Bruce,
> In fact we registered PostgreSQL only to prevent someone else from
> registering it and blocking the community from using it. We want others
> to use it for their products so if our registering it prevented you from
> using it, that is a shame and is not what we intended, in fact the
> opposite. We registered it so you would be safe to use it.
>
> Can someone explain how this is to be handled? I don't think the
> trademark laws really encourage someone to trademark something so others
> can use it and we should figure out a plan.
Well, one obvious possibility is, once we get the Foundation approved by the
IRS, to transfer ownership of the trademark to the Foundation. Then the
Foundation can offer the trademark under a public license that explicitly
gives permission to anyone to use it who is "using it properly", that is for
a distribution of the PostgreSQL code.
--
--Josh
Josh Berkus
Aglio Database Solutions
San Francisco
