Trademarks and Microsoft
Source: saunderslog.com
How short the memory is… News.com has published a story saying that Microsoft has finally filed fo. trademark registrationSavvysoft, but really it’s a much more sophisticated strategy than that.
If you think back to Windows, the company unsuccessfully tried to gain a trademark for the term windows several times during the 1980s. It was not until 1994 that the US PTO accepted their argument (US trademark registration #1959130
Up until that point in 1994, whenever we spoke about Windows, or wrote about Windows, we had to use the official handle — Microsoft Windowstm. After that point, we could simply say — Windows. Windows was just Windows, and anyone who tried to use Windows in their product name, withou. kissing the ring, could be held to account. Many companies received cease-and-desist letters as a result. It’s a very clever, and long term trademark strategy. Not only does the use of a common English ter. have more power than a coined name might, it also has the power to infect anyone who uses a synonym. And think for a moment about the audacity of claiming a commonly used word from the English language as your own.Â. It’s the ultimate "domain name" squat. Excel is obviously next. Then… Office? Word.Â
