Geeklog Forums

Is it possible to offer Geeklog under a new name but still with Geeklog attached? Something like Redhat Geeklog or Mandrake Geeklog? I am curious as to the procedure. Thank you

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Victor B. Gonzalez -
http://aeonserv.com

Sure go ahead but don't be surprised if the company you select sues you for trademark infringement. What you're trying to do is give a false impression to the public that a well-known company (Redhat, Mandrake, or whoever) supports or produces this software. If you plan to charge money to others, don't be surprised if they also sue you for deceptive advertising.

Redhat and Mandrake were just examples. The way their able to take open source software "Linux" and put their name on it for hooking it up, etc... Do they pay back a royalty to Linux or something? I was wondering what the procedures are for adding a name to Geeklog, i.e newname Geeklog OR othername Geeklog, etc. Its a piece of cake to change the name entirely while leaving copyrights, etc attached but what does it take to simply add another name to it? Redhat or Mandrake are not supporting it... This is just an interesting question I would like to get an answer too.---Victor B. Gonzalez

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Victor B. Gonzalez -
http://aeonserv.com

Linus Torvalds holds the trademark on Linux. Originally he did not charge anything for the use of his trademark. He ended up establishing a sub-licensing scheme later because crooked people tried to appropriate the use of the Linux mark for themselves and exclude others in various countries. Yes, he does get a royalty. It's a one-item single payment of $500 which is used to cover licensing and enforcement costs. To protect his mark from becoming generic, all licensees are required to place the following legend (or a reasonable facsimile) on each copy of a product they sell, license, or lease and at least once in the documentation and sales literature: “The registered trademark Linux® is used pursuant to a sublicense from the Linux Mark Institute, the exclusive licensee of Linus Torvalds, owner of the mark on a world-wide basis.” For Geeklog, the developers here own the trademark. In the U.S., it does not have to be registered with USPTO for someone to claim ownership. Just send an email or letter to one of the project leaders, Tony or Dirk, and tell them specifically what you want to do and ask for their permission if you can use their mark. If they say yes, take a copy of their response and file it in your records. For the second name, you can use anything you want but it's wise to pick something that's not already a trademark or a famous company in the software arena otherwise you have to get their permission too or be faced with a possible lawsuit later on.

That was extremely informative and very well appreciated. Thank you for your time Rawdata as I will take into account every last word in your message. I understand you're not a lawyer or made available legal advice but I just wanted an idea of the procedure involved. Thanks again