Bill Anderson wrote:
Bill Anderson wrote: ...
The archives show that Loren was using this term for this usage by nearly a month. if nothing else, the timing of the application coinciding with the introduction of the term by Loren is at best suspicious. In fact, it occurs on the very day that Loren made the announcement of the howto.
And according to the USPTO:
Federal registration is not required to establish rights in a trademark. Common law rights arise from actual use of a mark. Generally, the first to either use a mark in commerce or file an intent to use application with the Patent and Trademark Office has the ultimate right to use and registration.
Sorry, but 'breadcrumbs' as a description of various types of web-navigation features has been in use quite a bit longer than this. Try searching http://www.useit.com/ for the term 'breadcrumbs' and you'll come up with some documents dating to 1994. So Loren does not 'win', except that this Charles Knerr person has absolutely no claim on the term. Michael Bernstein.