*cough* Wikilegal-l
Erik wrote:
(Note that the name Wikipedia has neither a TM nor an (R) next to it.)
Just as copyright exists even in the absence of a (C) symbol, a TM is not needed to create a trademark. For a trademark to exist it has to be used for a specific purpose. We certainly use the "Wikipedia" name and, if needed, can even register it with whatever nation's trademark office we see fit.
Are we on solid enough legal ground with an "unregistered trademark" to send nastygrams to some guys in Russia?
Nobody proposed sending nasty grams. We should, of course, exhaust all non-legal options before using the law to protect the Wikipedia brand name.
I highly doubt it...
Sorry, but you are clearly wrong on this point.
Trademarks are evil enough as it is.
No they aren't; the improper use of trademark law to beat others into submission after they (without malice and unknowingly) violated a trademark is the only thing that is evil here. I'm not suggesting we do that. I'm suggesting that we negotiate with the Wikipedia.ru people, simply state, as fact, what the law is and if and only if they refuse to budge then we can fall back on exercising our legal rights.
The Wikipedia brand is a very important assest for Wikimedia; we should not stand idly by while others create confusion about what Wikipedia is and also drag our good name down into the gutter.
-- Daniel Mayer (aka mav)