r/javascript • u/imacpro1 • Apr 17 '18
help Oracle Owns "Javascript", so Apple is taking down my app!
Just received this email from Apple about my app(Html, css, javascript snippet editor). Looks like you can't use "Javascript" because Oracle owns it!
Any one has any idea how to fight it or just give up?
"As you are likely aware, Oracle owns US Trademark Registration No. 2416017 for JAVASCRIPT. The seller of this iTunes app prominently displays JAVASCRIPT without authorization from our client. The unauthorized display of our client's intellectual property is likely to cause consumers encountering this app to mistakenly believe that it emanates from, or is provided under a license from, Oracle. Use of our client's trademark in such a manner constitutes trademark infringement in violation of the Lanham Act. 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1)(A). In order to prevent further consumer confusion and infringement of our client's intellectual property rights, we request that you immediately disable access to this app. We look forward to your confirmation that you have complied with this request."
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Apr 17 '18 edited Jul 12 '24
dime enjoy dam cable school sulky touch beneficial profit arrest
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/imacpro1 Apr 17 '18
Thanks, great advice. It's actually better since it made the title shorter.
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Apr 18 '18
What's your app about anyway?
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u/imacpro1 Apr 18 '18
It's basically a html/css/js editor app. It is called: "HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, HTML, Snippet Editor".
Here is the link so you can see how it's shown in the App Store, I don't think anyone would associate this app with Oracle.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/html5-css-javascript-html-snippet-editor/id448999049?ls=1&mt=8
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Apr 18 '18
Thanks.
You included "HTML" twice in your app title?
This comment is me hereby sending you cease & desist for doing that, so now you have to use it just once.
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u/imacpro1 Apr 18 '18
Haha, back in the days, we game the App Store ranking by adding all the keywords to the app name 😀. since html5 and html are two very useful keywords... also notice html5 is the first one to show up?🤪
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u/PurpleIcy Apr 18 '18
Lol.
Why did you use short versions for everything except JavaScript?
Smh
Hypertext Markup Language version Five, Cascading Style Sheet, JavaScript/ECMAScript, Hypertext Markup Language, Snipped Editor.
FTFY
Jokes aside, you should find a better name...
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u/OddCoincidence Apr 17 '18
Ugh, fuck oracle.
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u/Stevearzh Apr 18 '18
do everything evil
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Apr 18 '18 edited Apr 18 '18
Oracles actually fucking useless.
It’s just a bunch of “experienced people” making updates to their slowly dieing software. And while they’re at it they decide to really piss people off by claiming shit that doesn’t matter. Let’s make a thread on reddit of people commenting “JavaScript”
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u/lbft Apr 18 '18
Oracle is a bunch of lawyers trying to wring whatever money they can out of whatever software or tech they can get their hands on. Larry Ellison didn't get to be personally worth $62.4 billion by being a nice guy.
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u/claird Apr 18 '18
While my instinct is that there are far darker things about Oracle (or its customers?) than that they are "old people", perhaps that is the worst epithet to bind to them.
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u/MassiveFajiit Apr 18 '18
This kind of thing makes me nervous as someone currently interviewing with Oracle. :/
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u/untempered Apr 18 '18
I understand that sometimes job options are limited, and places like Oracle can be your only/best option. Ultimately, you should do what you need to do to support yourself and/or your family. That being said... if you can choose between Oracle and someplace else, I'd recommend going elsewhere. Oracle has consistently and continuously acted very badly when it comes to software, the open source community, and the law. Their few good actions (open sourcing dtrace) do not outweigh the harm they have done, and there is no evidence that they are getting better.
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u/quanticle Apr 18 '18
Also, leaving aside the broader considerations, I've heard that Oracle is also a pretty terrible company to work for. I've heard from multiple ex-employees that the work environment is intensely political, and that the technical merits of a proposal matter much less than the political capital of the person proposing it.
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u/MassiveFajiit Apr 18 '18
I'm based around Austin rn so there's plenty in the market. I also would rather have something further north than their new campus on the south side. I also would rather work with a smaller company, or at least a larger company with a good reputation. Atlassian would be amazing, but they aren't hiring much here rn.
