Linked by Eugenia Loli-Queru on Wed 11th Jun 2003 21:39 UTC
Apple Computer is being sued by The Open Group, the San Francisco company that claims ownership of the Unix trademark, for using the term Unix in conjunction with its Mac OS X operating system without a license. Apple has countersued, asking a judge to declare that the trademark is invalid, because the term Unix has become generic. This legal battle, though separate from SCO's recent claim that Linux uses copyrighted Unix source code, adds further fire to the debate over the custody of Unix--the 30 plus-year old OS originally developed by AT&T.
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>Coca cola too.
Err, nope. "Coke" is. "Coca-cola" is pretty specific, IMO.
>Hoover too. (In UK we used to say "let's hoover the house", using the Hoover trademark as a verb).
Again, Hoover is specific. It points to a specific vacuum.
>Unix is a registered trademark, as all the above.
So? That doesn't mean it hasn't become generic. "Unix" refers to a broad spectrum of OSes. Coka-Cola, Hoover, no. Those are quite specific. But, Unix refers to a ton of OSes (and, while not officially, OSes compatibal with those): AIX, Solaris, etc.
Sorry, but as far as I'm concerned Unix is very generic. Of course, it's not up to me to decide; that's up to the courts.