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Posted to dev@spark.apache.org by Bjørn Jørgensen <bj...@gmail.com> on 2022/12/27 17:17:49 UTC
Report violations of the spark trademark
Volue <https://www.volue.com> a Norwegian company that is registered on
Oslo stock exchange as Volue ASA
<https://newsweb.oslobors.no/search?category=&issuer=12813&fromDate=&toDate=&market=&messageTitle=>
From there who we are page:
employees 730
customers + 2200
Operating countries 40 +
Offices 30
"*Volue is a leading supplier of technology and enabler of the green
transition. We offer software, insight and systems that lead the European
markets’ transition to robust and sustainable services critical for
society.*"
"*Our market-leading products optimise energy production, trading,
distribution and consumption, as well as infrastructure and construction
projects. Our mission is to realise a cleaner and more profitable future
for our 2,200+ customers and thus the global society*"
https://www.volue.com/who-we-are
Volue spark <https://www.volue.com/spark> is now their latest software that
they have on their frontpage.
[image: image.png]
So the question is..
Is it just to send an email to trademarks@apache.org ?
And what should be in the mail? Is this enough?
--
Bjørn Jørgensen
Vestre Aspehaug 4, 6010 Ålesund
Norge
+47 480 94 297
Re: Report violations of the spark trademark
Posted by Chris Nauroth <cn...@apache.org>.
Hello Bjørn,
Thank you for the notification. Here are the ASF guidelines on trademark
reporting:
https://www.apache.org/foundation/marks/reporting.html
To summarize, the ASF prefers that the individual PMC discusses the report
privately and then drives any resolution required. The PMC can work with
trademarks@ if they need additional advice.
I recommend restarting this thread with private@spark.apache.org. You
should receive an acknowledgment, but the follow-up discussion will be kept
private to the PMC. If you don't receive acknowledgment within a few weeks,
the linked ASF guidelines also include instructions on how you can follow
up. I expect you'd receive an acknowledgment though from a busy project
like Spark.
Chris Nauroth
On Tue, Dec 27, 2022 at 9:20 AM Bjørn Jørgensen <bj...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Volue <https://www.volue.com> a Norwegian company that is registered on
> Oslo stock exchange as Volue ASA
> <https://newsweb.oslobors.no/search?category=&issuer=12813&fromDate=&toDate=&market=&messageTitle=>
>
>
> From there who we are page:
> employees 730
> customers + 2200
> Operating countries 40 +
> Offices 30
>
> "*Volue is a leading supplier of technology and enabler of the green
> transition. We offer software, insight and systems that lead the European
> markets’ transition to robust and sustainable services critical for
> society.*"
>
> "*Our market-leading products optimise energy production, trading,
> distribution and consumption, as well as infrastructure and construction
> projects. Our mission is to realise a cleaner and more profitable future
> for our 2,200+ customers and thus the global society*"
>
> https://www.volue.com/who-we-are
>
>
> Volue spark <https://www.volue.com/spark> is now their latest software
> that they have on their frontpage.
>
>
> [image: image.png]
>
>
> So the question is..
>
> Is it just to send an email to trademarks@apache.org ?
> And what should be in the mail? Is this enough?
>
>
> --
> Bjørn Jørgensen
> Vestre Aspehaug 4, 6010 Ålesund
> Norge
>
> +47 480 94 297
>
Re: Report violations of the spark trademark
Posted by Mich Talebzadeh <mi...@gmail.com>.
Hm, I followed the details of this company on their website. Not to put too
fine a point on it, they are referring to SPARk and not Apache Spark. In
general in trademark infringement they are points that need to be
considered.
According to this link
<https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/copyright-infringement.asp#:~:text=Copyright%20infringement%20is%20the%20use,breached%20by%20a%20third%20party.>
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Copyright infringement is the use or production of copyright-protected
material without the permission of the copyright holder.
- Individuals and companies who develop new works register for copyright
protection to ensure that they can profit from their efforts.
- Other parties may be granted permission to use those works through
licensing arrangements or buy the works from the copyright holder.
I am not sure whether *Apache Spark *is a registered trademark in the EU
(which Norway comes into its jurisdiction) or not. However, from my
experience the strict copyrights can be enforced in the US and United
kingdom in a reasonable way. There is no way you can enforce it in
countries where copyright means right to copy.