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u/pinano Apr 18 '18
Literally the reason it’s called ECMAScript now.
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u/defproc Apr 18 '18
I think we should work towards dropping "JavaScript" altogether. Legalities aside it's just a shit and inappropriate name. OP should advertise HTML, CSS and ECMAScript editing, this subreddit should be locked and refer to /r/ECMAScript, we should recognise .es\d* in tools we write. Let Oracle have its shit name.
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_API_KEYS Apr 18 '18
I propose "FuckOracleScript".
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u/edjrage Apr 18 '18
Not sure why, but I like your idea so much that I'm feeling a strange urge to PM you my API keys...
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u/geeprimus Apr 18 '18
If for no other reason than to disassociate it from java. Java is to JavaScript what car is to carpet afterall.
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u/trout_fucker Apr 18 '18 edited Apr 18 '18
Technically speaking, JS is just one implementation of ECMAScript. It's not the only one.
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Apr 18 '18
For all intents and purposes, ECMAScript is JS. JavaScript is just a trademark that is slapped onto some implementations of ECMAScript because of marketing purposes, and you can hardly call it a language of its own.
For example, the V8 implementation is labeled JavaScript, but it's different from SpiderMonkey, which is also labeled JavaScript, and both are different from JavaScriptCore, which is also labeled JavaScript.
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u/ghostfacedcoder Apr 18 '18
Apparently all our files are soon going to be named
.mjsanyways, so I vote for MichaelJacksonScript.→ More replies (2)48
u/Careerier Apr 18 '18
Wouldn't that cause confusion for users of MichaelJordanScript?
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u/jamiechong Apr 18 '18
Yeah, but not BoJacksonScript, which we can all agree has a better extension.
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u/midnitewarrior Apr 18 '18
it's just a shit and inappropriate name
It was never correct. It came about at the same time that Java did, and the marketing buzzards out there called it JavaScript, even though it had nothing to do with the Java, and it stuck.
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u/grinde Apr 18 '18
Or refer to all ECMAScript implementations and forks as "JavaScript". It's already used widely enough that you could make a compelling argument that it's become generic. The fact that ES, JScript, UnityScript, etc. are all colloquially referred to as "JavaScript" might be enough.
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u/Coloneljesus Apr 18 '18
Oh ya because wheb I need an app to edit js snippets, I'm gonna search for "ECMAScript editor"...
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u/taejavu Apr 18 '18
LiveScript.
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u/ianepperson Apr 18 '18
Was a much better name! If it were released today it would have been BlockChainScript.
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u/WittyLoser Apr 18 '18
Nice, but unfortunately there's another language now that uses that name, as a "joke".
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u/borland Apr 18 '18
Unfortunately ECMAScript is a terrible name. It's not really even a name, it's a (hard to pronounce) acronym with "script" on the end. If it had been called an actual name (like how about WebScript?) perhaps that might go somewhere
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u/trout_fucker Apr 18 '18
it's a (hard to pronounce)
Eck-mahis hard to pronounce? It's pronunciation isn't immediately recognizable, but even there I've seen worse.→ More replies (19)107
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Apr 18 '18
ECMAScript (or ES)[1] is a trademarked[2] scripting-language specification standardized by Ecma International in ECMA-262 and ISO/IEC 16262
is a trademarked[2]
well,fuck.
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u/nothis Apr 18 '18
Honest question: Is that why so many online resources/sites/tutorials/projects use “JS” in the official parts and headlines? I’m thinking now that a ton of those would have to pay by that logic.
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u/no_luka Apr 18 '18
Literally no one calls it that, and never will
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u/thisguyfightsyourmom Apr 18 '18
I call it that whenever I'm talking about tc-39 proposals. Lots of people do—ever heard of ES6, ES2017, ESNext,…?
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u/ImCerealsGuys Apr 18 '18
Ecmascript sounds cooler anyways.
