.

A total display of stupidity with extreme waste of money.

Unless you find this clear of course:

It is a symptom of a broken down system. What are the guys who register the trademarks doing - they should simply deny this request immediately.

It is not hard to see that GNOME is registered, and that should mean that no one else can register it.

Instead they contribute to keep the courts busy and fill the lawyers pockets.

[R_Head]

Is a litigation nirvana. Laws made by Lawyers for Lawyers...

They are the only people that I know that can take a good system, break it to hell and offer their services to help you ; of course, for a fee

[Panther96]

Just as an update, it appears the issue is now resolved http://www.gnome.org/news/2014/11/group ... duct-name/

[Snorkasaurus]

Thanks for the update Panther96... though I do have a bit of a hard time believing that the decision isn't a bit of public relations for Groupon.
S.

[viking60]

Just as an update, it appears the issue is now resolved http://www.gnome.org/news/2014/11/group ... duct-name/

Thanks for the update

It looks like this is solved out of court then. I still find it hard to see how Groupon had a case in the first place.

I wonder if the Gnome guys got some money out of it

[dedanna1029]

Confirmed by PC World and several others. The Gnome logo is gone from the tablet page as well, however if you run a search, it still lists in the search as a Gnome tablet. Oops on their part. Screenshot:

https://flic.kr/p/q3ThxR