Sun Microsystems sues island of JavaTMMountain View, CA -- Sun Microsystems today filed a trademark infringement against the island of JavaTM over the use of Sun's JavaTM trademark. Responding to criticism that the island has been called JavaTM for centuries, Sun lawyer Frank Cheatham said "Yeah, and in all that time they never filed for a trademark. They deserve to lose the name." Rather than pay the licensing fee, the island decided to change its name. They originally voted to change it to Visu Albasic, but an angry telegram from Redmond, Washington convinced them otherwise. The country finally settled on a symbol for a name -- a neatly-colored coffee cup which still evokes the idea of java. Since most newspapers and magazines will not be able to print the name of the island, it will hereafter be referred to in print as "The Island Formerly Known As JavaTM". The Island Formerly Known As JavaTM bills itself as a cross-landmass island, but so far has only been implemented in production on the Malay Archipelago. Africa is been rumored to have implemented it on Madagascar, but it is still in alpha testing. Lawyers from Sun would also like to locate the owners of the huge fiery ball at the center of the solar system. They have some legal papers for them... For (doubtless) way more information than you would ever want on this particular topic, the mighty U. S. Patent and Trademark Office will set you straight! |