Re: RFC 343 (v1) New Perl Mascot

Perl6 RFC Librarian wrote:
> =head1 TITLE
> 
> New Perl Mascot
> 
> =head1 ABSTRACT
> 
> Perl has no common symbol usable by the public at large to state to
> the world "I am a Perl Programmer, and D**n Proud Of It!"
> 
> =head1 DESCRIPTION
> 
> The symbol that would be commonly used for this is the Camel, of course,
> but that symbol has strict trademark restrictions, and is unsuitable for
> the purpose of identification. O'Reilly allows only its commercial
> friends and allies to use it, and any other use is strictly prohibited.
> This presumes in a way to commercialize the public face of the Perl
> language as an O'Reilly-owned commodity. No other symbol is currently
> recognized to symbolize Perl and its community.

I don't know trademark law, but it seems unlikely that O'Reilly can trademark
the concept of the camel, or all representations of the camel. Since the new
symbol would be used to promote [pP]erl, which is good for O'Reilly, perhaps
they would not object to the use of a sufficiently distinct rendering. (Has
anyone trademarked the Alpaca yet? :-)

Since perl developers don't conflict but in fact enhance O'Reilly's buisness,
I'm not sure I see why they'd object.

OT: What's the history of the camel? Does it predate O'Reilly's involvement?

--

-- Tim Conrow         [email protected]                           |