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A comment on Waymo Via. Parent comment

Re:Waymo Via by dumbfoundded on Wednesday March 04, 2020 @03:48PM (#22487911)
Trademarks matter in context a lot. An Apple branded computer is a lot stronger than an Apple branded apple.

They choose a brand name bordering on descriptive. If it's descriptive, ie "Great Computer Co.", it's pretty weak. It'll be tough to own "Via" for anything in transportation.

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Re:Waymo Via by samatman on Wednesday March 04, 2020 @04:37PM (#22488428)
That would be like owning the trademark "General Electric" and selling electrical equipment...
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Re:Waymo Via by dumbfoundded on Wednesday March 04, 2020 @08:18PM (#22490023)
Well, General Electric predates many of the Supreme Court rulings that establish American trademark law.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Supreme_...

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Re:Waymo Via by titanomachy on Wednesday March 04, 2020 @08:15PM (#22490007)
International Business Machines

General Electric

General Motors

Advanced Micro Devices

To be fair, all were among the first companies to make the thing they are named for.

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Re:Waymo Via by ska on Wednesday March 04, 2020 @06:18PM (#22489207)
... which is why you never see any other companies with "electric" or "electronics" in their name.
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