As any experienced trademark practitioner will tell you, it is a big mistake to use a trademark as a noun. Using a trademark as a noun (e.g., “Pass me a Kleenex”) instead of an adjective (e.g., “Pass me a Kleenex tissue”) risks transforming a brand name into a generic term, potentially leading to a loss of legal protection. I have contacted Trezor Company s.r.o. (the maker of the cryptocurrency wallet shown at right) to suggest that they stop making this mistake. Let’s see if, some time soon, they update their firmware and apps and web site accordingly. Continue reading “Using a trademark as a noun”
Sort of a Y2K problem with gasoline pumps
Many long-time readers of this blog will recall the anxieties leading up to the year 2000. The worry was that some software systems, to squeeze more information into less memory, were storing only the last two digits of the year instead of storing all four digits. The worry was that when January 1, 2000 arrived, some systems would crash or calculate things incorrectly. This was called “the Y2K problem”. And now we have an example of a sort of Y2K problem with gasoline pumps. Continue reading “Sort of a Y2K problem with gasoline pumps”
Legrand has (maybe) restored its Eliot cloud to normal function
It will be recalled (blog page) that Legrand had permitted its Eliot cloud to fall into disrepair. It appears that Legrand has restored its Eliot cloud to normal function. Continue reading “Legrand has (maybe) restored its Eliot cloud to normal function”