Just a "heads up"...on orchidariums

[FairyInTheFlowers]

Wow, I read this from beginning to end, and it was hilarious! Oh, wait for it . . . . Waaaaait for it . . . . . . ORCHIDARIUM! Speaking of ORCHIDARIUMS, I have been thinking of building one of my own to put in my basement for cool growing plants. . . . Does anyone have ideas of how to turn a fish tank into an ORCHIDARIUM? I will most likely have Masdies and Dracs in it. I want function, not form. Any ideas welcome!

[zxyqu]

Craiglist a fish tank of the size you want, and then find a T5 light setup for the top. If you look carefully on craig's you could find one with a light already. Then figure out a way to circulate some air, and go forth and grow

[bluestones]

just silly, and in my opinion a bad business. They have done nothing but offend their target consumers.

[Kali Hibiscus]

Originally Posted by bluestones

just silly, and in my opinion a bad business. They have done nothing but offend their target consumers.

I just read the thread also and I have to agree.

I would continue to call them whatever you want.

[realjunglekat]

ok, all of the above noted... now lets move on to talking orchids? Live and let live?

[Allycatz]

Okay - I'm a relative newbie - and I greatly enjoyed reading this thread. I understand wanting to put it the topic to rest and resume talking about orchids.

HOWEVER, I just want to add one thing. As far as I understand, registered trademarks only apply to the jurisdiction that they are trademarked in (although I suppose you could file trademark in any country that you trade in). Sooo anybody who doesn't live in the United States should be free to call their terrarium containing orchids, an "Orchidarium"!

[theroc1217]

Originally Posted by Ross

Just got this PM from a "member" (Riverside) with no posts, that you all might be interested in:



If correct, then we must all cease using this term. I prefer the word "tank" I doubt anyone can copyright or register this term. Nowadays, I guess, everyone is after litigation if they can get it.

According to Google Ngram Viewer, the term orchidarium dates back to 1914, and does not show any marked increase since 1994 when it was trademarked. However, the trademark cites first use as 1994 while in actuality it was used back in 1914, which potentially invalidates the trademark (trademark registered here); this fact was most likely overlooked during the original trademarking process due to the rarity of the term.

In addition, given the similar Latin formation of the words terrarium, vivarium, and riparium, the prior use would make the term qualify as merely descriptive and not able to be trademarked.

EDIT: I would not, however, actively seek to overturn their trademark. It protect them from other businesses. However, it's invalidity could protect us from ever having a problem with them. Most other people wouldn't do this much research trying to look into it.

[derekbc]

Seems to be a moot point at this time since the company is no longer in operation?

[Becca]

I hate to see anyone go out of business, I have had one of their Grand Cayman Orchidariums for about 8 years and love it however I made a few modifications. Hope I can find a way to get a hold of them if I ever need any replacement parts like the sliders for the glass doors!

[OfLeafandLimb]

They went out of business after cutting off their nose to spite their face. The website name is available for purchase, now, after all the fuss they raised about taking a long-established term from a family of similar terms (terrarium, vivarium, riparium, paludarium, aquarium, etc.) for their own use.

They stole terminology from the hobby, and then threatened the hobby for continuing to use the term they stole- the hobby, of course, being their very customer base. How foolish! OF COURSE they're no longer in business.

It seems every hobby has a similar flash-in-the-pan business who comes flying out of the gate picking fights with their own customer base. That's too bad.