Australian Women Fight Over "Geekgirl" Trademark

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Australian Women Fight Over "Geekgirl" Trademark

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday May 20, 2010 @01:52AM from the geekgirls-geekgirls-you're-both-pretty dept.

bennyboy64 writes "Two prominent women in the Australian IT industry are in a bitter dispute over the ownership of the trademark 'geekgirl.' A woman attempting to use 'geekgirl' on Twitter told ZDNet that women had been advised by the trademark owner to stop doing so since she owned the trademark for the word. 'She noted her trademark and asked me to stop calling myself a "geekgirl" in general conversation and to cease using the hashtag "#geekgirl" on Twitter,' IT consultant Kate Carruthers said."

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Ridiculous by Monkeedude1212 · 2010-05-20 01:54 · Score: 2, Interesting

I'm going to start calling myself slashdot now.
1. Re:Ridiculous by WrongSizeGlass · 2010-05-20 02:01 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  I'm going to start calling myself slashdot now.
  OK, but now if I ever agree with one of your posts I'm going to have to say "I agree with Slashdot", and that alone will put me right.back.in.therapy
2. Re:Ridiculous by Monkeedude1212 · 2010-05-20 03:05 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I'd rather be remembered as 1560403.
  People act Elitist with a low UID, I hope to reverse that trend.
3. Re:Ridiculous by voidptr · 2010-05-20 03:25 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  People act Elitist with a low UID, I hope to reverse that trend.
  Let me know how that work out for you, filthy 7-digiter.
  
  --
  This .sig for unofficial government use only. Official use subject to $500 fine.
4. Re:Ridiculous by kermyt · 2010-05-20 04:24 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  "Beer busts, beer blasts, keggers, stein hoists, A.A. meetings, beer nights..." It's wonderful, Marge! I've never felt so accepted in all my life. These people look deep within my soul and assign me a number based on the order in which I joined.
5. Re:Ridiculous by bano · 2010-05-20 04:51 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  I must be here...
6. Re:Ridiculous by $lashdot · 2010-05-20 05:47 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I'm going to start calling myself slashdot now.
  OK, but now if I ever agree with one of your posts I'm going to have to say "I agree with Slashdot", and that alone will put me right.back.in.therapy
  You think you have problems? What if this becomes a trend? How will I stand out anymore?
7. Re:Ridiculous by Gilmoure · 2010-05-20 07:18 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I'm Brian. And so is my wife.
  
  --
  I drank what? -- Socrates
I've decided by Paranatural · 2010-05-20 01:57 · Score: 2, Funny

To trademark the term geek. Everyone else has to stop using it. I mean it! STOP IT YOU GUYS!
1. Re:I've decided by Hurricane78 · 2010-05-20 02:29 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Why should we r33l g33k$ care about what you think? :P
  
  --
  Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
Or... by pak9rabid · 2010-05-20 01:59 · Score: 3, Funny

Maybe they should just go by a more realistic name: UglyGirlsThatWantAttentionFromAnyGuyThatWillGiveItTothem
1. Re:Or... by pak9rabid · 2010-05-20 02:20 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  <Mr. Slave>Jesus you two, calm it down.
  
  The last thing we need is for girlintraining to show up here and give a few long-winded posts. </Mr. Slave>
  
  Fixed that for you.
2. Re:Or... by catmistake · 2010-05-20 02:21 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  ha ha ha that's so cool you call girls ugly, man, I wish I could have an opinion
  
  --
  The Admin and the Engineer
Who will win? by Hognoxious · 2010-05-20 02:00 · Score: 4, Funny

Who will win?
Under UK law, it would be the one who could prove they used it first.
Under French law, it would be who registered it first.
In Australian law? The one with the biggest tits.

