The United States Patent and Trade Office rejected Microsoft's 1990 effort to gain exclusive rights to the name Windows. This decision illustrates the fact that
A) copyright protection has its limits.
B) design patents do not cover computer software applications.
C) trade dress will not cover the "look and feel" of a product, as Microsoft claimed.
D) common-law rights do not always justify trademark protection over a generic term.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The rejection of Microsoft's attempt to trademark the name Windows demonstrates that common-law rights do not always justify trademark protection over a generic term. In this case, "windows" was deemed too generic of a term to be exclusively owned by Microsoft.

The United States Patent and Trade Office Rejected Microsoft's 1990