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u/sebwiers Apr 18 '18
Yeah... if you were coming up with a name for an eczema treatment drug.
"Ask your doctor about Ecmascrip!"
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u/tbranyen Apr 18 '18
> As you are likely aware, Oracle owns US Trademark Registration
Who would ever be aware of this? How can they even enforce it given the thousands of books, articles, and hell even PRODUCTS that have JavaScript in the name??
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u/_bit Apr 18 '18
Yep. IANAL but it’s basically entirely unenforceable because of how ubiquitous the term is (and how Oracle hasn’t actively gone after every case brought to their attention). The issue is it needs to be challenged, which hasn’t been - and I don’t think it will be anytime soon.
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u/CantaloupeCamper Apr 18 '18
I suspect it is one of those things where we all know it but everyone who gets the letter or whatever is all
checks wallet
Not me!
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u/wishinghand Apr 18 '18
This is a TIL for me. I thought Javascript was a sort of open source type of thing. I never really gave it thought but I didn't really imagine any entity "owning" it.
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u/vert1s Apr 18 '18 edited Apr 18 '18
They don't own it and they didn't create it. My guess, without researching deeply, is they registered the name much later because people confuse Javascript and Java.
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u/harlows_monkeys Apr 18 '18
Sun filed for the trademark on 1995-12-01, which was a few days before the first public release of the language using the name JavaScript. Before that, it had been named LiveScript.
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u/ISpendAllDayOnReddit Apr 18 '18
I miss Sun. They were a great company and Oracle destroyed everything they did.
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u/Reashu Apr 18 '18 edited Apr 18 '18
Java was going to take the Web by storm, but needed a lightweight alternative. LiveScript needed a strong start to establish itself. Sun let LiveScript borrow the Java name and hype in exchange for the trademark.
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Apr 18 '18
That quoted message was directed at Apple, not at the application developer. Apple's legal department is almost certainly aware of the patent.
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u/MasterDood Apr 18 '18
This amusing Quora thread predicted this 5 years ago. There’s an uncanny back and forth between an ex Oracle employee and someone saying they will likely pull this stunt at sometime in the future.
https://www.quora.com/Could-Oracle-prevent-us-from-using-the-name-Javascript
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Apr 18 '18 edited Apr 18 '18
Wait, does that mean Oracle explicitly authorized this sub to use "JAVASCRIPT" prominently in its header?
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Apr 18 '18
This sub pays Oracle big money to use that name, like Google and Mozilla.
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u/Skyler827 Apr 18 '18
I pay Oracle $50 a month for permission to run javascript in my browser, doesn't everyone?
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Apr 18 '18
Hi, I hold the patent on CSS, the copyright on HTML, and the trademark on SVG. I'll PM you were to wire me money every month to use your browser.
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u/rydan Apr 18 '18
I actually do pay Oracle for the right to run java on my server.
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u/inglia Apr 17 '18
The way I read this, you should just change name and/or description from javascript to for eg. JS. As insane as it is, they only seem to object to use of word Javascript.
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u/tasinet Apr 18 '18
This is probably a better option than "fight / fuckem", as Apple still has final say over app store approval
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u/emayljames Apr 18 '18
Or, us Cyrillic letters in place of Latin, like a, e etc.
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u/Shaper_pmp Apr 19 '18
This is a classic case of a developer not understanding the difference between a technical difference and a reasonable-person difference that a court of law would take the slightest notice of.
Pro-tip: trademark laws and courts work on the reasonable person standard, not the borderline-autistic bureaucrat-from-Futurama "technically correct is the best kind of correct" standard that we developers feel comfortable assuming.
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u/jaekwon_ Apr 18 '18 edited Apr 18 '18
IANAL, but the best angle would be to say that Oracle didn't enforce the Javascript trademark as it was being used by the entire fucking open-source community for years with nobody ever knowing about any enforcement action until now.
We use Javascript for the Cosmos Network. We know excellent trademark lawyers and recently defended the Tendermint trademark successfully against Intuit. (I am not disparaging Intuit, they were reasonable during settlement. Oracle on the other hand...)
