10 Dec
1998
10 Dec
'98
5:58 p.m.
Chuck wrote:
TouchTones(tm) are used all the time in satellite
feeds to cue local
Sam wrote:
FYI, the phrase "touch tones" is not
trademarked by anyone anymore. I
don't know that it ever was, but the misconception is that it at least
still is. It's not.
Ward wrote:
Never was that I know of. And if it had been,
we'd have heard
something about a lawsuit.
In the United States, Touchtone was a registered trademark of AT&T. I'm
not sure when they gave it up; it may have been at the time of the
divestiture. A query of the trademark database reveals seven current
registered trademarks incorporating the word touchtone:
Touchtone Invest
Fidelity Touchtone Xpress
Touchtone Xpress
Touchtone Jobsline
Touchtone Rentsline
Touchtone Transportation
Touchtone Trader
The last of these was the earliest filed, on March 26, 1992, so I think
it's a safe bet that AT&T gave up the trademark before that date.
In some countries Touchtone is still a trademark of the applicable telephone
company or agency. For example, in the UK it is a registered trademark of
British Telecommunications PLC:
http://www.labs.bt.com/projects/voice/talk/glossary.htm
Eric