Lars Aronsson (lars@aronsson.se) said:
Alex R. wrote:
As Larousse is a French publisher of French books, how can there be confusion?
Look Alex, (1) I'm not trying to win an *argument*, and (2) I'm not having an argument with *you*. All I said was that I would recommend against using names that are trademarks. You are free to ignore my recommendations. I'm not speaking for Larousse and I'm not a lawyer. Actually, your response makes me regret I mentioned this at all. This is my last posting on this topic.
I am not arguing with anyone. I am just stating my opinion, which is what I thought this discussion list was for. If it is for something else, would someone please let me know, as that is not what it is being represented to be.
I was responding to your opinion, which is that there might be a legal problem using the word "laroussee" and in fact I was agreeing with you (even more so than other posts) as the word larousse IS registered with the USPTO. Technically you are right maybe Wikipedia should worry about using this name even if it is the name of an encyclopediest or the name of a Red Head Linux Server or even what I say when I am ordering an amber beer in Montreal. ''Donnez-moi la rousse, SVP!''
The point is not all use of a trademark is infringement of that mark, I am not offering Wikipedia my legal opinion (though I do admit to being a lawyer, I hope that doesn't make anyone nervous) but just stating what to me seems pretty obvious, it is the French word that Larousse is trying to protect as a mark for its French encyclopedias, not for all uses of the word. Unlike copyright trademarks must be used to be protected, and while there is an argument that the word larousse is a registered trademark referring to encyclopedias, it is also true that they only use it in reference to French encyclopedias, it is maybe like saying that that word Exxon cannot be used by an insurance company, well Exxon refers to oil and gas, not to insurance, they are different things, and I was arguing that there was no underlying confusion between the use of the name Larousse as a server for an English encyclopedia web site, not that it wasn't a trademark infringement, only a federal district judge can make that determination and that determination is based, in part, about their being confusion between the two uses. I hope the above does not upset you, Lars, it was not my intention. Alex756