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RE: Steem Fork HIVE Faces Legal Threat From Mining Firm Over ‘Hive’ Name

in #hive5 years ago (edited)

Hive is not a registered trademark the same way that hair or pencil is not. It is just a common word in english. The trademark is for HIVE Blockchain Technologies LTD not Hive. Legally you cannot own a common word in any language. They have no case.

This reminds me of when McDonalds (the fast food restaurant) tried to sue someone in Scotland for using their familly name to refer to their estate. Suffice to say that didn't go well for McDonalds (the fast food chain).

EDIT: actually the case I was referring to was in the state of Illinois.

The real Ronald McDonald (US)
The company waged an unsuccessful 26-year (as of 2001) legal action against McDonald's Family Restaurant, which opened in 1956 in Fairbury, Illinois and is run by a man whose real name is Ronald McDonald.[23] McDonald ultimately continued to use his name on his restaurant despite the company's objections.[24]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s_legal_cases