Also any litigation may argue what loss of earnings has been sustained by
this infringement by apache spark, and there is really no case for it as
Apache spark is not a commercial entity. IMO, by the fact that they are
referring to Spark, they may be actually doing a favour to keep the product
in the news.
You may ask them that under data protection law what information they hold
in their product vis-a-vis Apache Spark They will have to answer that
within 30 days and they may decide to ignore it.
HTH
view my Linkedin profile
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/mich-talebzadeh-ph-d-5205b2/>
https://en.everybodywiki.com/Mich_Talebzadeh
*Disclaimer:* Use it at your own risk. Any and all responsibility for any
loss, damage or destruction of data or any other property which may arise
from relying on this email's technical content is explicitly disclaimed.
The author will in no case be liable for any monetary damages arising from
such loss, damage or destruction.
On Tue, 27 Dec 2022 at 19:22, Sean Owen <sr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> (We are following up on private@ by the way)
> It is a fair question, one of trademark law both inside and outside the
> US. The ASF does claim trademark in "Spark". But yes the principle is
> ultimately whether it will result in consumer confusion about whether one
> is actually using Apache's software project or not. It's possible to find
> examples where it would, and wouldn't, in software.
>
> On Tue, Dec 27, 2022 at 1:19 PM Mich Talebzadeh <mi...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> LOL, why do we need to worry about this? Spark is called Apache Spark and
>> that is different from what this company is calling Spark.
>>
>> Case in point we have Hive as a company <https://www.hivehome.com/> and Apache
>> Hive <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Hive> as a software. Storm
>> in a teacup so to speak IMO.
>>
>>
>> HTH
>>
>>
>> view my Linkedin profile
>> <https://www.linkedin.com/in/mich-talebzadeh-ph-d-5205b2/>
>>
>>
>> https://en.everybodywiki.com/Mich_Talebzadeh
>>
>>
>>
>> *Disclaimer:* Use it at your own risk. Any and all responsibility for
>> any loss, damage or destruction of data or any other property which may
>> arise from relying on this email's technical content is explicitly
>> disclaimed. The author will in no case be liable for any monetary damages
>> arising from such loss, damage or destruction.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, 27 Dec 2022 at 17:19, Bjørn Jørgensen <bj...@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Volue <https://www.volue.com> a Norwegian company that is registered on
>>> Oslo stock exchange as Volue ASA
>>> <https://newsweb.oslobors.no/search?category=&issuer=12813&fromDate=&toDate=&market=&messageTitle=>
>>>
>>>
>>> From there who we are page:
>>> employees 730
>>> customers + 2200
>>> Operating countries 40 +
>>> Offices 30
>>>
>>> "*Volue is a leading supplier of technology and enabler of the green
>>> transition. We offer software, insight and systems that lead the European
>>> markets’ transition to robust and sustainable services critical for
>>> society.*"
>>>
>>> "*Our market-leading products optimise energy production, trading,
>>> distribution and consumption, as well as infrastructure and construction
>>> projects. Our mission is to realise a cleaner and more profitable future
>>> for our 2,200+ customers and thus the global society*"
>>>
>>> https://www.volue.com/who-we-are
>>>
>>>
>>> Volue spark <https://www.volue.com/spark> is now their latest software
>>> that they have on their frontpage.
>>>
>>>
>>> [image: image.png]
>>>
>>>
>>> So the question is..
>>>
>>> Is it just to send an email to trademarks@apache.org ?
>>> And what should be in the mail? Is this enough?
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Bjørn Jørgensen
>>> Vestre Aspehaug 4, 6010 Ålesund
>>> Norge
>>>
>>> +47 480 94 297
>>>
>>
Re: Report violations of the spark trademark
Posted by Sean Owen <sr...@gmail.com>.
(We are following up on private@ by the way)
It is a fair question, one of trademark law both inside and outside the US.
The ASF does claim trademark in "Spark". But yes the principle is
ultimately whether it will result in consumer confusion about whether one
is actually using Apache's software project or not. It's possible to find
examples where it would, and wouldn't, in software.
On Tue, Dec 27, 2022 at 1:19 PM Mich Talebzadeh <mi...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> LOL, why do we need to worry about this? Spark is called Apache Spark and
> that is different from what this company is calling Spark.
