[OSM-legal-talk] Trademark applications

[Peter Miller]

I checked on the Intellectual Property Office's website over the  
weekend and discovered that the trademark applications previously  
discussed on this list were still in SteveC's personal name. This  
concerned me as the final date on which objections could be lodged for  
one of them was the 21st Jan. We checked with the UK IPO today by  
phone and confirmed that no transfer forms had been received and I  
lodged an objection. This gives the foundation a further month to make  
the transfer.

In order to track these trademark applications, and possibly others in  
the future, I have created a new wiki page for trademarks. I have also  
added a short cautionary section to the page explaining why it is a  
bad idea for an individual to own a trademark for an open source  
project.
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Trademark

I have exchanged a number of emails with the foundation over the past  
month on this matter about some changes that have been made since the  
board meeting however I fail to see how what has been done protects  
the project. I would invite SteveC or Andy to explain on this list  
what exactly has changed since then and why we should not be worried.


Regards,


Peter Miller