JavaScript is the name of the most popular and widely-used programming language. Due to a series of historical absurdities, such as the decision to name it after Java, a completely different language, JavaScript is now also a trademark registered to Oracle. Deno Land, a top JavaScript expert, has petitioned the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to cancel that registration.
The petition was filed with the USTO November 22. The petition follows a September open letter by Node.js and Deno creator Ryan Dahl, JavaScript creator Brendan Eich, and several other leading members of the JavaScript community that asked Oracle to relinquish the trademark. The letter has drawn more than 14,000 signatures.
Oracle has owned the JavaScript trademark since its 2009 acquisition of Sun Microsystem. However, the company has played no active role in JavaScript's development or ecosystem, Dahl said in a November 25 blog post. "Our aim is for Oracle to recognize this as a clear case of trademark abandonment and let the cancellation proceed uncontested," Dahl said in an email. "However, should they choose to fight, we're fully prepared to present overwhelming evidence that 'JavaScript' is a generic term, widely used by developers and organizations without any association with Oracle."
Oracle's army of lawyers will now get paid to explain rent to programmers, again. I hope the trademark is canceled, though, for all those clear and righteous reasons.
