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Apple Sued Over Unix Trademark

Posted by simoniker on from the god-sued-over-apple-trademark dept.

Jerrry writes "CNET News reports The Open Group is suing Apple over unlicensed use of the Unix trademark, after Apple used the term in conjunction with its Mac OS X marketing. Apple, meanwhile, is countersuing to have the Unix trademark declared invalid because the term has become generic."

3 of 881 comments (clear)

  1. Did the check bounce? by RLiegh · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I thought that apple paid the Open Group to certify themselves as a Unix, around the time that OS X came out.

    What am I missing here?

  2. Re:Go, go, Apple, go! by Aneurysm · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is true. The underlying technology should be taken into account, rather than just the name used to describe it. Unix is a generic term now, and trying to sue people over a name that describes a large and diverse base of technology is just silly.

  3. Re:Go, go, Apple, go! by keyslammer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Unix has become a generic term. Removing trademark status would benefit not only Apple, but the free Unixes, Linux and the BSDs.

    I think there might be a little more to it than that. Just got done reading ESR's OSI Position on the SCO-vs-IBM suit paper, and it looks like the right to use the Unix trademark is conferred upon vendors who go through a certification process to confirm compliance to Unix standards.

    So it's sort of like if somebody slaps the famous "compact disc" logo on a copy-protected disc - you're advertising conformance to a standard that you don't conform to. That's not to say that apple is necessarily out of compliance with the standard, the point is that the "Unix" trademark is the TOG's "seal of approval".