[Upd-discuss] Jewish Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame sued over trademark violation

[Richard Stallman]

    In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Cleveland, the museum said 
    journalists David Segal, Jeffrey Goldberg and radio executive Allen 
    Goldberg "misappropriated Rock Hall's substantial intellectual property 
    rights as well as the goodwill associated therewith.

The use of "intellectual property rights" when the issue is
specifically an instance of trademarks is an instance of how that term
is used to mislead the public.

A useful thing that readers of this list can do is to write letters to
the editor of any newspapers that say this statement.  The letters can
explain that the issue is trademark law, and that using the vague term
"intellectual property" is an attempt to confuse the public between
this and copyright and patent law.

The letter can also explain that trademarks are limited monopolies
created by the government for the purposes of preventing confusion,
and that trademark holders employ the term "intellectual property" to
misrepresent what the point is.