Some positive news today from the University of Guelph on the Open Ed situation.
The UofG was not opposed to sharing the mark more broadly within the post-secondary sector as evidenced by our efforts to provide a license to BC Campus. However, it is evident that the various meanings of the term ‘OpenEd’ will be challenged to co-exist and therefore, the University of Guelph is taking steps to release the official mark in its entirety, although this will make the mark available for others to attempt to make it their official mark or to apply to register it as a traditional trade-mark.
Am I missing something here? It seems like Guelph could trademark their *logo* and even a Guelph-related slogan that included the term “OpenEd, and that would be standard and appropriate behavior to protect their Guelph-specific brand assets.
That would leave the OpenEd phrase exactly where it belongs (although, given what has transpired here, it might be good to get some people together to sort out the best way to avoid a new flavor of the current situation in the future).
If I was part of the team at UofG, I’d be asking some VERY hard questions of the lawyers who guided their trademark process. Guelph got some sub-par advice, which led to a very avoidable mess.
__Hi Bill, from your comments, you may have questions and concerns regarding aspects of the trademark-wordmark registration process and this information of may be of some value to you. “Trade-marks, Intellectual Property, Copyright & Branding” – See more at: http://www.rgd.ca/resources/articles/news_post/460.php#sthash.eNpYVDjo.dpuf _ Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario – RGD’s mandate is to raise professional standards and promote best practices throughout our industry.
Design Leaders within the OER Cohort may collaborate and move ahead on an “open education” visual communications plan where graphic designs are Registered and CC licensed __ it would be helpful if legal at Creative Commons reviewed this ‘OpenED’ case to prepare an updated version of this discussion paper – “Creative Commons on trademarks & copyright” _ http://learn.creativecommons.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/cc-licenses-and-trademarks.pdf
__Great news Clint. But the key piece of the story is missing. Please open the post _ http://clintlalonde.net/2015/06/01/on-using-opened-an-opportunity/ _ Open to read so everyone understands how your blog fits into a sequence of events and turning points in the history of an open visual communication plan to create and license open wordmarks.
A piece of the story that is missing is the loss of investment at OpenEd in creating a brand asset – TBD where money comes from for a new budget addition, needed to fund the costs involved with re-thinking Design of Open Education.
History expunged too.
Seems like a pretty speedy climb down! But the right conclusion for the #opened community & I look forward to meeting Guelph staff at #opened15