That's a good question! We released Spaces as a prototype for the virtual team room, prior to Jetbrains releasing Space. Because companies don't trademark a name that is already in use, it's possible that Jetbrains had trademarked a longer name in addition to just Spaces. So, at this time, the two product names do not affect each other.
Edit: Changed wording in a sentence to clarify meaning.
Current CTO exploring entrepreneurship on the side; coach; mentor; instructor.
Dedicated to promoting digital literacy and ideological diversity in tech.
It actually is totally possible to trademark a name already in use. Trademarks are applied against names in business domains.
There's nothing preventing a business from trademarking "Google" as their brand name, they would just almost certainly be defeated in court when challenged.
Trademark protection is based on the validity of the claim (whether the business domains are similar enough to be confusing), and prior use. But prior use only really applies to other trademarks when we're talking about business domains (there are nuances, but in general this apples).
For example, if I trademark the name ACME, but ACME is already in use but not trademarked, and no one notices or issues a challenge for a little while, when the original author goes to trademark and I challenge, I will have a significantly better position to defend the trademark, even if I've technically used the name for less time. It really depends on how the trademark is used and advertised.
I don't know how relevant that is here, but I still think it would be an important thing to keep in mind if Jetbrains decides to release a "Space" plugin for Vs Code in addition to intellij.
That's a good question! We released Spaces as a prototype for the virtual team room, prior to Jetbrains releasing Space. Because companies don't trademark a name that is already in use, it's possible that Jetbrains had trademarked a longer name in addition to just Spaces. So, at this time, the two product names do not affect each other.
Edit: Changed wording in a sentence to clarify meaning.
It actually is totally possible to trademark a name already in use. Trademarks are applied against names in business domains.
There's nothing preventing a business from trademarking "Google" as their brand name, they would just almost certainly be defeated in court when challenged.
Trademark protection is based on the validity of the claim (whether the business domains are similar enough to be confusing), and prior use. But prior use only really applies to other trademarks when we're talking about business domains (there are nuances, but in general this apples).
For example, if I trademark the name ACME, but ACME is already in use but not trademarked, and no one notices or issues a challenge for a little while, when the original author goes to trademark and I challenge, I will have a significantly better position to defend the trademark, even if I've technically used the name for less time. It really depends on how the trademark is used and advertised.
I don't know how relevant that is here, but I still think it would be an important thing to keep in mind if Jetbrains decides to release a "Space" plugin for Vs Code in addition to intellij.
Thanks for the input! We will look into trademarking issues in the future if they arise.