Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

["Thomas Beckett" <thomas AT tbeckett.com>]

They're gonna sue you so hard your grandmother will file
for bankruptcy!

Just kidding.

FWIW, I've tried to reach the trademark examiner to inquire
about AOL's TM registration bid on "Instant Messenger".  The
USPTO record referenced yesterday indicates that the final
rejection of that application was continued.  "Continued" in
legal parlance means "postponed", so that issue is not quite
dead yet.  I'm curious as to the basis for this last continuance.

If you ask me, "Instant Messenger" is about as descriptive as
the dictionary, and therefore not eligible for bankruptcy
protection.  It is, or has become, a generic term for chat
software.  But this is AOL we're talking about here, so they're
dragging their application way past its normal life expectancy.
IMHO, they're clinging to a thread.  But this is Big Money, so
who am I to know?  The usual rules may not apply.

In the meantime, AOL is making a valiant effort to stave off
descriptiveness by sending bigfoot letters to hapless innocents
like Josep who were using "Instant Messenger" in the generic
sense or, worse (!), in association with Microsoft's competing
product.

If I learn anything else interesting, I'll post it here.

TaB

> Do you think AOL will sue me now with this?
>
> http://www.ibiblio.org/sinner/dibus/AOL.png
>
>
> Salut,
> Josep
> --
> Josep L. Guallar-Esteve               Eastern Radiologists, Inc.
> MaDuIxA PoWeR!
> AOL vs Josep -> http://www.ibiblio.org/sinner/aol.html
>
> ---
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