It is illegal to name software releases after pop-culture things?
<p>An example: version 2.0 of a software is named &quot;Thresh&quot;, version 2.1 is named &quot;Cassiopeia&quot;, and so on? (taking names from a single source)</p>

<p>This is permitted so long as it doesn't violate a valid trademark or service mark (or a few equivalent rights in names that are comparable such as collective rights to market beef under the name &quot;Waygu&quot; only if it is produced in a certain area of Japan under Japanese law) that covers goods or services of the same type in the same economic market.</p>
<p>A trademark arises either when a term acquires a &quot;secondary meaning&quot; associating its use in connection with a particular kind of good or services in a particular market with a particular provider of that good or that service, or by registration of the trademark or service mark.</p>
<p>&quot;Tresh&quot; and &quot;Cassiopeia&quot; are not terms that inherently are related to software, so they are permissible to use as trademarks for software unless someone else already has established trademark protection for them.</p>

intellectual-property