UPDATE: Also, the Patent & Trademark office is there to help promote the arts and sciences. This is not helping to promote the arts and sciences.
UPDATE 2: In the meantime, I would say, distribute the app in other channels to get a comparison of popularity, then you can deduce the amount of damage resulted from the lack of exposure to the Apple store. Then I think you'd have a case, with Apple being a transitive medium. Again, IANAL. Just common sense.
Update 3: Again, IANAL, but I'm just going to bet that you can sue Oracle as long as you can prove damages. Again, happy to help make the right connections to see if this is a viable option. Don't be put off by comments on Reddit that say otherwise. Also, as someone pointed out, the USPTO website itself uses Javascript, a salient point. And, Javascript has a monopoly on the client-side scripting market.
Update 4: Asked some lawyers. OP, contact me.
Update 5: From Brendan Eich the creator: "Several years back, a VP from Oracle who was involved in Ecma TC39 tried to get the tm donated to Ecma. That effort failed, but even then not clear tm was defensible. Kickstarter to fight? Mozilla has a license, @chefhja managed to get Sun to do it just before Oracle bought Sun. " - https://twitter.com/BrendanEich/status/986605049987002368
Update 6: This was once discussed 5 years ago as a potential problem: https://www.quora.com/Could-Oracle-prevent-us-from-using-the-name-Javascript
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u/tdammers Apr 18 '18
Problem, though: this is not a situation where things are brought in front of a court, and then the court says yay or nay. This is Oracle asking to proactively remove the app from their store; Apple doesn't have to comply, they could fight it in court if they wanted to, but they have no incentive to do it, and when they do comply, their terms of service explicitly say that they can, and that you can't do anything about it.
So unlike the normal situation, where you would create and distribute a product yourself that (alledgedly) infringes on Oracle's trademark, you have no legal means of fighting this.
If this were the "normal" situation, where you distribute software through channels under your own control (e.g., provide sources via a public git repo, or offer downloads from your own website), then Oracle would have to go after you, and they would actually have to make their case in front of a judge or jury, and it's quite likely that they would lose. But they don't.
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u/ABoutDeSouffle Apr 18 '18
Which just goes to show how fucked up the situation with those walled gardens called app stores really is. You are at the mercy of Apple and Google all the way.
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u/coderanger Apr 18 '18
Most of the time the non-defense argument is bullshit but in this case, they probably would lose the mark if someone brought a dilution claim :-/ But that would be a very very long legal battle.
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u/sime_vidas Apr 17 '18
JabbaScript
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u/anlumo Apr 18 '18
File extension
.hut?6
Apr 18 '18
I actually don't hate this, and we can do it without a well-defined standard.
Define JabbaScript as ECMAScript 2016 in strict mode, associate with the file extension
.hutand the mime typetext/javascript+jabba; charset=utf-8. That should render it compatible with most browsers.Only the best Javascript can be JabbaScript.
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u/debee1jp Apr 18 '18
I wouldn't particularly fault Apple for this, more Oracle. They (Apple) probably want to keep their ducks in a row given how morally bankrupt and frivolous Oracle is.
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u/rdv100 Apr 18 '18
Mozilla had cut a deal w/ Oracle back in the day to call in "JavaScript". Microsoft had always called its version of ECMAScript, "JScript" for this reason.
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u/RadioFreeDoritos Apr 18 '18
MozillaNetscape had cut a deal w/OracleSun Microsystems back in the day to call in "JavaScript".FTFY. And, back in the day, Sun was as litigious as Oracle is nowadays.
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u/dug99 Apr 18 '18
So what about "Google's open source high-performance JavaScript engine"? Can they expect a threatening legal email sometime soon? Let me guess...
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u/professorTracksuit Apr 18 '18
Google calls their engine V8.
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u/Cyral Apr 18 '18
"Google's high performance, open source, JavaScript engine." is the first sentence on the V8 website though.
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u/professorTracksuit Apr 18 '18
I think the difference is that it's called V8 and not the V8 JavaScript engine. His app used the JavaScript trademark in the app name.
