Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/10/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]From: Paul Chefurka <chefurka@sympatico.ca> Sent: Saturday, October 16, 1999 13:10 Subject: Re: [Leica] RE: Leica Users digest V12 #71 > I suspect that in the case of the trademark "Trinitron", > it probably belongs to Sony for as long as they're in business. Yes. This is true for all trademarks, as long as the trademark holder actively defends the trademark (if the owner of the trademark does not do this, it may eventually be held to have entered the public domain). I feel confident that Sony still actively defends its trademark. This is in contrast to patent protection, which grants an exclusive right to the patent holder to control everything for exactly 17 years, but thereafter releases the device to the public domain unconditionally. So anyone can build a picture tube with aperture-grille technology today, but he can only call it a Trinitron if he gets permission from Sony. -- Anthony