Fedora Dispute

[Thomas Cameron]

>> This is really a tempest in a teapot.  The Cornell/UVA use and Red Hat's
>> use of the name do not conflict.  One is for a digital management system
>> and one is for a Linux distribution.  I suspect anyone who can spell the
>> word "computer" will know that they are not the same thing.
>>
>> Cornell/UVA are making this into more than it is - Red Hat's own lawyers
>> have said that they can't see any way that there could be a conflict. 
>> See
>> http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/11/20/HNredhatfedora_1.html for more
>> info.
>>
>> Thomas
>
> I strongly disagree. It is RedHat that is making the problem by
> wanting to trademark the name Fedora. There was not objection from the
> Cornell/UVA group until RedHat took that action.

Red Hat is trademarking Fedora *as it relates to a Linux operating system 
distribution.*  Red Hat admits that Cornell/UVA have prior use and are not 
contesting that.  See 
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/11/20/HNredhatfedora_1.html, the 
paragraph beginning "The researchers have common law rights that protect 
their use of the Fedora name, according to Webbink."  Note that Webbink is 
Red Hat's counsel.  Red Hat has made clear they have no intention of 
interfering with Cornell/UVA's use of the Fedora name as regards to its 
digital management system.

Read the info on Red Hat's filing at 
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78296509.  You will 
notice that they are very specific about the trademark application being for 
"Computer software, namely, computer programs for operating systems, and 
instructional manuals provided therewith as a unit."

The Cornell/UVA folks and some people in the community are making more of 
this than they need to.  Red Hat is not the villain here.  They are just 
trying to protect the hard work they're doing with the Fedora distribution. 
They have no desire to impinge on the Cornell/UVA folks, and it is a pretty 
wild stretch of the imagination that this would ever happen.

Thomas