--
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
1. Re:Who will win? by ICLKennyG · 2010-05-20 02:14 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I wonder if either of them will actually have established valid use rights under this dispute. Geekgirl would almost surely be descriptive and as such would need to prove secondary meaning under the American system. Even assuming that the AU system would have issued a trademark registration to the first girl, it's only a priority date for intent to use. She needs to actually produce a good or service and it's going to be interesting if they say some blog posts are a good or service are enough to establish this use. What will likely happen is the second will fold like a cheap suit despite the fact that she would win if she had competent counsel.
2. Re:Who will win? by Shakrai · 2010-05-20 02:34 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  In Australian law? The one with the biggest tits.
  But justice is supposed to be blind. Does that mean there will be groping involved? How do I get on a jury in Australia? ;)
  
  --
  I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
  We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
3. Re:Who will win? by russotto · 2010-05-20 02:35 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  I wonder if either of them will actually have established valid use rights under this dispute. Geekgirl would almost surely be descriptive and as such would need to prove secondary meaning under the American system.
  The original registration was "publication of electronic books, magazines and/or multimedia both online on a communications network and on recorded media including optical disks and magnetic media". In that category it might be suggestive rather than merely descriptive.
4. Re:Who will win? by S.O.B. · 2010-05-20 03:14 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  In Japanese law, the one dressed as a schoolgirl.
  In Russian law, the one who can bench press the most..
  In Canadian law, the one with the most donuts.
  In U.S. law, the one with the biggest tits (See Australian law).
  In Italian law, the one with the biggest tits (See Australian and U.S. law).
  In French law, the one with the hairiest armpits.
  In Saudi law, the one with the least amount of skin showing.
  In Dutch law, the one with the most pot.
  In Latvian law...got nothin'.
  In Irish law, the one who can drink the most beer.
  In Scottish law, the one who can drink the most scotch (duh) while playing golf.
  In English law, the one with the straightest teeth.
  In Brazilian law, the one with a Brazilian.
  
  --
  Some of what I say is fact, some is conjecture, the rest I'm just blowing out my ass...you guess.
5. Re:Who will win? by parliboy · 2010-05-20 03:22 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Clearly, this is why laptops will now be searched for porn at Australian customs -- to prevent too much intellectual property from ending up in the hands of foreign interests.
  
  --
  "You're never ready, just less unprepared."
6. Re:Who will win? by gravis777 · 2010-05-20 03:31 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Is this just someone claiming they own the trademark, or can they like prove it - like they have been using it and writing for ZDNet for 15 years using that name?
  If they really have been using it as a handle for years, and has business tied to it, then that is a legit argument.
  And, seriously, the other girl is actually allowing this to go to court? It takes like a whole 20 seconds to change one's username on Twitter, and all your followers automatically go to your new username. I would have changed it to GeekGirl2, and just have avoided the legal costs.
7. Re:Who will win? by gravis777 · 2010-05-20 03:34 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  BTW, in reading the article, the one who is sueing has had the trademark since 1995, the second one registared, but was not approved, in January of this year. Sounds like a legit complaint to me.
8. Re:Who will win? by Opportunist · 2010-05-20 03:37 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Sorry, no. In French law, the one who marries the president.
  
  --
  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
9. Re:Who will win? by gijoel · 2010-05-20 03:42 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Nah, this is Australia Mate.
  
  It goes to the one with the biggest knife!
10. Re:Who will win? by shynthriir · 2010-05-20 05:05 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  In soviet Russia, trademakes claim you...
Which one is here on Slashdot? by Fujisawa+Sensei · 2010-05-20 02:02 · Score: 3, Insightful

Which one hangs out on Slashdot?
If neither of them do than neither deserves the trademark.

--
If someone is passing you on the right, you are an asshole for driving in the wrong lane.
1. Re:Which one is here on Slashdot? by MRe_nl · 2010-05-20 02:09 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  http://slashdot.org/~geekgirl/friends
  Pre-twitter uid i think.
  Probably a man though ; ).
  
