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Imminent Mandrake Name Change?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the geoff-will-be-so-happy dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Mandrakesoft has lost a trial and has been condemned to change its name and its logo" The article is in French, but it says that King Syndicates owns a trademark on Mandrake the Magician. Update MandrakeSoft can use the logo during appeals, which may take up to 3 years. You can now read their official statement on the ruling.

3 of 526 comments (clear)

  1. My human translation by RobertB-DC · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's my attempt, from several years of long-ago High School French class. No fish were involved in this translation.

    Mandrake will have to change its name

    Mandrake, French writers of its self-titled Linux distrubtion, has been ordered by the Paris TGI to pay 70,000 Euros to the American companies, Hearst Holdings and King Feature Syndicate, owners of the trademark "Mandrake the Magician", and writers of the [bande dessinee] of the same name. The American companies filed suit in France for "trademark infringement". Now, the court has forbidden the use of the name in French, and is pressuring Mandrake to transfer its domain names to the two American companies. It's an order that could be a fatal blow to the French writers, for whom the foundation of their business rests entirely on their eponymous Linux distribution.

    For now, Mandrake has appealed, which suspends the judgement and, for the moment, preserves its trademark and domain names.

    Remember that a previous judgement on Mandrake's logo was ruled in favor of the two American companies. The French subsidiary had already had to rework its artwork.

    --
    Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
  2. Re:Thanks, 'Fish by tfoudray · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's a link to a site (in english) with a very very brief overview of the issue and images of the 3 different mandrakes: Mandrake issued cease and desist

  3. Re:Domain names only? by tomhudson · · Score: 5, Informative
    poster wrote:
    Based on a reading of the article, maybe Mandrake is only going to have to transfer domain name(s)
    guess my french is better than yours:
    Pour l'heure, Mandrake a fait appel, suspendant le jugement et preservant ainsi sa marque et ses noms de domaines.
    means:
    For now, Mandrake has appealed, suspending the judgement and preserving both its' mark and domain names.

    So, no, they won't have to give up their domain names just yet... :-)