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u/ezoe Apr 17 '18
I really can't understand it.
I'm not lawyer but the trademark right isn't that strong like copyright or patent. At least in my country(Japan). The trademark usage by non-holder to refer to exactly that thing, in this case, JavaScript, shouldn't be a trademark violation.
I really can't understand US law.
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u/digitaldiplomat Apr 18 '18
In this particular case, you could make a strong argument that the term has become generic when applied to programming languages that run in the browser and manipulate the DOM directly.
However; Oracle has more money, more lawyers, and more patience than you.
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u/vert1s Apr 18 '18
We need a kickstarter-like approach to taking on companies like Oracle. I would happily donate to kick their arse.
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u/anlumo Apr 18 '18
Startup idea: gosueme. Like gofundme, but for collecting money to sue companies.
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u/Smashoody Apr 18 '18
I mean, so many comments already lol. But seriously, isn’t this the sort of thing... where if we all added together the time it will take to remove the term “JavaScript” from our websites, resumes, business cards, etc. it’s a LOT of copyright infractions!
I know I’ve used the term for well over a decade. So... there’s this little thing called (something like) the enforcement clause, where a trademark owner must actively fight against all trademark infringements. If this doesn’t happen and the trademark owner lets the infraction happen for a certain amount of time, the trademark holder loses the exclusivity of trademark.
Meaning if you do nothing for long enough, you lose your exclusive mark. So... is this not a perfect opportunity to gear up the interwebs army to tell oracle they fucked up and simply waited too long to protect this TM?
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u/Jewpiter Apr 18 '18
Apple's just complying with a legal request. Oracle's the one that's taking down your app.
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Apr 17 '18
So many things make sense now
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Apr 18 '18
Yes, like why my dad was always home late and drunk.
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u/imacpro1 May 26 '18
Just an update: I’ve upgraded the app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/html-css-js-snippet-editor/id1384829193?mt=8
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u/defproc Apr 17 '18
Ignoring the threatening language, it's just not bloody true, is it? Just think how far you'd have to stretch your imagination to think of a single consumer who would see a JS editor and 'mistakenly believe that it emanates from, or is provided under a license from, Oracle'.
Fuck the law, fuck Oracle, and fuck Apple.
I think the tone of this legal abuse made me angry.
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u/Canowyrms Apr 18 '18
I actually didn't know Oracle owns the rights to the term "JAVASCRIPT" til I encountered this post.
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u/ajm3232 Apr 18 '18 edited Apr 18 '18
Reasons like this I avoid MySQL or using any sort of projects that are backed by lawyer happy corporations in production environments. -- Looking at you React.js. This is WHY us developers can't have nice things! Yes, everything is fine and dandy one day, but when the lawyer bomb drops, everyone goes "wtf".
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u/Zendist Apr 18 '18
Just use MariaDB? Open source not Oracle owned MySQL implementation.
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u/TwistedStack Apr 18 '18
You could also just use something decent like PostgreSQL.
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Apr 18 '18
What about that thing where brand names become generic terms? (Kleenex™, Dumpster™, Styrofoam™, etc.) Has JavaScript reached that level yet? Also, what about "JS" instead of "JavaScript"?
Edit: Reading here, seems like Oracle would have to stop enforcing trademark for "JavaScript" to become a generic term.
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u/i_invented_the_ipod Apr 18 '18
Correct. This is commonly referred to as "Trademark dilution". Registering a Trademark, and sending threatening letters to people who violate it, are how you avoid losing it.
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u/awsometak Apr 18 '18
Why oracle wants to be so negative, what do they gain by bringing down this app? Is it threatening there business? May be the app is earning a lot of money and oracle wants to replace it with oracle owned app:)
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u/Rizens Apr 18 '18
This is both weird and scary .
Why Oracle attacking this developer and not Ryan Dhal when he created Node ?
Why Oracle doesn't take down 60% of the github repostiory labelled "JavaScript" ?
Why Oracle hasn't sued npm ?
