A lawyer told me once that there is a very famous legal precedent in trademark/patent law relating to "Bowden" brakes.
Frank Bowden invented the brake cable system we use to this day, sometime about a hundred years ago. The type of cables used are sometimes called "bowden cables."
This was originally a trademark, and he licensed it to other manufacturers. However, he failed to establish standards and exercise quality-control over the products of his licensees, and as a result of this failure, the name and design was deemed to have been abandoned to the public domain.
I don't recall the details of this, but it is my understanding that this case is regularly taught in law schools to this day.
Sheldon "Not A Lawyer" Brown
Newtonville, Massachusetts
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