yuvouv

You can lose a trademark case if you have been too selective in who you complain about. Especially if you are seen to be ignoring small time infringers but only going after those with big pockets, the case can be thrown out.

Lawyers tend to err on the side of sending C+D letters to anyone, such as the case of Sun and the island of Java tourist authority. The apple/orchards bit was irony - it's in the dictionary.

The other problem is judges/juries and computers. The trademark has to be in the same field, but the courts aren't always as tech savvy as HN readers and frequently regard all 'computer stuff' as the same field. So while we would see a CRM package and a forum website as completely different as a magnolia plant shop and a magnolia paint company - a judge might not.

Bloody monarchs, coming over 'ere taking our thrones...

To push the analogy further - no.

Unclaimed domain names are like parts of the wild west handed out to early claiments, they all had the same value/acre (=almost nothing). Then when a city had been built on them (=you have a brand) then the price goes up. Even if the owner didn't do any work to build the city, having an empty lot in the middle of it is still valuable.

I don't get where the price of land comes from? It's just a unique patch of dirt that they own, that I want and I can't get anywhere else - why do they want to so much money for it? It's not like they have built an office block on it like I want to do!

"increasing student test scores"

Yes, paying teachers more for higher test scores is a very good way of increasing test scores - this was found in california schools years ago. It had an opposite effect on students actual learning though.

Should be extended to all British citizens. Then those without British DNA can be kicked out.

That will get rid of a whole lot of useless <beeps> in the house of Lords with a 'de', 'le' or 'ville' in their names.

And it will allow a large number of new people in. After a few hundred years of determined DNA distribution through the empire there must be quite a few Indians, Africans and even Americans who have some English/Scottish or Irish in them (or at least their ancestors did !)

Trademark law generally requires them to defend their trademark or lose it. This means lots of letters from Apple inc's lawyers to small orchards in the middle of nowhere.

The general response is either to ignore it or send back a simple letter saying "thank you - we don't believe there is sufficent similarity"

If they mean it they will try an take you to court, then you can decide wether to fight or change your name. At the moment they probably don't expect you to do anything - this is just something they have to send out in case anyone ever does a direct copy of their software and calls themselves magnolia. In which case they have to prove they have always protested.