Reminder: Do not use trademarks in Summary or Description

[Ralf Corsepius]

Tom "spot" Callaway wrote:
> On 2009-01-30 at 9:09:51 -0500, Ralf Corsepius <rc040203 at freenet.de> wrote:
>> Tom "spot" Callaway wrote:
>>> Please, if you're a packager, take a moment and go read this:
>>>
>>> https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Packaging:Guidelines#Trademarks_in_Summary_or_Description
>>>
>>>
>>> After talking with Red Hat Legal about how we should be handling
>>> trademarks in package summaries and descriptions, we came to the
>>> conclusion that it would be far easier (and less risky for Red Hat) if
>>> we did not use "(TM)" or "(R)" notations at all. This does not mean that
>>> you can use trademarks freely, you still need to be careful in how you
>>> use them. When in doubt, try not to use it. If you have questions, you
>>> can either email me or fedora-legal at redhat.com.
>> IMO, your advice collides with "fair use" of trademarks, in particular
>> when commonly used names actually refer to trademarked items or when
>> package even contain something trademarked.
>>
>> Cf. e.g.
>> http://www.sgi.com/products/software/opengl/license.html
>> http://www.sgi.com/products/software/opengl/trademarks.html
> 
> Not really. Please keep in mind that SGI's interpretation of fair use is
> sketchy at best. In the US, only the owner of a trademark is permitted
> to use the (R) symbol, and SGI describes it as fair use for anyone to
> use it.
Then let me ask differently:
RH prefers _us_ to refer to Microsoft instead of Microsoft(TM), rsp. to 
Red Hat instead of Red Hat(TM), rsp. to Fedora instead of Fedora (TM) in 
documents, packages, etc?

This collides with any common practice I've seen so far.

Documents referring to trademarked items typically either use ... 
"Windows(TM)" or "Windows" accompanied with a footnote disclaimer 
"Windows is a trademark of Microsoft ...".

> The general rule (as a result of US Supreme Court decisions) is that no
> more of the trademark should be used than necessary for the legitimate
> purpose, and that confusion should be avoided whenever possible.

OK, I maintain a package originating from SGI(TM) called Inventor(TM)
(a trademark of SGI)? What to do about it?

To me, acknowledging their trademarks in Fedora(TM) is fair use.

Ralf