  --
  "Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
2. Re:Which one is here on Slashdot? by iamhassi · 2010-05-20 02:35 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  One of the "girls" filed for trademark in 95 so that could be her on slashdot. I say the new girl just go 1337 using geekgrrl instead, but geekgirl 95 is stupid if she hasn't been actively using the trademark for 15 yrs and now tries to defend it
  
  --
  my karma will be here long after I'm gone
Why 'girl'? by Anonymous Coward · 2010-05-20 02:13 · Score: 5, Interesting

Why do women, even the most intelligent ones, tend to use the word girl in their names?
Is it for attention? It sounds fucking stupid. Just like when I see boy in a name, I tend to think the person behind it is a dimwitted moron with no imagination.
(Anonymous Coward is so much more impressive.)
1. Re:Why 'girl'? by Infiniti2000 · 2010-05-20 02:33 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Would you prefer to see geekbitch?
2. Re:Why 'girl'? by FuckingNickName · 2010-05-20 02:37 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  It is for attention, of course; but it works, so I'm not sure how stupid it is. You might say, "It's not the right sort of attention!" but this is Earth, we are humans, and most people are influenced by sexuality. IOW, if you're going to get a little more of what you want - whether that's money, employment prospects, miscellaneous favours or simply admirers - from pointing out that I'm a girl, then you might do so.
  Meanwhile, if you're a straight male - no matter how "intelligent" - you might be just a little bit nicer to the skirt than the fat greybeard. Doing so (or wanting to do so, even if you try and fail at repressing it) is what defines you as heterosexual rather than homosexual or asexual, after all.
3. Re:Why 'girl'? by FuckingNickName · 2010-05-20 03:51 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Only to the extent that I'm saying all straight men are straight.
  IOW, all straight men will treat particular women in a way that they'd never treat any man, by definition. A man never has the opportunity to be treated that way by a straight man, because he is a man. For example, if you were a straight woman and I were a straight woman, there'd no chance that you'd treat me 'specially nice because you feel romantically/sexually inclined toward me; but if you were a man, you might do such a thing. In this latter case I thus have a potential advantage over men when it comes to getting what I want from you - but I can't gain that advantage unless you're aware of (1) my gender; (2) things about me that make me attractive to you.
  The same applies for straight women to men, and gays to etc. How to act to elicit that response depends on biological and cultural factors.
4. Re:Why 'girl'? by FuckingNickName · 2010-05-20 04:16 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Gender-non-specific Marianne,
  
  Answer: They don't. I find it quite offensive to be called a girl no matter what the context.
  That's where your understanding of communication and the concept of freedom of speech fails. Without context, it is entirely irrational to find a naming offensive. Take nigger, cunt and moron: the words all have baggage, but "nigger" is an entirely friendly greeting among some groups; "cunt" is infinitely less "offensive" than "vagina", which reduces the definition of the cunt to a receptacle for a man's penis; and "moron" can be anything from a clinical diagnosis to a humorous self-deprecation: "I'm a moron, sorry".
  Let's take some examples. I might greet you, "Hey, girl!" If you find that offensive, you have issues. I might be meeting a group of women including you after work: "I'm meeting the girls." If you find that offensive, you have issues. I might be a 90 year old woman seeing you (accurately) chronologically closer to a 5 year old than myself, and refer to you as, "the you girl over there". If you find that offensive, you have issues.
  Finally, fuck you and your whining at being offended. You can call me whatever you want without intending to harm me and I'll either take it as you meant it, laugh at the double entendre, or ignore you. But god knows I don't care whether you call me boy, girl, dude, sweetie, babe, hunk, chickadee, Mr Universe, Miss Universe or even use my real name. And even if you are trying to insult me, I won't bitch about "being offended": I'll consider your comment and either work on the underlying criticism, or ignore you for being a tart.
  
  My four year old is a girl, I am not (any more and haven't been in along time).
  Uhuh, you get to choose what words mean when you're referring to others; but others must choose your meaning when they're referring to you. Don't think so, toots.
  