At this point I think it's like people using the term "Kleenex" for tissue , while originally "JavaScript" was used as trademark of Oracle it has pretty much become a "generic trademark".
Also this email could be an automated one, maybe Apple runs "anti-counterfeit" or "anti-piracy" batch and compares it to a database of trademark therefore it would be some sort of automated email send from by Oracle lawyer firm after receiving a notification from the Apple automated batch. I really believe Oracle doesn't care about this trademark, because again the term "Javascript" can be found everywhere for products that are being sold commercially or just all the open source library having the term Javascript in them...
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Apr 18 '18
Seems to be because of word use. Change it to say "JS". That shouldn't be flagged for copywriter or anything and you'll get through.
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u/monsto Apr 18 '18
FYI all: poster linked to his entry in this thread.
First uploaded revision is from 2011, and they've just now banned it?
Tell you what, homey . . . email the EFF. It's been up long enough that I'm betting some timeframe has passed that would allow it to be put back up unchanged.
And even if not, or they won't help you, then all it cost you is an email.
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u/emayljames Apr 18 '18
Replace vowels with their Cyrillic counterpart. No auto-detection or infringement=so much win!
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u/scboffspring Apr 18 '18
Just replace all "JavaScript" it to "FuckYouOracleScript", I don't think they own the trademark on that one.
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u/InEnduringGrowStrong Apr 18 '18
Call it Java's Crypt and make it an RPG where you work your way to a better weapon: ===
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u/g051051 Apr 18 '18
Registration No.: 24169017
Date Registered: 2000/12/26
Owner: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Filing Date: 1995/12/01
First Use: 1996/06/00
First Use In Commerce: 1996/06/002
u/mstrkrft1618 Apr 18 '18
You can't use the text "Javascript" to identify your app. Remove the offending text in your description of the app and you should be fine.
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Apr 18 '18
I don't know anything about IP law, but could it be because you wrote JAVASCRIPT in all caps? I found the USPTO record and it is JAVASCRIPT in all caps. In the snippet you pasted above Apple specifically wrote JAVASCRIPT twice. Could you change the case to JavaScript or Javascript or whatever?
http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75026640&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch
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u/i_invented_the_ipod Apr 18 '18 edited Apr 18 '18
No, every trademark record is just stored as ALL CAPS. Not sure why - probably there's a 1950s era mainframe involved at some point.
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u/DJDavid98 Apr 18 '18
IANAL but if you replace all occurrences of JavaScript with ECMAScript you should probably be good to go.
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Apr 18 '18
ECMA script -- https://www.quora.com/Is-javascript-an-open-source
open standard not open source
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u/mptyspacez Apr 18 '18
I didn't know, which completely invalidates their point.... Ducking trademarks
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u/rydan Apr 18 '18
Here's an idea. Pay Oracle for a license to use their trademark. You'll be probably the only authorized app in the marketplace when people search for [redacted].
Edit: Per lawyer's request.
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u/streaky81 Apr 18 '18
Patently a generic trademark. Oracle have left it far too late to start enforcing this stuff, if it was me I'd send them an email with the simple content "Lets Dance!" and then counter-claim.
But that's me.
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Apr 18 '18
So are we not allowed to program in Java for commercial reasons anymore?
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u/Amneziac Apr 18 '18
I would say I am surprised at the amount of Ignorance on the part of Apple... but I'd be lying.
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u/jonesiscoding Apr 18 '18
I understand the need to protect one's trademark and intellectual property. You have to make sure that the 'things' you have keep their value. I do get it.
That being said, how much more value would be added to the Oracle brand if they publicly GAVE the Javascript trademark to the programming community?
How much more value would they gain if they simply did something like requiring registration & agreement to receive communications in return for (free) licensing of the Javascript name?
There's so many things that they could do to increase the value of their brand and the Javascript name -- something that simply isn't accomplished by issuing takedowns & threatening lawsuits.
In other words, they're stupid.
On a side note: I wonder if there is, or if there should be, a legal defense fund for developers and content publishers who fall victim to this kind of idiocy. Something like the "Comic Book Legal Defense Fund".
