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Attempt to Register "Linux" As A Trademark Fails
The Australian trade-mark office (Intellectual Property Australia) has rejected an application made by Linus Torvalds for registration of the word “Linux” as a trade-mark. The Examiner concluded that the word itself was not inherently distinctive and that the evidence of use did not demonstrate a reputation for the goods and services claimed. According to the Examiner’s letter, “Linux” describes a particular computer operating system. Other traders with similar goods and services would need to use the term to describe their goods and services. As a result, the term possesses no inherent capability to distinguish it in the marketplace. Furthermore, there was not sufficient evidence of use in Australia to show that Linux had become a badge of origin for the goods and services claimed. Rather, the evidence showed that the term is descriptive of the operating system. In addition, the Examiner found that the term would be deceptively similar to several previously registered trade-marks which include the word Linux, such as Linuxworld and Linuxworld Conference.
According to news reports, the move to register the trade-mark was initiated by Linux Australia, an open source advocacy group. The group was not necessarily disappointed with the results. A spokesman was quoted saying that their goal was to make sure the name was used in a reasonable way and “if it was not possible for anyone else to register it as a trade-mark then the goal has to some extent been achieved”.
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