Summary: More than one company -- not to mention people -- is called Novell, so can Novell claim ownership of the name?

WE wrote about Novell trademarks back in 2007 and half a year ago we found out that collisions in names may prove troublesome. When it comes to Novell, its names is pretty common. It is a surname and also a variety of other things. This new press release, for example, suggests that an entity called "Novell Pharmaceutical Laboratories" does exist and another new article speaks about "Novell Awning Company."

Judy's complaint alerted us to a larger problem. Right after Thursday's story, in which we confronted Richard Reynolds, owner of Novell Awning Company.

There are other such Novells, including that which manufactures/sells jewelery and a variety of other things (especially small businesses like repair services). So it was interesting to find this new article which tells an old story about Novell playing hardball over domain names with its name in them.

There have been instances where people have had to pay hefty fines for cybersquatting. It was rumored that someone registered names connected to Novell, a Provo, Utah company, and then tried to sell the domains to Novell. That person paid large fines for trademark infringement.

This is said to be a rumour, so it would be useful to confirm or invalidate it. ⬆