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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!hou3c!hocda!houxm!houxz!vax135!floyd!harpo!decvax!mcnc!idis!dan
From: dan@idis.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.followup
Subject: Re: AT&T and the 3B*2
Message-ID: <288@idis.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 4-Jun-84 03:38:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: idis.288
Posted: Mon Jun  4 03:38:39 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 6-Jun-84 05:42:31 EDT
References: <425@hogpc.UUCP> <11100005@acf4.UUCP>, <1981@rlgvax.UUCP>
Organization: University of Pittsburgh
Lines: 23

Is it ok for AT&T to unbundle UNIX and still market it under the
name UNIX?  Definitely.  UNIX is a trademark of BTL or mabe AT&T
and AT&T can do whatever it wants with its trademarks.  But UNIX
is also a technical term many people use to mean any operating
system that is largely derived from one of the versions of UNIX
developed at BTL research and is faithful to whatever principles
we feel were most important in the design of research UNIX.

If we feel that AT&T is abusing the name UNIX, we can retaliate
by using the word UNIX in its technical sense and telling AT&T
that we think its commercial usage of the word UNIX is a lie.
If we continue to use the word UNIX in a noncommercial sense
to mean something other than what AT&T means when it uses the
word UNIX, then we establish some sort of "generic" (noncommercial)
meaning for the word and this weakens the trademark.  AT&T will
either ignore us or respond by generating more advertisements
reminding everybody that UNIX is a trademark of BTL (to strengthen
the trademark).  There is an outside chance that AT&T will
listen to our gripes.  But don't bet on it.  Remember who was the
"MA" in "MA BELL".  "... reach out and crush someone"

				Dan Strick
				[decvax|mcnc]!idis!dan


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