The trademark scam that could have handed Linux to a stranger demanding 10% royalties
The trademark scam that could have handed Linux to a stranger demanding 10% royalties
https://www.makeuseof.com/someone-trademarked-linux-and-demanded-10-in-royalties/
Publish Date: 2026-07-02 12:00:00
Source Domain: www.makeuseof.com
When Linus Torvalds built the Linux kernel as a hobby project and announced it on Usenet with his typical understatement in 1991, he licensed it in a way that let anyone use and modify the code. What he didn’t do was trademark the name. That oversight nearly handed the entire Linux ecosystem to an unscrupulous Boston attorney that no one had ever heard of.
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A trademark filed on false pretenses
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