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Date:      Fri, 10 Sep 1999 18:16:10 -0600
From:      Brett Glass <brett@lariat.org>
To:        Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com>, jlemon@americantv.com (Jonathan Lemon)
Cc:        tlambert@primenet.com, davids@webmaster.com, winter@jurai.net, chat@FreeBSD.ORG, jkh@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: ANSWER: "FreeBSD" registered by Walnut Creek
Message-ID:  <4.2.0.58.19990910180210.00c06100@localhost>
In-Reply-To: <199909102341.QAA17082@usr04.primenet.com>
References:  <19990910182651.54663@right.PCS>

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At 11:41 PM 9/10/99 +0000, Terry Lambert wrote:

>It's also annoying, because Jordan _must_ know this information
>himself, and is simply refusing to provide it for whatever reason,
>which just eggs Brett further on, with no end in sight.  I respect
>both Brett and Jordan, but it seems to me that in this case Brett
>is being less resourceful than I've credited him, 

Nope, as mentioned earlier, I did look it up in the Thomas
database. (I could have used the USPTO, too.) But trademarks
can be licensed or assigned, so the database search might not 
tell the whole story. I was certainly expecting that Jordan or 
another person at Walnut Creek or FreeBSD, Inc. would speak up
and clarify the issue.

>while Jordan is
>being more belligerant than I've credited him.

I'm not sure WHAT Jordan is thinking. Certainly, he should realize
that the questions I'm raising will come up at one time or another.
After all, I'm sure that MANY people have thought of doing distributions,
and every issue I'm raising should come up as part of the due diligence
process for any such effort. So, it's a mystery to me why he is not
answering them quickly, candidly, and publicly, as is fitting in an 
open development community.

>   Mostly it is my mislaid credit that annoys me, FWIW.

It would annoy me as well. I see your name in some very
key spots as I browse the source. 

>Brett is in a phase of startup where the majority of work is
>legwork, and expenditure on lawyers is unwarranted.  Once he
>finishes the legwork, and determines that the current holder of
>the trademark (or one of its licensees or consigns -- though a
>consignment has to be recorded and none was) is willing to enter
>into an agreement for its use, THEN a lawyer is needed to write
>up the use agreement.

Perhaps. It would be better, though, to have a published policy on the 
use of the mark. Otherwise, every new distribution would involve
negotiations, lawyers, and contracts, when all involved would be
more productive if they set their minds to coding, etc.

--Brett Glass



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