[109628] in Cypherpunks
Re: P1363: RSA claiming trademark on all uses of "RSA" to
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Michael J. Markowitz)
Wed Mar 31 04:07:09 1999
Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 00:12:46 -0600
To: AdelJaber@aol.com
From: "Michael J. Markowitz" <markowitz@infoseccorp.com>
Cc: cypherpunks@toad.com, stds-p1363@mail.ieee.org, ipsec@tis.com
In-Reply-To: <ae1b51d3.370140ef@aol.com>
Reply-To: "Michael J. Markowitz" <markowitz@infoseccorp.com>
At 04:23 PM 3/30/99 -0500, AdelJaber@aol.com wrote:
>RSA owned the patent and they have the right to own the copy right.
>Most of you are paid from money that is earned from IP and Copy Righted
>materials. Why should RSA be excluded from benefiting from what the great
>Capitalist system in the USA entitles them to?
Adel, perhaps you don't understand these terms, so let me quote a few
definitions:
copyright
: the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, and sell the matter
and form (as of a literary, musical, or artistic work)
trademark
1 : a device (as a word) pointing distinctly to the origin or ownership
of merchandise to which it is applied and legally reserved to the
exclusive use of the owner as maker or seller
2 : a distinguishing characteristic or feature firmly associated with a
person or thing
mark
b : a symbol used for identification or indication of ownership
d (1) : trademark
BSAFE can be "copyrighted," but you cannot "copyright" an acronym like
"RSA" so that is *not* the issue we've been discussing. What we've been
having fun with is simply the question of whether or not is reasonable
for RSADSI to claim "RSA" as their *mark* and to attempt to discourage
others from using it in a commercial setting.
Do you agree that "RSA" is how every recent textbook in the field of
cryptography refers to that particular algorithm? Do you agree that
this acronym was in widespread use in the academic community before
anyone showed any commercial interest in the technology? Do you think
you should be prohibited from using those letters to describe what your
company's products do... unless you happen to be a BSAFE licensee?
One argument RSADSI has used in court to protect this mark is that its
use by another company to describe its products *might* cause confusion
with products of RSADSI. Would you be confused if I said AT&T markets
several products that implement the RSA algorithm? (You might wonder
if those products are based on BSAFE, but it's not likely you'd confuse
them with anything manufactured by RSADSI. But of course, RSADSI would
have you believe that RSA = BSAFE -- which is only one of the issues
here.)
Cut me a break... we're not denying anyone the right to "own a copyright."
We're simply exercising our right of free speech to protest the attempt
by a company to preempt the use of three letters whose juxtaposition in
a particular order many of us strongly feel should be in the public domain.
Final point: by their own admission, RSADSI has never ever printed the
trademark or registered trademark symbols after those three letters in
any published material. If you are claiming ownership of a mark (whether
or not you care to register it with the PTO), a symbol is required by law.
So, if RSADSI has not claimed the mark "RSA" at any point in the last 15
years, it's natural to ask exactly what rights to it they now -- on the
eve of their patent's expiration -- are attempting to assert.
Get the point now? OK, I'm done venting... back to work.
-mjm
==========
Michael J. Markowitz, VP R&D Email: markowitz@infoseccorp.com
Information Security Corporation Voice: 847-405-0500
1141 Lake Cook Road, Suite D Fax: 847-405-0506
Deerfield, IL 60015 WWW: http://www.infoseccorp.com
