Terms Of Use
1 Introduction
The NGN Enabled trademark is intellectual property, with
value both to us at Nexus Telecom and to our community of
customers, developers, partners and supporters. When our trademarks
maintain their strong association with quality and compatibility,
the entire community benefits.
Trademarks are words or symbols (and less commonly colors,
sounds or scents) used to identify the source of products,
technologies, programs and services, enabling customers to
distinguish one provider's offerings from another's. When
we say "products" in this context, we mean all types
of offerings, ranging from commercial products and services
to open source and free software and informational web sites.
Trademark law protects the public's ability to rely on trademarks
for information about product source and quality, requiring
trademark owners to take steps to police proper use of their
marks. We provide these NGN Enabled® Trademark and Logo
Usage Requirements ("guidelines") as part of a comprehensive
program to satisfy this obligation and to help you and all
of our community members make proper use of our marks consistent
with these guidelines and the law.
These guidelines are for anyone using or referencing NGN
Enabled® trademark, particularly users outside of Nexus
Telecom. For additional resources, please contact us by email
: contact@ngnenabled.com.
2 Overview of Trademark Law
We are providing a general overview of trademark law to help
you understand the guiding principles and goals of these guidelines.
This summary and these guidelines do not constitute legal
advice.
What does trademark law protect? Trademark law protects the public's
ability to rely on trademarks for information about the source
and quality of products, services, programs and technologies.
To protect the public from misleading or confusing information,
the law requires trademark owners to monitor proper use of their
marks and to "police" against use of identical or closely
similar marks for similar goods, services, programs or technologies.
Trademarks are compared based on similarities or differences in
sight (visual appearance), sound, and meaning, as well as other
factors such as whether the products are related. A mark that
looks similar, sounds similar, or has a similar meaning to an
established mark and that is used on similar products might be
an infringement.
Not all uses of a trademark result in potential confusion. Nexus
Telecom allows and even encourages many "fair uses"
of NGN Enabled.
What is trade dress? "Trade dress" describes a
collection of attributes or features of a product or service
(often its overall presentation) and/or its packaging. Trade
dress can include color palettes, patterns and textures of
material or packaging, or other thematic elements that collectively
indicate the source of the product or service to the public.
What is a fair use? Referring to someone else's trademark
in a way that does not confuse the public or tarnish the mark
may qualify as "fair use." Examples include discussions
of a product by name in a news article, product review, or
comparative advertising. To make a "fair use," you
must accurately identify the original product or service without
misleading the public about its source or its affiliation
with your own products or services. Using someone else's trademark
as the name of your own product or service (including freeware
or free information services) is never fair use. If you want
to use one of our logos, you will need a permission or license.
How do owners establish trademark rights? In Switzerland,
and most countries, a user is required to register trademarks
with the national trademark office (a government agency),
before rights are recognized. In the U.S. and some other countries
that recognize "common law" rights, an owner can
establish trademark rights simply by using a mark in connection
with products or services. (No rights will be established
if the mark infringes an existing, existing registered, or
senior mark.)
What is an infringement? Infringement occurs when someone
(the "junior user") uses a trademark that is identical
or confusingly similar to an existing trademark (the "senior
trademark") owned by a senior user, on similar goods,
services, products or technologies without permission or a
license from the senior user. Courts use many factors to evaluate
the likelihood that the public would be confused about the
source of either trademark user's products or the relationship
between the two trademark owners. The infringement can be
intentional, e.g., when the junior user is counterfeiting
goods, or inadvertent, e.g., when the junior user is trying
to make fair use, but doesn't satisfy all the legal requirements.
What is required for a trademark license? A trademark owner
may license the use of a trademark to other companies or individuals
for use on their own products. The license agreement must
allow the trademark owner the right to control the quality
of the licensee's products by setting and enforcing quality
standards.
How can you trademark words in the dictionary? It all depends
on how close the trademark owner's products are to the dictionary
definition. For example, apples (the fruit) do not have anything
to do with computers, so Apple is a distinctive, strong mark
for computer products and services, identifying one unique
source of those products and services. The mark Apple would
be a little less strong, but still protectable for the hypothetical
company Apple Healthcare, because there is a logical association
between apples and health (the saying "an apple a day
keeps the doctor away"). Since the word "apple"
does not directly describe health care services, it can still
identify one unique source of those services. No fruit grower,
however, could claim exclusive trademark rights in the name
"apple" for its fruit. "Apple" is a generic
term in that industry and is not protectable as a trademark.
It does not identify any unique source of the fruit. For this
reason, no one apple grower can trademark the word "apple"
and prevent competitors and other members of the industry
from using it in their company and product names.
3 Overview of NGN Enabled® Trademark Guidelines
Please follow these guidelines in making use of our trademarks.
Trademarks are adjectives. Use them, at least in your initial
and most prominent references and otherwise as needed for
clarity, with generic nouns that identify a product, technology,
program, or service. For example, use "NGN Enabled technology"
instead of using "NGN Enabled" on its own.
Mark and attribute NGN Enabled® trademarks. When making
fair use of the NGN Enabled® trademark, mark and attribute
each usage instance as outlined in these Guidelines.
You may only use NGN Enabled® logos with permission.
To find out more about NGN Enabled® logo programs and
to apply for a license, visit www.ngn-enabled.com/terms_of_use.html
Keeping NGN Enabled® trademarks strong helps our entire
community. Please let us know if you see our trademarks used
in a way that does not conform to these guidelines.
4 Naming and Presentation of Products, Services and Websites
Trademark law applies equally to commercial products and
services and to offerings that are free, not for profit, educational,
or purely informational. Including an NGN Enabled trademark
in the name of a product or service not compatible with Nexus
Telecom NGN Enabled guidelines can confuse consumers and violate
the law. The following guidelines explain in greater detail
when and how you can use NGN Enabled trademark in relation
to your products.
Sight, Sound, and Meaning: Trademark protection extends to
its sight, sound and meaning. Do not adopt a trademark that
has a similar look, sound, or meaning to the NGN Enabled trademark.
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