User:Hector Medina/Notebook/iGEM 2010 Personal Log/2010/07/15

WiFi Coli

Trademark Issues

Previously I had found that the Wi-Fi Alliance has trademarked the Wi{hyphen}Fi word, plus logo and related. Since our wording is without the hyphen, it doesn't fall within their trademark.
However, I had to make sure no one else had trademarked our project name. A quick search through the US Trademark Registry revealed that WiFi is indeed a trademarked word, however its status is listed as "Dead". "since any “dead” mark cannot be used to block a new application" as per the US Patents & Trademarks Office site, we can safely use the wording. The page on the dead trademark appears to be unlinkable, however a search for the "WiFi" term reveals only one entry.