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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Chicago
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    90

    Will this get a webmaster into trademark violation

    Suppose a webmaster studied in "Hong Kong public school"
    and started hkps.org a community website about his school.

    Can the school now file a trademark or copyright case against him!!

    If so whats the best way to deal such a problem where the school is not doing much for the student/alumni community and the webmaster wants to use some of his spare time to do so.

  2. #2
    Its a real fine line with stuff like that, however I do know that in the US that the government CANNOT trademark or copyright ANYTHING.
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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    90
    continuing our finctional story though the name of the school is "Hong kong public school" it is actually not owned by a goverment but is rather run by a private education foundation.

    What should the webmaster do. Should he create the hkps.org site or forget about the idea ?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Posts
    1,056
    If its a "this school sucks" site, then don't do it. If its a "this school is great" site, then I doubt they would care.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    90
    This is neither a this school "suck" or is "great" website.

    The aim of the website is to let the community decide in the forums what they want to talk about.

    How does letting the community decide what happens in the forum affect possible trademark issues.

    What happens if some one in the community bad mouths the dean. If i am asked to reveal the identity i wont and then they want to take the site down ?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    4,345
    Originally posted by sysadmin9
    This is neither a this school "suck" or is "great" website.

    The aim of the website is to let the community decide in the forums what they want to talk about.

    How does letting the community decide what happens in the forum affect possible trademark issues.

    What happens if some one in the community bad mouths the dean. If i am asked to reveal the identity i wont and then they want to take the site down ?
    What I would do is write an agreement between you and the school...

    Say you want to make a community website for grads and hold discussions...
    Show them ur privacy policy..

    They will agree.. Make sure you are ok in the first place..

    peace,
    Testing 1.. Testing 1..2.. Testing 1..2..3...

  7. #7
    Oh yea another thing that I forgot to mention, is that in the US you cannot trademark or copyright an acronym.. So something like Bank of America (BOA) etc... The only thing you have to watch out for is if you are part of the place you are doing it for THEY may try and tell you exactly what you can and cannot put on the site, and then make your life hell if you don't listen... There was a thread about something quite similar before.. do a search.
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