[Fedora-legal-list] Product logos in Boxes

[Zeeshan Ali]

Hi Tom,

On ma, 2012-02-20 at 15:38 -0500, Tom Callaway wrote:
> On 02/19/2012 10:06 AM, Zeeshan Ali wrote:
> 
> > After talking to Karen Sandler (Executive Director, GNOME
> > Foundation) about this matter, I modified the UI to signify the
> > trademarks involved and a disclaimer note:
> > 
> > http://static.fi/~zeenix/tmp/boxes-small-iso-icons+logos.png
> > 
> > Hopefully that helps our case. I am sorry but I forgot to mention
> > in my original mail that we'll appreciate urgency on this matter as
> > GNOME (and therefore Boxes) is entering feature freeze for 3.4
> > tomorrow evening. It is very much possible to break this freeze
> > with explicit permission/announcement but it will be nicer/easier
> > to do that at the beginning of the freeze rather than in the
> > middle/end and we really want this feature in Boxes in 3.4.
> 
> After careful consideration, Red Hat Legal has decided not to approve
> the use of the trademarked logos in this situation. While trademark
> law permits the use of another's trademark in a referential way, as
> you're doing here to indicate the operating system, one may only use
> as much of the trademark as is necessary to make the reference.  Here,
> the word mark alone (e.g., "Fedora" or "Microsoft Windows") is
> sufficient to describe the operating system,

Pardon my complete ignorance on the subject but wouldn't that mean that
almost all uses of trademarked logos on the internet by third parties
(not the owner of the logo) are in violation of the trademark law? For
example wikipedia (I think all encyclopedias) show both the logo and the
names to make the references:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedora_%28operating_system%29

>  so there appears to be no
> reason that the logo is also needed to convey any necessary information.

While that is true, our aim is to provide an *impressive* UI that
attracts users, including ones who are using similar proprietary
solutions. Hence the 3rd question in my original mail:

3. If the answer to the question#1 is 'yes', could you please advice us
how to implement this essential feature without violating any
trademarks?

> With respect to the disclaimer, you should modify it to say "Any
> trademarks shown above are used merely for identification of software
> products you have already obtained and are the property of their
> respective owners."

Got it, thanks.

-- 
Regards,

Zeeshan Ali

P.S. Despite me not liking the answer (as you can imagine), your quick
action on this matter is very much appreciated.
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