Reminder: Do not use trademarks in Summary or Description

[Tom "spot" Callaway]

On 2009-01-30 at 11:05:44 -0500, Ralf Corsepius <rc040203 at freenet.de> wrote:

> 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 guideline only applies to package Summaries and Descriptions.

However, the answer to your question is yes. Specifically, unless we
(Fedora/Red Hat)
have entered into a license that may require that we mark a trademark,
we should not
do so. We should use the trademark properly, all capital letters or at
least initial cap,
plus as an adjective, not a noun, but not designate with any symbol. The
symbols have
legal ramifications, so having it wrong may cause more trouble than not
doing it at all,

> 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.

If you wish to add "SGI and Inventor are trademarks of SGI" to the
description, you can do so.
However, you should drop the (TM)s.

Thanks,

~spot