Post #4301702
2026-05-19 17:59 UTC
@Jerry@hear-me.social Rules are meant to be broken, after all. I have no doubt as long as a server with "mastodon" in the name isn't actually aiming for malice, Mastodon as a company won't bother flexing their lawyers. It would be a disaster both socially and legally.
If they disagree, I would love to see them come after one of those 1800 servers.
Replies (1)
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@Jerry@hear-me.social 2026-05-19 19:30
@shanie@mastodon.tails.ch It's all controlled by the lawyers. They will decide what is necessary so Mastodon can continue owning their trademarked names. Companies must, by law, show they protect these assets vigorously. "Aspirin" was deemed not vigorously protected enough in the U.S. Bayer lost the right to this trademarked name, for example. It's called genericide; the name becomes generic. Other examples: Escalator, Thermos, Trampoline, and Videotape. I imagine that mastodon.world will get licensed, but many others will not if they are not considered well-run and well moderated by Mastodon gGmbH standards.