Author: Dave Gomboc
Date: 05:28:55 10/20/99
Go up one level in this thread
On October 20, 1999 at 06:43:20, Enrique Irazoqui wrote: >On October 19, 1999 at 20:14:57, KarinsDad wrote: > >>On October 19, 1999 at 19:10:36, James B. Shearer wrote: >> >>[snip] >>> >>> This has nothing to do with copyright. It is a trademark question. >>>For what it's worth I don't believe that under US law "Deep Blue Junior" would >>>infringe on any trademark rights Ban may have on the word "Junior". Was Junior >>>even for sale when "Deep Blue Junior" was coined? >>> James B. Shearer >> >>You are correct. I am terrible at legalisms (libel vs. slander, copyright vs. >>trademark, etc.). That's probably why my sister became a DA, in order to one up >>me on legalisms. ;) >> >>Well, both Junior and Deep Blue Jr. have been around for quite a while. Junior >>won the microcomputer championship in 1997. Deep Blue Jr. started touring in >>1996 I think, but I cannot find any references to it before 1997. >> >>So, I guess someone who knows the history of these two programs better than I >>should speak up. > >In my database I have international tournament games played by Junior in 1995. > >Calling three chess programs "Junior", "Deep Blue Junior" and "Deep Junior" (in >chronological order of existence) is creating potential problems of >misunderstandings and confusion. > >In a country like mine, the word Junior means nothing. If you tell someone "Hey, >Junior!" he may as well think that you are calling him names. In this context, a >person shopping for a chess program is going to be puzzled by the similarities >in the names carrying the word Junior. > >"Junior" may be of common usage in the States, and Deep Blue Junior comes from >there, but this doesn't excuse much. No word in chess is more common than >"Chess" itself. We also have masters of all sort: national, FIDE, IM, GM. This >wouldn't justify a brand name of MasterChess 10000, because Chessmaster exists >already and it would be confusing. In my opinion, the proliferation of the usage >of "Junior" may create the same sort of problem. > >Enrique > >>KarinsDad :) Programs called "Masterchess" and "Grandmaster Chess" exist, though. Dave
This page took 0 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.