Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Server Planning A New Means For Automated Installations

[anarki2]

Wouldn't the Kickstart name get them in legal trouble? AFAIK the name 'Kickstart' is copyrighted to Hyperion Entertainment because it's a vital component of AmigaOS.

Red Hat's been doing and using kickstart for at least a decade, FYI.

[Vistaus]

Question really is if Hyperion even registered Kickstart as a Trademark to begin with since 4.0 does not use Kickstart anymore.

Yes, because Hyperion not only supports AmigaOS 4.x but also the older 3.9, so they hold the trademark for 3.9's Kickstart.
Edit: and also 3.1

[Vistaus]

Red Hat's been doing and using kickstart for at least a decade, FYI.

And AmigaOS has been doing and using kickstart for almost 4 decades, FYI. Red Hat didn't even exist back in 1983 when AmigaOS first introduced kickstart on the Amiga Lorraine prototype.

[F.Ultra]

Yes, because Hyperion not only supports AmigaOS 4.x but also the older 3.9, so they hold the trademark for 3.9's Kickstart.

I just did a trademark search on WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) for "Kickstart" and found only an expired one for "Believe in yourself and kickstart the world" so it does not look like Hyperion bothered to registered "Kickstart" as a trademark.

edit: forgot to add the link to WIPO: https://www.wipo.int/madrid/monitor/en/

[Vistaus]

I just did a trademark search on WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) for "Kickstart" and found only an expired one for "Believe in yourself and kickstart the world" so it does not look like Hyperion bothered to registered "Kickstart" as a trademark.

They did register it, and it's valid until 2027 currently: https://www.boip.int/en/trademarks-register

Edit: direct link doesn't work - enter "Kickstart" in the search field under "Search a mark" and click on Mark nr "1014998"

[F.Ultra]

They did register it, and it's valid until 2027 currently: https://www.boip.int/en/trademarks-register

Edit: direct link doesn't work - enter "Kickstart" in the search field under "Search a mark" and click on Mark nr "1014998"

So they only registered it in Benelux, probably why it didn't appear in WIPO.

[Vistaus]

So they only registered it in Benelux, probably why it didn't appear in WIPO.

Doesn't matter, valid = valid. They can still do whatever they want against IBM within the confines of the Benelux. Hyperion has sued before, so it's not like they will sit back and relax *all* of the time.

BUT let's say they won't sue: I still wouldn't take the risk of using a trademarked name if I were IBM (it was trademarked before 2017 as well, so there's no way they wouldn't have known), even if the name is only trademarked in a small area of their activities. Just like I wouldn't call my fictional tech company "IBM" even though I would only serve the Swedish market.

[F.Ultra]

Doesn't matter, valid = valid. They can still do whatever they want against IBM within the confines of the Benelux. Hyperion has sued before, so it's not like they will sit back and relax *all* of the time.

BUT let's say they won't sue: I still wouldn't take the risk of using a trademarked name if I were IBM (it was trademarked before 2017 as well, so there's no way they wouldn't have known), even if the name is only trademarked in a small area of their activities. Just like I wouldn't call my fictional tech company "IBM" even though I would only serve the Swedish market.

Well IBM is registered as an international trademark so that would be a no go. Here in Sweden we had a company back in the 90:ies "Excel Data" that won a lawsuit from Microsoft but that was of course because they named it so long before Microsoft Excel even existed (Microsoft the idiots still tried to sue...).

Not a lawyer here but I still don't think that IBM is in any legal trouble here (and IBM employs more lawyers than most companies have employees so they have most likely already done their due diligence) since this Kickstart of theirs does not boot an OS and thus people will not confuse the two and neither does the two products fall under the same category of goods (both are usually excemptions for trademark infringement).

[Vistaus]

[...]since this Kickstart of theirs does not boot an OS and thus people will not confuse the two and neither does the two products fall under the same category of goods (both are usually excemptions for trademark infringement).

It's not just about booting the OS, the trademark at BOIP describes it, among a few other terms, as applying to "computers; operating systems". So its actual functionality doesn't matter.

[F.Ultra]

It's not just about booting the OS, the trademark at BOIP describes it, among a few other terms, as applying to "computers; operating systems". So its actual functionality doesn't matter.

Ok, just remembered it from my Amiga days when Kickstart was just the firmware boot loader.