[Fwd: Re: Trade Mark issue]

I'm forwarding this to cpan. Accidentally sent directly to Adam Kennedy. 
Sorry Adam.

Adam Kennedy wrote:
> The CPAN is an international set of services, with the master servers 
> in Finland I believe. Does the Buzan Organisation hold the Finnish 
> trade mark?
>
I have no idea, but I did find them in the US trademark database, TESS.
> There's modules that go up with company's named all the time.
>
> I can't recall any cases of take down notices, although there may have 
> been some. But in practice, you aren't making any money off "Mind Map" 
> and it's clear to anybody that looks at the documentation you aren't 
> related. So there's no money, you aren't hurting them, and where or 
> what would they sue anyway.
>
I imagine they would sue me, the author, here in the USA.
> Also, trademarks are never on terms, they are on terms in specific 
> contexts (I am not a lawyer, but I have two trade marks). The mark 
> exists for something more specific usually than just the words, and in 
> a specific catagory of product. Which is why for example, there's a 
> company in Australia called Microsoft that makes pillows.
>
Interesting, I didn't know that. In this case, I think we are talking 
about a company that wants to protect the integrity of the concept of a 
mind map. See this interesting url:

http://www.jonnygoldstein.com/2005/02/26/mind_maps_tm_or_not_tm_that_is_the_question.php
> So "don't ask, don't tell" and if they ever hit you up about it, 
> despite the waste of money to them, take it down immediately, and as a 
> protest I for one will grab the most recent version, and re-release it 
> myself. Assuming that this is an American trade mark you are talking 
> about, I'm not sure why they might sue an Australian with a website in 
> American Samoa, releasing software in Finland.
>
> Or I'm sure there are other authors in an arbitrarily large number of 
> different legal systems that would do the same.
>
> But in all practicality, unless you are making money or harming them, 
> you aren't a target. Just don't bring their attention to it.
>
Well, OK I'll try the "sleep test" for a few weeks. If I lose sleep over 
this I may be back asking for advice on how to temporarily remove and 
replace with a new name space.

Thanks for the advice.
-James