[ruby-talk:03355] Re: Potential problem: Linksoft Corp, Ruby Toolset

"Robert Feldt" <[e-mail]>

> When searching for Ruby docs I found the followin link:
>
> http://www.linksoftcorp.com/LinkSoft/
>
> It's a SW company that have a toolset with the name of Ruby. From their
> page:
>
> "As part of our commitment to hybrid computing solutions, we present the
> RubyToolset. The RubyToolset provides the ability to combine Visual
> Basic components with object storage. Now it's possible to keep your
> business model and business objects in an object repository and build a
> component-based front end using one of the most widely used component
> technologies. In addition, the Ruby tools now support GemStone's
> distributed database technology, GemEnterprise."
>
> They seem to have a copyright on SW called "Ruby".
>
> I sincerely hope this will not mean trouble for the future growth of the
> Ruby lang. I'm not sure how the US intellectual property rights work.
> Anyone knows? Will it do if we point out in the FAQ that it's not the same
> thing?

I'm not at all sure about the meaning or relevance of copyright in this
context--I think this should be more of a trademark issue (however, I am not
a lawyer). Ruby as a programming language designation may perhaps in some
sense also be copyrighted by virtue of its GPL.

Given that there is an electronic circuit design system that has been
publicly called Ruby for something on the order of a decade or so, plus a
presumably copyrighted (Japanese) book on Ruby, plus an officially approved
international usenet newsgroup devoted to Ruby, I think the "Ruby" is
already too much in the realm of common/public usage for any "reasonable"
just legal restraint.

(Of course geopolitics, institutional politics, clout, connections, special
interests, and random foolishness, among other factors, seemingly
increasingly frequently pre-empt reasonableness in the legal system these
days, so surprises abound on such issues.)

Conrad