A few days ago I talked with someone about writing a book about TeX and we came to the question if TeX as a word and its Logo (and the related things like LaTeX, XeTeX, …, package names etc.) are (registered) trademarks or can I use it freely as any other word like dog, house, moon, …?
Examples
- using in book titles: Start with TeX or Become a TeXnician …
- using in corparate names: LaTeX production company or TeX Help Line …
Are there any restrictions in using “TeX” commercially (assuming the products/services are TeX related)?
How about the derived words like “LaTeX”, “XeTeX” etc.
Edit: As Patrick said, the country could be important … I’m living in Germany and want to sell from there too but I could imagine that there are readers from Swiss and Austria for German books too.
TeX
or with the logo, and as long as the reference is to the actual TeX(-related) software. that said, it is not likely that any lawyers will be sent after you; however, beware of peer pressure, which can be considerable. @Jukka -- i actually handled the letter from the Honeywell lawyers, asking that DEK and AMS cease and desist from use of the name. this is a case where peer pressure did have a strong effect; a compromise was worked out by which theTeX
form of the name was agreed to be acceptable, if used consistently.