[meteorite-list] RE: Self-Proclaimed Pairing Issues

From: mark ford <markf_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon May 8 06:30:54 2006
Message-ID: <6CE3EEEFE92F4B4085B0E086B2941B315092D4_at_s-southern01.s-southern.com>

Hi

I think the real problem basically here is that fact that the
classifying institutions are just unable to classify material quickly
enough for the high turn over pace of the real life commercial world,
the fact that it takes many months or even many years to classify even a
simple Chondrite, is usually the reason that most people don't bother
(I'm not saying that's morally right). But it needs to be way more
accessible.

I can't say I blame the institutions though either, to me it is bizarre
that government funded institutions are tied up doing work for
commercial companies/meteorite dealers, for often no more than a few
grams of material!?

As for not being able to trademark numbers I can only speak of my
experience for the UK, but there CERTAINLY are numerous number
trademarks (118118 is a classic example here in the UK) most are phone
numbers for various services. Maybe then the US is different but it is
not a problem for the UK at least. In fact looking into it, in theory
one could trademark 'NWA869' for the whole of the UK and probably Europe
for just a few hundred quid...

Best,
Mark Ford






-----Original Message-----
From: Meteoriteshow [mailto:meteoriteshow_at_free.fr]
Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 9:56 AM
To: mark ford; meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] RE: Self-Proclaimed Pairing Issues

Hi Mark and All,

Your suggestion is again a purely commercial point of view. I do not say
that it is a wrong way but should not be the only one to my
opinion.

I agree that with current infrastructures it is not possible to have any
single rock analysed and classified, but is it really
necessary? When not classified, meteorites can be proposed to
collectors, simply mentioning that they are not classified. Many
meteorites are sold this way, dealers selling still with profit -which
of course is normal!- and collectors being able to add some
nice pieces to their collection at attractive prices.

Once again there are already some rules by the Nom Com, which to me are
sufficient but not followed by everybody. That is the point.
Getting meteorites classified takes time and when having an interesting
one it is worth getting into that process -pairings for
instance-. Our modern societies always push us to go faster & faster and
those meteorites have been waiting on the ground for ages.
Can't we at least wait for a few months when we want to have them
classified?

Best wishes,

Frederic Beroud
http://www.meteoriteshow.com
IMCA member # 2491 (http://www.imca.cc/)

----- Original Message -----
From: "mark ford" <markf_at_ssl.gb.com>
To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 10:21 AM
Subject: RE: [meteorite-list] RE: Self-Proclaimed Pairing Issues




Hi,

This pairing argument/debate is one that has been going for years and
years, and will most probably continue way beyond all of us.

To my way of thinking It will never be solved unless every single rock
that is found is analysed by a competent body and given a serial
numbered cert, that is clearly not going to happen unless someone opens
a massive meteor lab complex and makes a commercial charge for
classification, This would also require a complete overhaul of the
classification process, and probably wouldn't be practical.

So by way of a constructive suggestion, why don't dealers just trademark
their classifications?

It would work like this:

Dealer gets the rock classified, a number or name gets issued by the Nom
Com et al. Then the dealer registers it as a trademark, so anyone who
sells the material under that name (or makes a claim that it is the
same) would then be breaking the law, as they are trading under someone
else's trademark simple. - A commercial trademark belongs to the person
who registers it, not the person who names it.

Just a thought...

Mark Ford

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Received on Mon 08 May 2006 06:33:11 AM PDT