WordNet removed the word TEFLON from the dictionary

[Tom Zurinskas]

The word just won't stick.
 
Today is International Mother Language Day.  So if your language is " a mother", today is your day.
http://www.un.org/en/events/motherlanguageday/

Tom Zurinskas, Conn 20 yrs, Tenn 3, NJ 33, now Fl 9.
See how English spelling links to sounds at http://justpaste.it/ayk


 
 > 
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> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Re: WordNet removed the word TEFLON from the dictionary
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> It was prudent for DuPont to ask, but it was not prudent for WordNet to
> comply with the request. They had no legal obligation to do so. And what
> does that do to "Teflon President" now?
> 
> VS-)
> 
> On 2/21/2012 11:12 AM, Ronald Butters wrote:
> > See =
> > http://metapoetika.org/featured/after-dupont-bans-teflon-from-wordnet-the-=
> > world-is-their-non-sticky-oyster/#comment-137.
> >
> > The author reports that WordNet removed the word TEFLON from their =
> > dictionary because DuPont, owner of the trademark, asked them to.=20
> >
> > It is my understanding that DuPont had no legal standing to require such =
> > a move, though they may have been prudent to so act. Trademark owners =
> > must do more than make sure that they do not misuse the mark themselves. =
> > To be totally safe, they must also protest when dictionaries to not give =
> > them proper credit. (Dictionaries are sometimes cited in TM infringement =
> > cases).=20
> >
> > On the other hand, one could well argue that WordNet was not fulfillng =
> > to their scientific duty. given that TEFLON is a registered trademark =
> > and well-known to be just that, a dictionary maker ought to report that =
> > aspect of the meaning of the word. See, e.g., NOAD1:
> >
> > Tef=95lon n. trademark for POLYTETRAFLUOROETHYLENE.
> > adj. able to withstand criticism or attack with no apparent
> > effect: the head of the crime family is known as the
> > Teflon Don because of his acquittals in three previous trials.
> >
> >
> > However, WordNet need only have ignored DuPont's request. It is not =
> > illegal for a dictionary to report facts of usage, nor would DuPont be =
> > able to win a lawsuit against them. A dictionary has a free-speech =
> > right to report that TEFLON is in common metaphorical use. DuPont only =
> > has legal rights to block infringement of their mark by someone who =
> > would apply it or some highly similar word to a similar product or =
> > service, so as to create confusion in the marketplace. That is why DOVE =
> > ice cream and DOVE soap cannot sue each other. (There is also a portion =
> > of trademark law pertaining to what is known as "dilution"--in which a =
> > TM owner can claim that someone else's use of their mark as the name for =
> > an unrelated product or service weakens the value of their mark, but, =
> > again, I don't think any dictionary definition has ever been found by a =
> > court to be using a defined TM as a name, so again the dictionary maker =
> > would not be legally vulnerable for merely reporting what it finds to be =
> > scientifically true.)
> >
> > Of course, one might legitimately ask how much responsibility a =
> > lexicographer has to identify every TM as such. For example, I know of =
> > no dictionary that identifies "Delta" as a registered TM, though it is =
> > the name and TM of an airline and a faucet manufacturer. One rule of =
> > thumb might be to identify coined terms, and if one overlooks a live TM =
> > (as apparently WordNet did) correct the situation, not by leaving the =
> > word out entirely, but by showing that it has an alternative use.
> 
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