I don't think you are in real trouble. The word Hoover
is a trade mark and copyright but is used generically
to describe a sucking cleaning machine, The former
head of the FBI, and a large dam. The word Ford could
be even worse, again a trademark and copyright and
applies to a rubbish vehicle, a former president (Gerald,
only a brit would remember him), an actor (Harrison)
and a way of crossing a river, which brings us to Bush,
a trade mark over here for electrical items but also
shrubbery, two presidents and something I cannot mention
in polite company but is certainly related in many
ways to the aforesaid two presidents.
I think SOARING is safe even in the land of the rampant
litigators.
:-)



At 09:06 27 September 2004, Clint wrote:

A single word such as 'soaring' is too short to be
protected by
copyright. The editors of that newspaper certainly
SHOULD have
been aware of that.

They may be able to register 'SOARING' (all caps)
as a trademark
for their 'sport' but that won't give them rights
to soaring any
more than hormel's trademark 'SPAM' carries over to
email spam.

Rooibos (redbush) is a form of tea grown in South Africa
for many
years. It is an Afrikaans word but is accepted in the
English language
as well as there is no other English word for the drink.
It is very
popular in South Africa (you battle to get a decent
cup of regular tea
at a typical Afrikaans household) and is sold locally
by many
producers. Some person has however copyrighted the
word in America and
is now the only person allowed to market rooibos in
America under that
name. No South African thought such a move was possible
as it is like
copyrighting the word coffee and then forcing everybody
else who sells
coffee to sell it under another name. It is amazing
what can be pushed
through the American legal system. Rooibos and Soaring
both have seven
letters so I don't think that there is anything that
protects a single
word from becoming copyrighted.

Clinton
LAK 12