ROMEX®/cable color changes

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Chad Schloss

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"Wrongful or groundless threats of infringement

Various jurisdictions have laws which are designed to prevent trademark owners from making wrongful threats of trademark infringement action against other parties. These laws are intended to prevent large or powerful companies from intimidating or harassing smaller companies.

Where one party makes a threat to sue another for trademark infringement, but does not have a genuine basis or intention to carry out that threat, or does not carry out the threat at all within a certain period, the threat may itself become a basis for legal action.[18] In this situation, the party receiving such a threat may seek from the Court a declaratory judgment; also known as a declaratory ruling."
 

Kevink1955

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I think I will stop buying the R product, may have to drive my FORD a little further to get the competors product, on the way back I am going to stop for a SABRETT and a COKE.

You woud think they would be happy having the brand name used freely as long as we are not trying to manfactuer the stuff
 

Speedy Petey

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I think I will stop buying the R product, may have to drive my FORD a little further to get the competors product, on the way back I am going to stop for a SABRETT and a COKE.

You woud think they would be happy having the brand name used freely as long as we are not trying to manfactuer the stuff
I FULLY agree!

This is not the first forum I am hearing this on and I think it's absurd. They are NOT defending it's proper use at all with this request. It's a joke.
I say we ignore ROMEX here, AND on the shelves. Luckily I don't shop for wire at HD very often.
 

Kevink1955

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How come Beverly did not use the tm symbol in her E-Mail to Terry, sure wish she included her E-Mail address so we could all tell her how we feel.

How do you even do the R with the circle, I have been in IT for 20 years and I do not know the key combo to do it
 

Chad Schloss

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while holding down the "Alt" key, type 0174 with the numlock key on and using the numeric keypad. (not the numbers above the letters)
© = alt 0169

® = Alt 0174
 

Kevink1955

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Beverly, in my first few years on the job when I had nothing else to do I would grab a paint brush and paint parking lot bumpers and bollards but that was before internet (tm) searches and E-Mail. You could always water the flowers in the big corprate lobby unless they are plastic(tm)
 

gcronau

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If you don't defend the use of your trademark, it can go into the public domain, and anyone can use it. They, and many others, spend a huge amount of money developing and perfecting something, and often, being the first, people take the name as a generic. Consider tissue verses K...., or cellophane tape verses S....., or copy verses X..... If you owned those brands, wouldn't you want people to actually refer to YOUR product when people were thinking generic, or made in China knockoff? The impact is real, it is tangible, and legally, it is required, or you can lose it to generic status.

I would have thought "Romex" would have long ago passed into the public domain. The term has been around for at least 80 years. I, and most of the people I know, use the term Romex. I almost never use the term NMB unless I'm trying to distinguish it from UFB. I think the ship may have sailed on that one. Besides, I doubt Southwest wire spent much money developing the brand at all, as it was orriginally created by the Rome Wire company, or something like that.
 

gcronau

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Another funny thing about this letter is that, if you read it carefully, it boils down to:

"We're giving you a very stern warning, and if you don't comply, we're going to come back in 10 days and give you another really stern warning."

And this time we'll mean it! <lol>
 

Murphy625

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That letter is such a joke I have to wonder if its even real. What retarded corporate legal clerk would bother to mess with a forum of DIY folks like this?

Call the number and see if this chick is real or if someone is screwing with you.. Talk to her boss if she is real and to verify the letter did in fact come from her.

I'm pretty sure trademark enforcement is only valid in defense of product recognition when it comes to OTHER products or advertising. I do not think legit enforcement can apply to conversations.. (verbal or written)

If you were selling some wire on **** or in your own store and advertising it as Romex when it was made by another company, that would be enforceable. But to tell someone on a forum to go buy some Romex, or make sure you don't put a nail through that wall because there might be some romex behind there, is not enforceable by any standard I am aware of.

Any real law clerk would probably know that. As someone who owns half a dozen registered copyrights myself, I have an idea of how this stuff works.. (sort of an idea anyhow).. I'm no expert on the subject but if trademarks were enforceable in that way, Coke and Xerox would have a field day.

Also, the comment about reasonable trademark enforcement practices is totally wrong as I understand it. A trademark owner can certainly pick and choose who and where and how their trademark can be used.
 

DonL

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That letter is such a joke I have to wonder if its even real. What retarded corporate legal clerk would bother to mess with a forum of DIY folks like this?

Call the number and see if this chick is real or if someone is screwing with you.. Talk to her boss if she is real and to verify the letter did in fact come from her.

I'm pretty sure trademark enforcement is only valid in defense of product recognition when it comes to OTHER products or advertising. I do not think legit enforcement can apply to conversations.. (verbal or written)

If you were selling some wire on **** or in your own store and advertising it as Romex when it was made by another company, that would be enforceable. But to tell someone on a forum to go buy some Romex, or make sure you don't put a nail through that wall because there might be some romex behind there, is not enforceable by any standard I am aware of.

Any real law clerk would probably know that. As someone who owns half a dozen registered copyrights myself, I have an idea of how this stuff works.. (sort of an idea anyhow).. I'm no expert on the subject but if trademarks were enforceable in that way, Coke and Xerox would have a field day.

Also, the comment about reasonable trademark enforcement practices is totally wrong as I understand it. A trademark owner can certainly pick and choose who and where and how their trademark can be used.


I agree with what you are saying.

It is Terry's Forum and if he sees it needed, then so be it. He be the Man.


Most Manufactures like it when you use their Trademark name, as long as you are not selling a knockoff.
 

Wet_Boots

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I would think that Southwire® would have to work extra hard to keep all unattributed references to ROMEX® from appearing on the web.
 

Stuff

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I am just disappointed that since they saw this thread they didn't answer the OP's question! Now that would have been good publicity for their brand.

Hopefully rephrased to make the lawyers happy: When did the Southwire Company start shipping ROMEX® 12 gauge in yellow and 10 gauge in orange as default?
 

Wet_Boots

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If Southwire® were really on top of this, they could supply code to have forum software automatically supply the ® (and capitalization) after every mention of ROMEX® :p
 

DonL

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If Southwire® were really on top of this, they could supply code to have forum software automatically supply the ® (and capitalization) after every mention of ROMEX® :p


Terry can do that now, if he wanted too.


More Free advertizement.
 
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