Is there a copyleft equivalent for trademarks? I’m thinking of starting a project with distinct branding but I want everything to be based in FOSS principles.

  • jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de
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    1 year ago

    I wouldn’t say unfortunately. Trademark is an important customer protection mechanism, because it allows you to know what to expect from a product or service - even communist countries have trademarks for this reason. For example, if some browser is called Firefox you have the expectation that it allows you to install an ad blocker and if it’s named Chrome you have the expectation it… backs up all your personal data in Google’s servers, for clothing it’s important to know if you are buying something from a brand that makes durable clothing or if it’s discardable crap like Primark, and for professional products the difference between a reputable manufacturer and a bad one can literally mean life or death. What’s unfortunate is that companies like Disney and Sanrio commodified trademark by building brand cults.

    • fubo@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Another example of trademark breaking down is the promulgation of random-letters brand names in Amazon listings.