ORIGINAL: STLPilot
Could you really copyright the word "wasp" without ever having manufactured something by that name?
You can't copyright or trademark anything that is not being used in commerce and you have the be the one using it, otherwise it's called squatting. There are many exceptions to the law, but this is the foundation.
Point is you just can't copyright/trademark something your not going to "use" somehow.
Was the P-38 ever used in commerce? Did Lockheed ever market a model P-38? I thought not. Yet they got a trademark on a model of a P-38.
I call it squatting when a company like Lockheed takes something that has been in public domain for about 60 years and claims it is their trademark. Pretty obvious that the patent and trademark office has some 'trademark' slackers. Pay the fee and claim rights to anything.
Heck, UPS has a trademark on the color brown. Flush quickly, before they demand a royalty.
Abel