Sun outlined a new software strategy it says will streamline the way customers get the company's platforms. The goal of Project Orion is to be an open, multivendor software system. In future, "all of Sun's software will be available all the time".

The goal is to keep all of Sun's systems aligned properly. The company currently releases Solaris updates every three months or so with the latest upgrades, patches and bug fixes. Project Orion makes it so that all of Sun's software products are on this same schedule.

"[This] is a total redefinition of our software. All will be delivered on a quarterly release train. All will be part of a single product called Solaris," Sun Executive Vice President Jonathan Schwartz said at the company's Worldwide Analyst Conference here.

Customers will initially be offered Sun ONE (Open Network Environment) products for the new utility-based pricing model. The company said other platforms including its Web, application directory, identity, integration and storage products will be offered at a later date. Schwartz is expected to further detail Project Orion during a briefing tomorrow.

Read more about "Project Orion"

I wonder what the Orion Server guys think of the name? :)

Is this just a sales gimic? or is this the future?

I'd think the Orion guys would have a strong legal case against Sun if they wanted to pursue it.

I wonder what Oracle thinks of this news as well since their appserver is based on Orion. Should be interesting to see how this pans out.

As I was reading the article I began to believe Sun based their product on Orion then I remembered it was Oracle.

Definitely confusing at the least.

Matt

As far as I know about, you claim a trademark by appending the name of one of your products with (tm). However, this doesn't have any legal value. In order to have the opportunity to enforce a trademark legally, you indeed need to register it. During the registration process, verifications are made to ensure that nobody else has already registered the same name in the same business and geographical sector. Once the registration process completed, you can replace the (tm) with an (R). Please note that it is actually illegal to use (R) without having first completed the trademark registration.

I would say, without being an expert however, that there is really no trademark violation here. Indeed, Ironflare is not using the (tm) stamp with Orion and their Web site doesn't even state that Orion is a trademark of Ironflare. Furthermore, Ironflare, a Sweden company, would have had to perform a world-wide trademark registration to be safe with SUN, an American company.

It is just a pitty that some young companies forget about protecting their brand, but this is also part of the hard business of being an entrepreneur. For those who are interested, more information on trademarking can be found at www.inta.org.

Bertrand Fontaine
INSPIRE IT - www.inspireit.biz
JavaShelf.com - Your Java bookstore on the Web!

Actually, just using the trademark establishes your rights to it. It's like copyright, you automatically have copyright to your works even if you don't register the work. So it does have legal value.

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/doc/basic/register.htm

Registering it does give leverage in the courts. If the Orion guys had registered Orion, then Sun would be presumed to be a "willful infringer" rather than just careless. (Just based on some internet searching.)

I theory, yes. After all, anybody can go in court. The problem is that you will have to prove that you are the actual trademark owner and that your business has been damaged. This may be very difficult and cost you even more money. With trademark registration, your case should be judged in 5 min. However, this does cost you money up-front! It has been told me that a world-wide registration can really cost a lot of money, so all is about where you are putting the tradeoff as an entrepreneur...

Bertrand

Regardless of whether or not Ironflare has a legal case, I think it's safe to say Sun must have know there was a conflict.

For them to argue they didn't know there was a Java app server commonly known as "Orion" would be pretty hard to swallow.

I think naming the project "Orion" was a short sighted move that will end up distracting from whatever the goals of the project.

In my opinion, Sun shouldn't waste any precious resources on getting their message out, but once again, they have.

The words
"Project Orion" do not equal "Orion Application Server"
indeed "project Orion" is not a product, it's a process, therefore it is not in competition and _anyone_ with an ounce of sense (including weak-willed, money-loving litigation lawyers) would understand that the context of both these names would be used in different circumstances. Just because a person may shorten both these names to 'Orion' should not initiate views of Trademark violation.

That's like turning round and saying that when Sun had "Project X" for their XML line they should sue hollywood three times over for making the film "xXx"

Calum

Orion Server

pass this link onto Ingrid Van Den Hoogen

http://industry.java.sun.com/solutions/products/by_product/0,2348,ejb-2819-26,00.html

they obviously knew about Orion

Sun are not first to have a "Project Orion" - see
Project Orion: Its Life, Death, and Possible Rebirth at atronautics.com

In short, "Project Orion was a space vehicle propulsion system that depended on exploding atomic bombs roughly two hundred feet behind the vehicle"

I wonder how this corresponds to Suns new strategy?

Calum, Niels,

Your examples don't make sense. Trademarks indeed always apply to a given business sector. So, one company can have a trademark on Orion in the IT business and another can have a trademark on Orion in the astronautic sector without any hurt. I hope this clarifies,

Bertrand

I didn't mean to comment on the trademark discussion at all - as you may have noted, I didn't post in that thread.
I just found it funny that they picked a name that has quite a dubious history.

Regards, Niels