In all fairness, the Arduino name is itself originally take from the name of a bar in Italy where the project founders used to hang out. Think about how that bar owner would feel about this...
Trademarks are limited to the area of product they apply to. The purpose of trademarks is "identify and distinguish the goods/services of one seller or provider from those of others, and to indicate the source of the goods/services." No one is going to be surprised that those 2 arduinos aren't the same entity, or walk into the bar and wonder why little computers aren't on the menu, so trademark law completely ignores this, and it's extremely common so the bar owner shouldn't feel bad at all.
You can change your name to Barak Obama, and you'll get internet commenters saying things that start with "in all fairness...", but the white house won't be returning your calls.
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In all fairness, the Arduino name is itself originally take from the name of a bar in Italy where the project founders used to hang out. Think about how that bar owner would feel about this...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduino#History
Trademarks are limited to the area of product they apply to. The purpose of trademarks is "identify and distinguish the goods/services of one seller or provider from those of others, and to indicate the source of the goods/services." No one is going to be surprised that those 2 arduinos aren't the same entity, or walk into the bar and wonder why little computers aren't on the menu, so trademark law completely ignores this, and it's extremely common so the bar owner shouldn't feel bad at all.
You can change your name to Barak Obama, and you'll get internet commenters saying things that start with "in all fairness...", but the white house won't be returning your calls.