Microsoft registers trademark--19 years late

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Misunderstanding Generic Words

---Excel is a generic word---

I think you're a little off here. By your definition, any word in the English language could be considered "generic" and only new, madeup words could be copyrighted. This is not the case.

For example, "apple" is considered a generic term in the fruit selling market and can't be copyrighted. However, "apple" is not a generic term in the computer business, so Apple was able to trademark it.

Which explains why "windows", which was a common computing term, will not stand a trademark challenge when used for a computer product.

Excel, however, does not fit this profile. There may be some prior art that would disqualify MS' trademark, but it won't be because it's a generic term.

Posted by: tic swayback   Posted on: 11/12/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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