I have used Javascript for over 20 years, but I was unaware that Oracle owned the trademark to Javascript. If anything, I would have guessed that Mozilla owned it.
Oracle inherited the trademark after they bought Sun Microsystems (I didn't even know Sun had trademarked Javascript!).
I came across a Reddit post where Apple took down an App because the AppStore displayed the word JAVASCRIPT without authorization from Oracle.
I wonder if they will continue to enforce it in the future given that it is such a ubiquitous term. Many have suggested that we should refer to it as ES going forward and call it a day. I'm not sure how I feel about that.
Did you know about this? What are your thoughts?
Top comments (32)
Just call it EcmaScript, as it should be.
Sounds like a great idea.
I hate having to explain the difference between Java & JavaScript everytime like,
I really don't like that analogy. They're both programming languages that share a lot of syntax, unlike a car and carpet that has zero correlations at all. We could probably find something better.
Yes you are right.
I should've mentioned that I use that analogy only for people with usually no development experience.
e.g.) My bro-in-law ask me about Java update prompt and confused why he had to update it when he remembers seeing JavaScript messages on the browser.
I just told him that analogy and they are different technologies with a similar name.
In that context yeah it should be fine.
Funnily enough, I just realized that Java used to be widely used for client side interactivity -- while now JavaScript is huge for server side applications 😊
JavaScript contains slightly more stuff than ECMA specs(eg: The things which are added to support browsers)
So basically JavaScript and ECMAScript are different.
EcmaScript is an standard used by Javascript.
YESYEsYesyes
Well, the story is: in early days there were browser wars, it was Netscape (current Mozilla) against internet explorer. Microsoft was a big player and Netscape joined forces with Sun to fight with IE, they renamed their new programing language LiveScript to JavaScript and made it trademark (because Sun already owned Java) so that Microsoft could not copy it (narrator voice: Microsoft copied). Microsoft created another language which is named JScript. Later they gave up this fight and joined forces as ECMAScript, which is the official name of JS right now.
(Disclaimer: I didn't do any fact check, this is from my head as I remember it).
I remember the article but it is misleading, apple rejected it base on automatic bot that looked at all trademarks, Oracle did not requested it and the problem was fixed.
Probably Oracle cannot use it anymore, guess is more a Folk term by now 😁
Everything can be trademarked, for example now Bitcoin asso iations were created to fight companies that try to trademaek the term, and tries to keep it free.
I was thinking about that since it didn't mention anywhere that Oracle asked for it to be taken down.
Why do you say Oracle cannot use it anymore?
There would be arguable grounds that the trademark term has been "Genericide". However until it is proven in court, its not official.
Its a situation, where a trademark has gain such popularity and dominance over a term, that its trademark will no longer apply. Allowing even their competitors to use the same term, like almost every other english term in the dictionary.
Some well known example would be
These were actual trade mark terms that gotten so popular, they have lost their trademarks.
This is actually part of the reason why you would see "Google" putting their name on a 101 products, because some would argue "Google" has come to mean "Online Search" and hence no longer a trademark. While on the other hand, Google would argue it doesnt just mean search, but a 101 other different things and hence still a trademark. (Legals 🤷)
This is a very complicated legal topic, and Wiki would have a much more elaborate explanation : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trad...
So if im guessing, I would bet Oracle wouldn't sue over such a term, as it would just open a can of worms of it potentially being generalized.
Disclaimer : I am not a lawyer
I think it would be indefensible, that being said IE's interpretation of ECMAScript was called JScript specifically to avoid a fight.
'Javascript' has been trademarked since Netscape introduced it, 23 years ago.
True. Although, Sun owned the trademark. I don't know if it had purchased Netscape and inherited it.
Looks like they introduced it together.
tech-insider.org/java/research/199...
Good find. That is internet gold! I didn’t know that part of JavaScript’s history. I guess it was a couple of years before I got into web development.
JavaScript was originally called LiveScript, and was developed under the codename Mocha.
Try to call JavaScript something else is probably too late.
EcmaScript, ActionScript, ExtendScript, LiveScript, Mocha... alas, that ship has sailed.
We can only blame marketing folks for the rebranding, and trying to ride the coattails of Java's popularity at that time.
"JavaScript" is a trademark of Oracle Corporation in the United States. It is used under license for technology invented and implemented by Netscape Communications and current entities such as the Mozilla Foundation. - Wikipedia
In my opinion it's been Kleenexed. It's a formerly branded term that has taken on generic meaning, therefore (I think it could be argued, though I'm not a lawyer so don't quote me on this) the trademark is invalid.
I don't know if that's actually true of Kleenex. I just call them tissues. However, I've never used JavaScript to refer to a product of Sun Microsystems or Oracle.
Just rename it to [SomethingElse]Script already!
JavaScript is no good for obvious reasons.
ECMAScript is kind of weird.
LiveScript is cool but it's already taken. BTW that was the intended name before Sun intervened.
NeatScript sounds good too :)
Scripty McScriptface
I'd vote for that
It'd be pretty cool if everyone called it EcmaScript because that way nobody would ever confuse it with Java again.
Also language evolved quite a lot, it's no wonder people tend to explicitly refer to the recent dialect as ES6.
That’s a very good point. I’m surprised that people still refer to it as Java! Not their fault though. Maybe Java is the reason Javascript gained popularity, lol.
Trust me I've never considered this neither asked questions regarding the trademark of JavaScript. Now I know
Well now I am just afraid Oracle might do something similar to JavaScript like they did for Java with Java 11.
They can't do anything with it. They own trademark, but do not drive its development. Development is done by TC39 committee (for ECMA org I guess)