I got a mail from the BeOS user by the name of "Double S" today, with Be's trademark status in the EU, and decided to do a bit of additional research into this.

As far as my limited legal knowledge tells me, EU-wide trademarks use a system known as "Community Marks", and are valid in all EU member states. Single-nation trademarks also exist, but can in some cases be over ruled Be held 4 Community Marks, and had applied for a 6th, which was abandoned. 4 are valid, and all belong to Be, Inc and not PalmSource.

Probably the most interesting trademark Be appled for in Europe is that on the BeBox. It appears no trademark was granted, and seems the application was withdrawn. During the application process, an objection was raised by BetaTechnik Beteiligungs GmbH, over a potential source of confusion with their trademark "D-Box". This was rejected in part only as late as 2003; however it seems that the prescence of an objection plus Be's departure from hardware made them abandon the application.

BeOS was trademarked, with no objections, in October 1996 - for a ten year period, which is what Community Marks last for. BeIA was similarly granted without opposition in March 2001. Be was trademarked in April 1996, again without objections. The stylised Be "Ear" logo was trademarked in December 1999.

Geekport was withdrawn in 1997 before being granted, without any appeals against it. Once again, no trademarks were even applied for Tracker, a word Be documentation seemed to claim had.

Overall, the only trademarks that PalmSource owns related to BeOS is the word "BeOS", and only in the United States. The rest are lapsed, or still belong to Be.