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A comment on I've Just Liberated My Modules.

Re:I've Just Liberated My Modules by jahewson on Tuesday March 22, 2016 @09:42PM (#11341491)
This is a really bad decision on npm's part. Kik's laywer has pulled a fast one on them. Kik has no right to enforce the Kik trademark beyond the limited set of goods and services listed in the trademark application [1]. Kik is a registered word mark for mobile messaging software only. That's why the trademark database contains many entries for just the word Kik, other companies own the use of that word for other goods and services.

I'm really surprised that npm didn't push back against this. It's not like npm isn't full of trademarks:

https://www.npmjs.com/package/pepsi

https://www.npmjs.com/package/coke

https://www.npmjs.com/package/kfc

https://www.npmjs.com/package/virgin

https://www.npmjs.com/package/sprint

https://www.npmjs.com/package/nba

https://www.npmjs.com/package/nfl

https://www.npmjs.com/package/google

https://www.npmjs.com/package/yahoo

https://www.npmjs.com/package/skype

https://www.npmjs.com/package/word

https://www.npmjs.com/package/excel

https://www.npmjs.com/package/unix

https://www.npmjs.com/package/windows

https://www.npmjs.com/package/osx

[1] http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4804:lir...

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Re:I've Just Liberated My Modules by ShaneCurcuru on Wednesday March 23, 2016 @07:06AM (#11343397)
Trademarks: even more understood to modern programmers than C++ multiple inheritance.

Trademark owners - especially registered ones - can ask you to treat their mark any way they like. Legally, they can only try to enforce the basics of trademark law, but trademark litigation is typically expensive and risky.

USPTO Pro Tip: links to their search are session-specific. You have to use the blue TSDR link to share:

https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=86930821&caseType=SERIAL_...

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