  On that note, I am not 'Miss' either. I am a grown woman who happens to be good with computers.
  The use of gender-specific titles is a bit silly, but who cares? Feel free to call me Mr, Mrs, Miss, Reverend, Sir, Lord or Generalissimo. Whatever floats your boat.
5. Re:Why 'girl'? by AmberBlackCat · 2010-05-20 08:56 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I think I prefer being called "girl" rather than "woman" because it implies youth. But if I'm involved in sex, sometimes I prefer being called "woman" because it implies I'm at my sexual peak. So for me, since whatever a "geek" does has nothing to do with sex, "girl" seems more fitting.
6. Re:Why 'girl'? by icebraining · 2010-05-20 12:13 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I didn't say "any conclusion", I said "such conclusions". In this case I was talking about how the GP referred it could affect her professional credibility. Maybe she doesn't care about people who draw conclusions about her professional ability based on a simple nickname.
  
  --
  Dilbert RSS feed
Betrayal of geekdom by Arancaytar · 2010-05-20 02:17 · Score: 5, Insightful

Anyone who claims a trademark on such a generic term should hand in their geek card and instead join the Patent Troll Club. :-(
1. Re:Betrayal of geekdom by mcvos · 2010-05-20 03:26 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Was it generic in 1995?
  It is now. Like kleenex.
trademark law by TheSHAD0W · 2010-05-20 02:18 · Score: 2, Informative

According to trademark law (at least in the US), if you don't defend your trademark you risk losing it. This unfortunately means people with trademarks wind up setting lawyers on everyone who produces anything vaguely familiar to that trademark, even if they don't particularly want to. Don't know whether it's true in this case, but it would be improper to jump to conclusions.
1. Re:trademark law by Dragonslicer · 2010-05-20 02:53 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  Common words shouldn't be trademarked. Yeah, like Apple and Windows.
  Why not? Sure, you can't have copyright on common words, you can't prevent people from using those words in the context of their normal definition, and you can't prevent people from using those words as names of companies in other industries. If I open "Eastern Computer, Inc.", then I don't see why someone else who wants to open a computer shop across the street shouldn't be required to come up with a different name. It's not like you could prevent someone from opening "Eastern Dry Cleaners" or "Eastern Plumbing".
is the trademark with or without the "#"? by Chapter80 · 2010-05-20 02:28 · Score: 2, Funny

There's about an 11 or 12 % difference between geekgirl and #geekgirl. What's she got the trademark on?
As a side note, who volunteers to "pound-geekgirl", as "#geekgirl" invites? (better than hashing her...)
1. Re:is the trademark with or without the "#"? by Theaetetus · 2010-05-20 02:41 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  There's about an 11 or 12 % difference between geekgirl and #geekgirl. What's she got the trademark on?
  Irrelevant, since # is a prefix required by the system. There's about a 38% difference between Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola.com, but just try to claim that there's no likelihood of confusion there.
Meow! by scotbuff · 2010-05-20 02:44 · Score: 2, Funny

Meow!
Re:Heh! Let them fight. by Hal_Porter · 2010-05-20 03:06 · Score: 2, Funny

What about trademarking "Two Girls, One Trademark"?

--
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
Re:Easiest solution by XAD1975 · 2010-05-20 03:19 · Score: 2, Insightful

How about a mud fight?
How can they trademark something this common? by meerling · 2010-05-20 03:55 · Score: 3, Insightful

Shortly after geek was being used in a non-negative way to refer to computer enthusiasts, geekgirl started being used for clarification purposes due to the extreme gender bias people have of thinking of geeks as an all male group. Heck, I even went to college with a girl that had a binary square tattoo that was ascii for geekgirl.

This entire case reeks of horse manure in my opinion.
1. Re:How can they trademark something this common? by clone53421 · 2010-05-20 06:11 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  geekgirl...
  geek_girl...
  geekgrrl...
  g33kg1rl...
  geek-girl is, as of the moment, not taken, although I was sorely tempted to register it.
  
  --
  Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.