WASHINGTON-Whether written in upper or lower case, the acronym cdma2000 should always include the trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association, according to a letter the organization sent out to standards participants.
The letter, dated March 27, said the TIA has received certificates of registration from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the trademark.
“Third party usage of the mark CDMA2000, in any stylization, should include an indication that the mark is a registered trademark and/or certification mark, as applicable, of TIA by dropping a footnote at first use,” the letter said.
A senior staff member of one of the top equipment vendors said the company will abide by TIA’s requirement in order to avoid possible litigation.
The letter was written by TIA legal counsel Andrew L. Kurtman and addressed to Cheryl Blum, Chair of TR-45, Jean Alphouse, chair of TR-45.5 and Henry Cuschieri, 3GPP2.
But TIA spokeswoman Sharon Grace said TIA does not necessarily intend to invoke litigation in order to ensure compliance, describing it as a good-faith decision.
She said the letter was not circulated to wireless companies, but to participants in developing the standards.
“It belongs to us,” she said, “and we expect companies to acknowledge it in their references and advertising.”
The technology was developed by Qualcomm Inc, and that company is recognized as the proprietor. Qualcomm sells chipsets around the world and receives royalties from licensing the technology.
On how companies should acknowledge TIA’s patent rights, the letter said: “It is not necessary to place the footnote in the table of contents or on the cover page of a TIA standard, the first footnote can be in the foreword of a document.”
The letter said the footnote should say: “cdma2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA-USA) or CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association(TIA-USA).”
