Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 (Tek) 9/26/83; site orca.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!harpo!decvax!ucbvax!ucbcad!tektronix!orca!andrew From: andrew@orca.UUCP (Andrew Klossner) Newsgroups: net.unix Subject: PL/2, PL/3, PL/4, PL/5, PL/6, PL/7, PL/8, PL/9, PL/10, PL/11, Message-ID: <684@orca.UUCP> Date: Wed, 7-Mar-84 23:52:33 EST Article-I.D.: orca.684 Posted: Wed Mar 7 23:52:33 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 14-Mar-84 07:34:26 EST References: <6041@uiucdcs.UUCP> Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR Lines: 22 "Sorry, that name's been taken. When IBM unleashed PL/1 on the world, I believe they trademarked PL/2 through PL/99 to avoid be upstaged." Yes, but US trademark law specifically provides that if a company does not use a trademark it reverts to the public domain. Since IBM has had these trademarks for almost twenty years and hasn't released a product under those marks, they no longer have a valid claim to them. On the other hand, some authorities claim that a trademark consists only of its letters; digits are insignificant. This is why an earlier language was called SIMSCRIPT IV, rather than SIMSCRIPT 4, so as not to collide with a different trademark, SIMSCRIPT. By this argument, any name for a programming language whose letters are "PL" would be a violation of the PL/1 trademark. [But then, some of IBM's compilers have been called PL/I.] Of course, all this is probably academic, as they have enough lawyers to bankrupt a challenger in civil lawsuits. -- Andrew Klossner (decvax!tektronix!orca!andrew) [UUCP] (orca!andrew.tektronix@rand-relay) [ARPA]