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Subject:Re: Trademark symbols...??? From:Joe Miller <joemiller -at- CANBERRA -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 3 Oct 1997 15:56:10 -0500
Janice,
>Does anyone have a good URL for trademark usage? We're having a
>mini-debate about where to use the trademark symbols ( (R) and TM ) and
>the copyright symbol ( (c) ).
>
>I always believed (and was probably taught..back in the Stone Age), that
>I should use the appropriate symbol in the text ONLY the first time the
>word required it. Further, that the symbols were not used in titles,
>headings, or on the copyright page (usually the back side of the inside
>title page).
I have no URL to suggest, but I'd say that about sums it up.
Though you didn't ask, I'll add this bit of someone else's wisdom:
According to the Intellectual Property attorney we consulted, TM means the
trademark was applied for. R in a circle means the trademark was granted by
the (U.S.) Patent Office.
He also said that just publishing something gives the publisher certain legal
rights. Those rights are extended if the publisher includes either the word
Copyright or a C in a circle (though you can use both, it's not necessary) and
the date. The greatest legal protection is obtained by acutally filing the
work with, and paying a fee to, the Library of Congress.
He also said that the programmer's convention of using a C in parentheses '(C)'
has no legal standing at all; its use is not mentioned in law nor have the
courts ruled that it is equivalent to the C in a circle.
>However, the venerable Microsoft Manual of Style states...
Personally, I don't really care what MS does. Tacky is tacky.
--Joe
Technical Publications Supervisor
and
Guardian of the Flame <g>
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