[Ads-l] Antedating of "Web TV"

Thu Jul 6 00:52:55 UTC 2017

Microsoft filed an application to register the trademark "WEBTV" on May 25, 1995.  They did not allege a date of first use in commerce. US Trademark application serial number 74679709

An individual named Jeff Kreeger filed an application to register the trademark "WEB TV" on May 15, 1995, claiming a date of first use in commerce of February 8, 1995.  US Trademark application serial number 74676660 and registration number 2078359.

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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
Sent: Wednesday, July 5, 2017 5:17:17 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Antedating of "Web TV"

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Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
Subject:      Re: Antedating of "Web TV"
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Yes, this instance is a brand name. The Oracle use of the name was =
ill-advised. The other WebTV was already in existence, hence the later =
change to the name NCTV.

I used to work for OpenTV, yet another competitor in that space.

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf =
Of Dan Goncharoff
Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2017 5:31 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Antedating of "Web TV"

Wasn't this use of WebTV a prospective brand name announced by Oracle? A =
year later, another WebTV was brought out by a guy working for General =
Magic, and eventually bought by Microsoft and renamed MSN. A year after =
that, Oracle finally came out with its product, now called NCTV.

Neither of these uses of WebTV are generic -- both were brand names.

DanG

On Tue, Jun 27, 2017 at 11:10 AM, Hugo <hugovk at gmail.com> wrote:

> Added to the OED this quarter:
>
>  2. a. The distribution of original television programs and video=20
> content over the World Wide Web; programming and video content of this =

> kind. Frequently attrib.
>
> 1995   Television on Web? in comp.infosystems.www.misc (Usenet
> newsgroup) 24 Oct.   Someone in the office today mentioned an article
> in the FT, stating that Intel & Oracle had done some deal to support=20
> Web TV.
>
>
> ---
>
> Here's a couple of slightly earlier (~5 Oct 1995) of the same Web TV=20
> from Oracle.
>
> ---
>
> Oracle Plans a PC With Video Feature
>
> Published: October 6, 1995
>
> GENEVA, Oct. 5=E2=80=94 The Oracle Corporation said today that it =
planned to=20
> offer by mid-1996 a low-cost computer that would provide video access=20
> to the Internet.
>
> The new product, called Web TV, "will be available by the end of the=20
> first quarter, or in the second quarter," Lawrence J. Ellison, the=20
> company's chairman and chief executive, said at the Telecom 95=20
> telecommunications-industry conference here. "It will video-enable the =

> Internet," he said.
>
> Mr. Ellison said Web TV would be available through an Oracle set-top=20
> box costing $500. Cable access would cost about $30 a month in rental=20
> charges.
>
> Web TV is planned to allow subscribers to download video on=20
> high-quality lines from servers.
>
> "We are talking to different content suppliers so that they can offer=20
> their servers to Web TV," he said.
>
> Oracle, which is based in Redwood City, Calif., announced various=20
> other deals today, including one with Philips Electronics N.V. of the=20
> Netherlands to enhance electronic mail services, and another with=20
> Telefon LM Ericsson/Hewlett Packard Telecommunications on integrating=20
> a telecommunications package with Oracle equipment.
>
> ---
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/06/business/oracle-plans-a-
> pc-with-video-feature.html
>
> =3D=3D=3D
>
>   ORACLE TO INTRODUCE WEB TV IN 1996
>   Oracle Corp. said that it plans to offer a set top box costing $500
>   that will provide video access to the Internet, in the first half
>   of 1996.  The new product, to be called Web TV, will enable
>   subscribers to download video from servers on the 'Net.
>
>   According to Oracle CEO, Larry Ellison, "Movies on demand [do not
>   make sense]...but video-conferencing does and so does news on =
demand,
>   financial news.  That's worth updating."
>
>   The set top boxes will be based on the ARM chip, a microprocessor =
from
>   Advanced RISC Machines Group.  It is not known who will build the
>   boxes, but it certainly won't be Oracle.  According to Ellison, "We
>   are not going to be selling hardware."
>
>   [If I was a betting man, I would say that Apple would be the =
hardware
>   partner.  Apple and Oracle teamed up to create an interactive TV
>   system for British Telecom and ARM is partially owned by Apple].
>
>   (Reuters, Oct. 5, 1995 and Bloomberg Business News, Oct. 10, 1995)
>
> ---
>
> https://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/"web$20tv"$
> 20before$3A1995$2F10$2F24/comp.lsi/Unr4OQ5oLnw/0ZinLZXH3H0J
>
>
>
> Hugo
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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