EFF Takes Up The Cause Of Bogus Trademarks On Military Hardware
from the don't-make-a-model-of-a-b-24-bomber dept
A few years back, we highlighted one of the more ridiculous examples of "intellectual property" claims stretched to ridiculous ends: defense contractors were claiming intellectual property rights over the designs of military hardware and were demanding that model toy makers pay up. Despite widespread criticism when this first happened, they're still doing it. The EFF is now hitting back against Lockheed Martin for forcing digital images of a model of a B-24 bomber offline using its trademark on the B-24. As the EFF notes, this particular trademark should never have been granted, as it's completely reasonable to be able to accurately describe what sort of plane it is using the government-given name for it. The EFF has now sent a letter to Lockheed Martin politely requesting it change its position on this matter. Anyone want to set odds on Lockheed Martin changing its mind?Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: b-24 bomber, eff, intellectual property, military hardware, models, trademark
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Public Image
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You obviously don't know how the government works. Their contracts will ALWAYS go to the lowest bidder no matter what the public thinks. That is because the majority of the public doesn't want to pay any more money in taxes. You can't have both worlds on this one.
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Bull. You seem to be the one with a lack of understanding. Contracts are often written in such a manner that only one company will qualify no matter what they bid. That is, if bids are even required, which they aren't in the case of no-bid contracts. That little beauty has been used quite a bit in Iraq.
I used to work for a major defense contractor and was involved in the proposal process. I can tell you that the most important requirement for getting a contract was having the right contacts. In fact, if you were ex-military with procurement contacts you could get hired into a management position with little to no relevant experience or education. "Contracts through contacts" was the business model and it worked very well. And bidding is really no problem when you're the only bidder.
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Why is it then
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What make a '72 Stingray special?
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Don't you mean, "Who makes a '72 Stingray special?" It was a Chevy & Corvette venture. Answer, "Both".
At ant rate, lets get back on topic.
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No, I meant what makes that model special in that the commenter referred to it in particular instead of models in general. As if though special rules about box printing applied to that model and I was wondering why that should be. Actually, I suspect it was really a "weasel clause" so that if anyone challenged him on it he could just say "I only said so for '72 Stingray models".
At ant rate, lets get back on topic.
Who made you the moderator?
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This isn't just images, they (Lockheed) went after UBISoft and 4C for including the P38 in a flight sim (IL2 Forgotten Battles).
They get rich off our taxes making aircraft and then want royalties from their fan base. I hope the EFF wins this one.
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What makes it different
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That would seem like rather wishful thinking on Lockheed's part. :P
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Scale modeling...
Eric Aitala
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Scale modeling
At least, its how understand this.
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But for a couple of very minor exceptions that virtually never come into play, all rights are retained by the contractor or subcontractor who actually performed the work giving rise to such rights.
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Why
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last year before the catalytic converter was implemented?
*walks away feeling stupid as usual*
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