>
> Case in point we have Hive as a company <https://www.hivehome.com/> and Apache
> Hive <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Hive> as a software. Storm in
> a teacup so to speak IMO.
>
>
> HTH
>
>
> view my Linkedin profile
> <https://www.linkedin.com/in/mich-talebzadeh-ph-d-5205b2/>
>
>
> https://en.everybodywiki.com/Mich_Talebzadeh
>
>
>
> *Disclaimer:* Use it at your own risk. Any and all responsibility for any
> loss, damage or destruction of data or any other property which may arise
> from relying on this email's technical content is explicitly disclaimed.
> The author will in no case be liable for any monetary damages arising from
> such loss, damage or destruction.
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, 27 Dec 2022 at 17:19, Bjørn Jørgensen <bj...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Volue <https://www.volue.com> a Norwegian company that is registered on
>> Oslo stock exchange as Volue ASA
>> <https://newsweb.oslobors.no/search?category=&issuer=12813&fromDate=&toDate=&market=&messageTitle=>
>>
>>
>> From there who we are page:
>> employees 730
>> customers + 2200
>> Operating countries 40 +
>> Offices 30
>>
>> "*Volue is a leading supplier of technology and enabler of the green
>> transition. We offer software, insight and systems that lead the European
>> markets’ transition to robust and sustainable services critical for
>> society.*"
>>
>> "*Our market-leading products optimise energy production, trading,
>> distribution and consumption, as well as infrastructure and construction
>> projects. Our mission is to realise a cleaner and more profitable future
>> for our 2,200+ customers and thus the global society*"
>>
>> https://www.volue.com/who-we-are
>>
>>
>> Volue spark <https://www.volue.com/spark> is now their latest software
>> that they have on their frontpage.
>>
>>
>> [image: image.png]
>>
>>
>> So the question is..
>>
>> Is it just to send an email to trademarks@apache.org ?
>> And what should be in the mail? Is this enough?
>>
>>
>> --
>> Bjørn Jørgensen
>> Vestre Aspehaug 4, 6010 Ålesund
>> Norge
>>
>> +47 480 94 297
>>
>
Re: Report violations of the spark trademark
Posted by Bjørn Jørgensen <bj...@gmail.com>.
Hi Mich.
The point here is that this is a company that deals with the analysis of
large amounts of data.
They are known here in Norway and in the Nordics for delivering analysis
tools for the electricity industry.
The question that should perhaps be asked at the same time is, why don't
they use Apache spark? Or maybe they do?
I work as an engineer at a major electricity supplier in Norway and use a
lot of their software for analysis.
For example, Apache Spark is used to import and analyze electricity meter
data. (Another company does this, they are called Elhub.)
Something that is again analyzed with software from precisely Volue.
From the Apache Spark™ trademark guidelines
<https://spark.apache.org/trademarks.html>
*"Software products, whether commercial or open source, are not allowed to
use “Spark” in their name, except in the form “powered by Apache Spark” or
“for Apache Spark” when following these specific guidelines.Names derived
from “Spark”, such as “sparkly”, are also not allowed.Company names may not
include “Spark”.Package identifiers (e.g., Maven coordinates) may include
“spark”, but the full name used for the software package should follow the
naming policy above."*
https://www.hivehome.com sells light bulbs, and as it says in the rules for
reporting violations
<https://www.apache.org/foundation/marks/reporting.html> so...
*"Is this use about some non-software related product (apparel, kitchen
appliances, mining operations, computer hardware, whatever)? *
*The ASF and Apache projects primarily provide software products to the
public, and to a lesser degree provide software support services. *
*Use of trademark names in relation to software products or services should
always be evaluated carefully.*
* Always evaluate use of trademark names in relation to other kinds of
goods (i.e. non-software), but they are probably not infringing. *
*Trademarks generally apply only within a specific class or field of goods;
consumers would rarely confuse a Ford® car with a Ford software product
(unless the software is an app on the dashboard)."*
Volue spark is a new project that they have just started looking for
people.
Didn't you think it might be a good idea to give them a little friendly
hint that spark is a registered trademark?
tir. 27. des. 2022 kl. 20:18 skrev Mich Talebzadeh <
mich.talebzadeh@gmail.com>:
> LOL, why do we need to worry about this? Spark is called Apache Spark and
> that is different from what this company is calling Spark.
