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jkaplowitz04/03/20251 replyview on HN

Trademarks are not like the rest of what you listed - they’re effectively a consumer protection law to reduce confusion about the origins or endorsers of a commercial product or service, though its protection is not restricted to consumers. A lot of advocates of software freedom and the non-software equivalents are more okay with trademarks than with the rest of what is often called IP.

Nobody is prevented by trademark law from offering any product or service, including commercially; the trademark holder’s consent or an applicable exception is only needed in order to use the trademarked name/logo in their own offering’s name/logo.


Replies

nonrandomstring04/03/2025

I think that's why it's all the more important that trademarks do not get so casually lumped-in with the ridiculous catch-all term "intellectual property".

(agreeing with you here and suggesting that people who work with consumer protection marks should distance themselves from the term "IP" entirely)