
Show HN: So Long, and Thanks for All the Veggies - christian_fei
https://christianfei.com/posts/2020-02-13-So-Long-and-Thanks-for-All-the-Veggies/
======
cs101
Wow! How can a common vegetable (pomodoro) and a common productivity technique
(timeboxing) be combined together and sold as a new product? Who really falls
for this "Pomodoro Technique" hype? Can't one just start a timer and focus on
their work? Does this simple idea need copyright, trademark, and legal
hassles?

I am surprised that Francesco Cirillo has been able to create a business out
of this. A very disingenuous business in my opinion.

~~~
gojomo
Cirillo may have a reasonable trademark case that this specific name,
'pomodoro', & exact instantiation is something he 1st defined & popularized,
as a trade, going back to even before there were websites/web-apps. See, for
example, claims in the Wikipedia article:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique)

But that is just a trademark claim to the name. This wouldn't appear to rise
to the level of a patentable invention, and many similar incarnations of
related ideas should be widely and independently implementable. They just
couldn't use the same name as another's trade/business. (And yes, you can
trademark a common plant aa your business name: America's most valuable
company is "Apple".)

So I do wish the creator of the `pomodoro.cc` service would just slap a new
name on it, so that it could continue to provide value.

(I perfectly understand someone deciding it's not worth the aggravation in the
presence of veiled legal threats, but performing a name-patch might've been
both faster & more effective than authoring a prickly "so long" message and
urging people to share their opinions with Cirillo.)

~~~
christian_fei
Agree to most things you said. Thank you for the feedback.

This is what made me take the decision to throw away Pomodoro.cc and get out
of this BS:

> I don't think it will be enough to change the name to return to the norm

If the main problem is the trademark why changing the name is not the
solution?

He couldn't provide more info on that.

If one wants to bully another person with legal action, you are free to do
that, but I don't have the time nor energy to follow this absurd BS.

To me he will always remain the creator of "The Trademark Technique"

PS: Apple is a company name and has a registered trademark and copyright for
that company. His "invention" wasn't Pomodoro, but rather "Pomodoro
Technique"..

~~~
gojomo
OK, so perhaps Cirillo said, cryptically and without willingness to clarify,
"I don't think it will be enough to change the name to return to the norm".

So what? From your account, it doesn't even seem he's used a lawyer to
communicate with you (which is what the most serious enforcers do), or worded
it in the form of a "cease and desist" (a formal demand for changed behavior).
He just reached out, one proprietor to another.

The logical and legal grounds of his complaint is a trademark claim. If you
stop using the name – including in the domain – then he no longer has any
complaint.

You likely could just:

• pick a new domain-name

• do a search and replace on your work, replacing all cases where you've named
your work 'pomodoro' with a new name.

• add an explanatory note on your site, to the effect: "this was previously
called, and inspired by, Cirillo's 'Pomodoro Technique', but as Cirillo claims
a trademark on that name, its been renamed. go to _his site_ if you want his
book or training/consulting services"

• for some initial transition period – say 90 days? – have `pomodoro.cc`
redirect to a disambiguation page, explaining that your service has moved, and
the "official trademarked Pomodoro®" consulting services is somewhere else

And there's still ways to be either more, or less, cooperative in such a
change, depending on your tolerance for conflict:

• You could transfer the domain to him at the end, perhaps for some token
consideration, or could simply have the website stop functioning entirely.

• You could try a new name that's a play on the original, but without any risk
of confusion or implied endorsement, like perhaps "Nightshade Timer", or
"Orodomop Timer", or "Marinara Timer".

• You could either include resentful indirect allusions to Cirillo & his
services – expressing your disdainful opinion of his trademark strategy – or
instead just give warm mentions and links, to recognize that he did popularize
this name and specific formula.

Cirillo can cryptically say "not enough" to such things, but as long as you're
not labeling your offering "pomodoro" (in text and domain-name), there's no
grounds for further complaint or legal threat.

Note that exactly the way that Apple Incorporated of Cupertino, California,
USA, has a registered trademark for the wordmark "Apple"...

[https://trademarks.justia.com/876/28/apple-87628828.html](https://trademarks.justia.com/876/28/apple-87628828.html)

...Francisco Cirillo of Berlin, Germany also has a registered trademark for
the wordmark "Pomodoro", as of a 2012 filing:

[https://trademarks.justia.com/857/90/pomodoro-85790837.html](https://trademarks.justia.com/857/90/pomodoro-85790837.html)

------
ekampf1
tomatillotimebox.cc !!! :)

