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by angus-prune
3089 days ago
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Your IP history is wrong. Patents originated in 15th Century Venice and Copyright in 17th Century Britain and trademarks in France in the (iirc) 19th Century. Patents were, indeed, a way to encourage people to share their inventions rather than keep them as trade secrets, but this doesn't apply to copyright (rampant book piracy after the invention of the printing press) or trademark (consumer protection and counterfitting). I have never heard of any link the the USA or second sons etc, and the way these laws developed doesn't support your hypothesis. Absolutely with you that these things need modernising though (and not in a Digital Millenium way) |
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The same principle as Trademarks even pre-date the formal existence of registrable trademarks, because everybody can see that if "Jameson Beans" are considered to be good quality beans then buying some crap beans and selling them on as "Jameson Beans" is clearly not OK. English law has a tort of "passing off" which is committed when you trick customers in this way, and you can still use it for unregistered marks today, it's just harder than the Registered Trademark law.