Why am I here

[Orly Burgos]

As a longtime flyer who had to leave the controls due to age, my heart and my soul are still in that imaginary cockpit we all talk about when gathering with friends, however, most of my friends have no idea, or care, about the flying business unless they are passengers going somewhere, so my flying conversations are usually very sporadic, and here I am. After retiring in 2010, moving to my native Costa Rica for the life of easy living, in six months of scratching nether regions, I was bored to the point my wife and I came back to the hustle and bustle of California living. We needed the heartache of being involved with the great mixture of characters we have as neighbors and friends - Today I own Southern Horizons Media (www.southernhorizons.media) and we create content, represent destinations and brands, broadcast interesting content, AND I am looking to be part of the rotor community by utilizing a gyrocopter, hopefully starting in January 2025. I invite all members to get familiar with who and what is it we do. My goals are to be interactive at all times. To have fun and share great moments. Looking forward to getting to know as many of you as possible and to sharing more terrific moments... Happy Flying!

 

[Therapy]

My plan is to meet some more people at Bensen Days 2025. Maybe you. https://www.bensendays.com/

 

[Vance]

Welcome to the Rotary Wing Forum Orly!

 

[gyrodude]

For the newbies Dr, Bensen copyrighted the term gyrocopter for his machines. Autogyro or gyroplane is the correct term other than a Bensen. It's like calling a Camaro a Mustang ,

 

[MilesW]

The Bensen trademark expired over 30 years ago. Gyrocopter has become generic and probably more widely used than any of the other terms, despite many official uses sticking with the gyroplane term.
A quick google on gyroplane will return 270 thousand hits while gyrocopter will return 3.3 million.

 

[WaspAir]

It's a silly term anyway, derived from a misapprehension of the word helicopter, as if it were heli+copter. Actually, it splits like this: helico (spiral) + pter (wing,). If you try to split gyroco + pter, gyroco is meaningless.

By the way, trademarks don't expire, but they can be abandoned, commonly when a company goes out of business without a successor as Bensen did. Likewise, the Cierva-Pitcairn mark "autogiro" (with an i, not a y, as they used it) was also abandoned long ago.


Meanwhile, welcome Orly!

 

[Aerofoam]

It's a silly term anyway, derived from a misapprehension of the word helicopter, as if it were heli+copter. Actually, it splits like this: helico (spiral) + pter (wing,). If you try to split gyroco + pter, gyroco is meaningless.

By the way, trademarks don't expire, but they can be abandoned, commonly when a company goes out of business without a successor as Bensen did. Likewise, the Cierva-Pitcairn mark "autogiro" (with an i, not a y, as they used it) was also abandoned long ago.


Meanwhile, welcome Orly!

Would that be Gyropter?
How about tail art with a "Gyropteryx"

 

[WaspAir]

That's the fossil form. Very heavy.

 

[MikeBoyette]

For the newbies Dr, Bensen copyrighted the term gyrocopter for his machines. Autogyro or gyroplane is the correct term other than a Bensen. It's like calling a Camaro a Mustang ,

Well since I’m sure that probably no longer a valid copyright (not sure if they expire like a patent) calling it a Gyrocopter should be fine. I spent a week with Dr B and asked him his feelings on that very thing. His response was surprising. He stated that at first it bothered him but, eventually after many years of being the industry standard he viewed as a compliment when an individual called their own machine a GyroCopter. It didn’t bother him even if it was a knock off of a Bensen. He did state he didn’t like and would frequently send companies a letter explaining his copyright and they needed to stop using his product name for their own profit. His English was very broken and at 18 I still as able to communicate with him very well. After a week of being around him I was talking with his accent and worried I was going to be recruited by the Russian Mob.

 

[WaspAir]

It's a trademark, that is, a word or symbol used to associate goods with a particular source for commercial reasons. Trademark rights arise from use in commerce and have no pre-set expiration date. For example "Disney" brings to mind all those cartoons and movies, and carries a reputation for content and quality, and the rights to the Disney name don't expire. If you don't police its unauthorized use by others, or if you abandon use of it youself, you can lose the rights then.

Copyright law is intended to protect artistic expression (in any of many different forms) from copying. A single word is not copyrightable. Copyrights expire after a set number of years. For example, the earliest Mickey Mouse cartoon copyrights (100+ years ago) have now expired and you can freely copy those first ones without paying royalties to Disney.

Patents ("utility letters patent") cover original tecnical innovations. You disclose how it works in exchange for a limited period of exclusive rights, usually 20 years from application date.

 

[Aerofoam]

It's a trademark, that is, a word or symbol used to associate goods with a particular source for commercial reasons. Trademark rights arise from use in commerce and have no pre-set expiration date. For example "Disney" brings to mind all those cartoons and movies, and carries a reputation for content and quality, and the rights to the Disney name don't expire. If you don't police its unauthorized use by others, or if you abandon use of it youself, you can lose the rights then.

Copyright law is intended to protect artistic expression (in any of many different forms) from copying. A single word is not copyrightable. Copyrights expire after a set number of years. For example, the earliest Mickey Mouse cartoon copyrights (100+ years ago) have now expired and you can freely copy those first ones without paying royalties to Disney.

Patents ("utility letters patent") cover original tecnical innovations. You disclose how it works in exchange for a limited period of exclusive rights, usually 20 years from application date.

Another hobby company took my Biz name which is trademarked in Az. and I have had the dot com since the mid 90's.
I have thought about contacting them, but they are in a different sector of the hobby and I hardly do the hobby end anymore....
I have had a number of large companies try to buy my dot com.....The largest was a Malaysian mattress company!!

 

[MilesW]

It's a silly term anyway, derived from a misapprehension of the word helicopter, as if it were heli+copter. Actually, it splits like this: helico (spiral) + pter (wing,). If you try to split gyroco + pter, gyroco is meaningless.

By the way, trademarks don't expire, but they can be abandoned, commonly when a company goes out of business without a successor as Bensen did. Likewise, the Cierva-Pitcairn mark "autogiro" (with an i, not a y, as they used it) was also abandoned long ago.


Meanwhile, welcome Orly!

Since the mark is considered "dead", expired is entirely appropriate. Just ask the parrot.

Many trade names and product names are dubious mashups. They are word pictures for marketing and make no pretence of being etymologically correct. In this vein, gyrocopter is neither silly or meaningless. It very clearly evokes rotary wing with a nod to to the politically correct autogyro/gyroplane. Quite clever actually.

And, welcome Orly!!

 

[WaspAir]

Since the mark is considered "dead", expired is entirely appropriate. Just ask the parrot.

We former IP attorneys can get a bit picky about such loose usage of otherwise precise terms of art in our business.

Don't get me started on SPAM.

 

[MilesW]

Lovely Spam, Wonderful Spam

 

[MikeBoyette]

Many things are referred to by their brand name. Facial tissue is often called Kleenex even if it’s not made by that company. Vaseline is used for petroleum jelly by most people even if it happens to be Great Value brand. Dr. Bensen wouldn’t care IMHO if anyone called their particular autorotating machine propelled by a pusher engine a gyrocopter.

 

[Aerofoam]

Since the mark is considered "dead", expired is entirely appropriate. Just ask the parrot.

Many trade names and product names are dubious mashups. They are word pictures for marketing and make no pretence of being etymologically correct. In this vein, gyrocopter is neither silly or meaningless. It very clearly evokes rotary wing with a nod to to the politically correct autogyro/gyroplane. Quite clever actually.

And, welcome Orly!!

Right, wrung up the curtain and gone off to sing with the choir invisible!!!