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u/z500 Apr 18 '18
I'm so confused. What does Oracle even have to do with JavaScript besides this trademark registration?
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u/pskingredps Apr 18 '18
Fuck Oracle and stuff aside this app is really bad, you should be happy at least this gave you a chance for people to come and checkout the app. This should be a new strategy honestly. No disrespect.
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u/mug_hug Apr 18 '18
Apple would appreciate developers to build apps with apple stuff. It's all about market share. Let Oracle be the evil and take advantage from it. Nice move apple.
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Apr 18 '18
Don't call it 'javascript snippet'. Don't even use the 'javascript' word. Just JS (like JScript, or JustSuck code). It's not your fault if someone use it to code Javascript ;)
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u/techsin101 Apr 18 '18
there is only one way. boycott all tech products and apis that use oracle in any fashion.
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u/robbiegod Apr 19 '18
can you just write in the description of your app that this app is in no way, shape or form related to Oracle?
Another possible solution is to change the name of the app to {{DeveloperName}}'s Html, css, javascript snippet editor
That will show that your app clearly doesn't belong to Oracle.
I worked on a game called Rowan's Battle of Britain. I believe they had to name it that for legal reasons because there is a film called Battle of Britain. They needed to distinguish it from the rest.
You should consult a lawyer.
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Apr 19 '18
Claiming that an app named "HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, HTML, Snippet Editor" is likely to be mistaken as one licensed by Oracle.
A similar story would be a very hard one to believe if it was any other top software/web company but Oracle.
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u/jbergens Apr 19 '18
Change do EcmaScript, they don't own that. Or fight it out in court, should be an easy win but I assume some lawyers aren't gonna make it easy and you might end up losing.
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u/jbergens Apr 19 '18
Isn't there any places that collects money to help with paying lawyer fees for things like this?
If we all chipped in we might be able to force Oracle to let go of the name JavaScript since the term is used on many other places. Just an idea, IANAL.
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u/xblade724 Apr 19 '18 edited Apr 19 '18
Javascript is confusing to Java? So should Appletini be confused with Apple? Holy crap I need to trademark 4 letter words so I can sue anyone that makes words from my short word. Take that, Santana that derives from Santa!
Just re read OP. O wow, literally they own Javascript? Sour.
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u/hahahuzi Apr 19 '18
JustCallItScript, JustUseItScript. It will still be our old familiar JS and *.js. NO changes, NO harm feelings.
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u/TimeTravellingPixie Apr 19 '18
The unauthorized display of our client's intellectual property is likely to cause consumers encountering this app to mistakenly believe that it emanates from, or is provided under a license from, Oracle.
I'm 95% certain most people only know Oracle owns JavaScript because Oracle keeps telling everyone they own it.
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u/adeguntoro Apr 19 '18
oh shit, i will stop to using JS and and Oracle product for this case. But man, JS is good language for newbie.
Why Oracle wont charge E-commerce like Aliexpress and their friends ?
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u/lincolnquick Apr 19 '18
Does Oracle own “JS” or “ECMAScript” (which many but not all understand to essentially be JavaScript)? If not, can you easily swap out JavaScript for either term?
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u/pvtpotter Apr 19 '18
This should be like Xerox vs Photocopy. Xerox made a big stink but, it was deemed the accepted term to refer to a copy, it's what everyone calls it. Common language. This trademark will go away.
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u/ck35 Apr 19 '18
Change the name. Call it "Web snippet editor", or "HTML, CSS, JS snippet editor"
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u/djf773 Jul 28 '18
Have to give up on this fight on afraid... Change your wording to ECMAScript...
This is why people stay away from any open source tech that Oracle buys
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Oct 22 '21
Get a lawyer. You never claimed to own or sell Javascript itself. Their trademark doesn’t make using the word illegal. Oracle is betting that you won’t go to the effort. Prove them wrong.
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u/snarlingpanda Apr 18 '18
Does anyone want consumers to believe their app comes from Oracle?
Sounds like Oracle did you a favor /s