To clarify this discussion, there is a difference between trademark, trade name, and copyright. Based on US law, generally,
(1) A trademark is a word, phrase or logo used to distinguish a manufacturer's or seller's product from others. It had its origin as a guarantee of genuineness (such as Paul Revere's mark on his silver works). To receive trademark protection under US federal law, a mark must (a) be distinctive rather than merely descriptive, (b) be affixed to the product actually sold in the marketplace, and (c) be registered in the Patent Office. The need for distinctiveness rather than description, coupled with a marketing goal of attracting attention and staying in the consumer's memory, is what prompts the odd spellings. Trademark is related to service mark, used to distinguish the services of a certain provider.
(2) A trade name is a name, style or symbol used to distinguish a company or business rather than a product or service. It establishes and preserves the company's reputation and goodwill. General Electric is a trade name.
(3) Copyright is a property right in an original work of authorship, including literary, musical and artistic work, fixed in a tangible medium of expression. It entitles the owner of the exclusive rights to the work, including to the profits generated by the work. The ideas underlying copyrighted works cannot themselves be copyrighted, so a person who develops a recipe for creme brulee can preclude others from selling that recipe, but cannot stop them from selling another recipe for creme brulee. As you've noted in another thread, under US federal law, copyright is subject to certain "fair use" exceptions, including brief quotation for the purpose of critique.
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I believe that the Sinclair dinosaur was adopted in acknowledgment of the origins of fossil fuels.
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3M Company is a good example of a trade name gone awry. Originally the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, the corporation was formed by a group of investors in a smallish town in Minnesota to purchase and exploit a deposit of a mineral (I forget which one) discovered nearby. The investors planned to sell the mineral for a certain industrial use, but discovered that the mineral was of inferior quality and couldn't be used for that purpose. Left with a bunch of rocks, they explored alternate uses and started making sandpaper with it. That lead to BIG advances by the company in the production of papers and glues, including the invention of masking tape and cellophane tape. That's why a mining company is a leader in stationary supplies and now calls itself 3M. 3M brought us Scotch tape, another product with a trademark so successful that it nearly lost its purpose as a trademark.
-- (c) 2001
