Deutsche Telekom tried to register a trademark on netfilter

I am currently doing some trademark related research, and just for fun I queried the database of the DPMA (German trademark and patent office) for "netfilter".

To my big surprise, you can find this record, indicating that Deutsche Telekom AG has applied for a trademark on the word "NetFilter" in July 2006.

I find that quite outrageous, as the netfilter project is using the name since about 1999, i.e. 7 years earlier. To our luck, the trademark office refused the application based on the generic nature of the name, i.e. "netfilter" being too generic for anyone obtaining a trademark on it - at least in Germany, under German laws.

Linux Beer, anyone?

During my trademark research, I also discovered: A German beer brewer (St. Georgen Braeu, Buttenheim) has held a registered trademark "LINUX" from 1999 to 2009. This trademark was restricted to "beverages, beer and other alcoholic drinks".

You can find the respective entry in the DPMA trademark database here.

I am not quite certain whether I would have liked the idea of drinking a pint of Linux or not. It would certainly have been a popular gift to bring to international (Linux, Free Software) conferences.