>
> Case in point we have Hive as a company <https://www.hivehome.com/> and Apache
> Hive <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Hive> as a software. Storm in
> a teacup so to speak IMO.
>
>
> HTH
>
>
> view my Linkedin profile
> <https://www.linkedin.com/in/mich-talebzadeh-ph-d-5205b2/>
>
>
> https://en.everybodywiki.com/Mich_Talebzadeh
>
>
>
> *Disclaimer:* Use it at your own risk. Any and all responsibility for any
> loss, damage or destruction of data or any other property which may arise
> from relying on this email's technical content is explicitly disclaimed.
> The author will in no case be liable for any monetary damages arising from
> such loss, damage or destruction.
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, 27 Dec 2022 at 17:19, Bjørn Jørgensen <bj...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Volue <https://www.volue.com> a Norwegian company that is registered on
>> Oslo stock exchange as Volue ASA
>> <https://newsweb.oslobors.no/search?category=&issuer=12813&fromDate=&toDate=&market=&messageTitle=>
>>
>>
>> From there who we are page:
>> employees 730
>> customers + 2200
>> Operating countries 40 +
>> Offices 30
>>
>> "*Volue is a leading supplier of technology and enabler of the green
>> transition. We offer software, insight and systems that lead the European
>> markets’ transition to robust and sustainable services critical for
>> society.*"
>>
>> "*Our market-leading products optimise energy production, trading,
>> distribution and consumption, as well as infrastructure and construction
>> projects. Our mission is to realise a cleaner and more profitable future
>> for our 2,200+ customers and thus the global society*"
>>
>> https://www.volue.com/who-we-are
>>
>>
>> Volue spark <https://www.volue.com/spark> is now their latest software
>> that they have on their frontpage.
>>
>>
>> [image: image.png]
>>
>>
>> So the question is..
>>
>> Is it just to send an email to trademarks@apache.org ?
>> And what should be in the mail? Is this enough?
>>
>>
>> --
>> Bjørn Jørgensen
>> Vestre Aspehaug 4, 6010 Ålesund
>> Norge
>>
>> +47 480 94 297
>>
>
--
Bjørn Jørgensen
Vestre Aspehaug 4, 6010 Ålesund
Norge
+47 480 94 297
Re: Report violations of the spark trademark
Posted by Mich Talebzadeh <mi...@gmail.com>.
LOL, why do we need to worry about this? Spark is called Apache Spark and
that is different from what this company is calling Spark.
Case in point we have Hive as a company <https://www.hivehome.com/> and Apache
Hive <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Hive> as a software. Storm in a
teacup so to speak IMO.
HTH
view my Linkedin profile
<https://www.linkedin.com/in/mich-talebzadeh-ph-d-5205b2/>
https://en.everybodywiki.com/Mich_Talebzadeh
*Disclaimer:* Use it at your own risk. Any and all responsibility for any
loss, damage or destruction of data or any other property which may arise
from relying on this email's technical content is explicitly disclaimed.
The author will in no case be liable for any monetary damages arising from
such loss, damage or destruction.
On Tue, 27 Dec 2022 at 17:19, Bjørn Jørgensen <bj...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Volue <https://www.volue.com> a Norwegian company that is registered on
> Oslo stock exchange as Volue ASA
> <https://newsweb.oslobors.no/search?category=&issuer=12813&fromDate=&toDate=&market=&messageTitle=>
>
>
> From there who we are page:
> employees 730
> customers + 2200
> Operating countries 40 +
> Offices 30
>
> "*Volue is a leading supplier of technology and enabler of the green
> transition. We offer software, insight and systems that lead the European
> markets’ transition to robust and sustainable services critical for
> society.*"
>
> "*Our market-leading products optimise energy production, trading,
> distribution and consumption, as well as infrastructure and construction
> projects. Our mission is to realise a cleaner and more profitable future
> for our 2,200+ customers and thus the global society*"
>
> https://www.volue.com/who-we-are
>
>
> Volue spark <https://www.volue.com/spark> is now their latest software
> that they have on their frontpage.
>
>
> [image: image.png]
>
>
> So the question is..
>
> Is it just to send an email to trademarks@apache.org ?
> And what should be in the mail? Is this enough?
>
>
> --
> Bjørn Jørgensen
> Vestre Aspehaug 4, 6010 Ålesund
> Norge
>
> +47 480 94 297
>