Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Lenovo files CEASE AND DESIST against Framework!”.
The cease and desist that lenovo issued to framework the laptop company that i invested in over their power button. I admit i debated you guys a little bit. I actually agree with lenovo this was this was a thing. Did you say you didn’t had to happen? Well, okay, i guess i didn’t, but the the implication might be that i’m like mad about it, but there’s nothing to really be mad about. It looks pretty innocent, it doesn’t look like it was something they planned to do. It looks like a very reasonable design if you’re making a plastic thing that needs to continue working and also needs to be moved, yep um. Obviously, it’s not their logo because you can’t 3d print their logo without the centerpiece falling through, but the reason that lenovo came after them framework tweeted about it is that the resemblance of frameworks, power button on their first party 3d printed case um.
So the lenovo. Oh legion design is unmistakable. That’S what we call in the biz and oops my bad yeah and they’re and they’re already working on it. They they ask for, like community contests uh, which is kind of a cool idea where people can submit designs and whoever can come up with the best design is going to get a free, uh, i5 1135 g7 main board, which is cool.
It was noted by forum member midcore that lenovo’s gaming uh – oh legion, gaming logo used to actually look like this, but that’s the one i kind of remember it bore a lot of resemblance to the mercedes-benz logo so, as it turns out, there’s just not a whole Lot more ways that you can put some things through or on a circle. Actually, oh am i i’m wearing it right now. I happen to be wearing our case. Shirt design that has been pointed out to me looks an awful lot like the renault logo. Renault cars, not intentional, no association whatsoever, it just happens to be a what what is it isometric view of a box? It’S it’s a computer case. It wasn’t the intention, but that’s what that’s what happens and given the fact that lenovo and framework do exist within the same space. They both make laptops, say, for example, i can understand why lenovo, whether they wanted to or not had to point out that their trademark was kind of being infringed, and you guys really need to make a slightly different looking power button. So as much as as much as i don’t think anyone wanted this to happen, i actually agree with lenovo’s cease and desist.
Clearly framework isn’t too salty about it either, so they are figuring this out now. Our discussion topic here from adam from our writing team is why do companies waste time and money on things like this and really sort of have to? The reason is that they actually have to. If they want to keep their trademark, then they have to uphold their trademark and they have to go after anyone who is illegitimately using their trademark, and this isn’t one of those things where lenovo tried to trademark an actual circle, or you know putting the letter.
I, in a word this is this very clearly: a logo design and very clearly looked pretty much identical to the one that framework was. It is the power button. I do agree with all that. It is a little annoying because, like i said earlier, that design is very logical for making like a piece of plastic that would depress down into a button. Yes, so being like a logo on the product yeah, it was literally just a functional piece um so that that part is pretty annoying to me. But i do agree with the things that linus said: uh you can use it in in court cases.
You can say like, oh well, they haven’t defended this before so there was precedence set that they wouldn’t defend this in the future, and people have won cases based off that yeah, so you actually do need to like defend these things. It’S just again like this. I could see this being annoying for 3d printers that are trying to commercialize certain products, oh for sure, but then again, if you’re not trying to make an enclosure for a laptop motherboard, maybe they won’t go after then they probably don’t have to defend it because you’d Uh, i thought enough removed we’re getting into things that we don’t necessarily uh dabble with i’m, not an expert, but i do know enough to know that they they do actually need to go after this yeah .