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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For example, everybody already refers to tissues as Kleenex and photocopies as Xeroxes. However, try calling your facial tissues Kleenex or saying that your product makes Xeroxes, and you'll get yourself sued quickly. UNIX has a very precise definition. A UNIX system has to obey certain specifications and pass conformance tests. If you don't pass these tests, then you don't get to call yourself a UNIX. Also, note that, unlike SCO's IP, the exact ownership of the UNIX trademark is not in question. Owning a trademark requires that people associate a name with your company (certainly true of UNIX, at least to those in the industry) and that the company or person actively take steps to protect the trademark. Again, this is true of the UNIX trademark (note how both FreeBSD and Linux take steps to avoid calling their OSs UNIX).