If element 113 was named Japonium (J) instead of Nihonium (Nh), would Britvic have sued the IUPAC?

In 2016, the artificial superheavy element 113 was named Nihonium by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry / International Union of Pure and Applied Physics joint committee. One of the names considered for this element was "japonium", but in the end it was decided that "nihonium" would be the official name.

So, what if things went a bit differently, and they decided to name the element "Japonium". Given that there are no other element names beginning with a J, it would make sense for them to adopt "J" as the symbol for the element, rather than a two-letter combination like "Ja" or "Jp".

Now, Britvic is a British company that produces the soft drink J2O. I assume that "J2O" is a registered trademark.

But if Japonium (J) was an official element name, then "J2O" would now be a standard chemical formula for a hypothetical compound made of two japonium atoms and one oxygen atom. As far as I know, chemical formulae are not trademarked.

So, what would happen? Would the "J2O" trademark disappear? Would it remain a trademark despite also being the name of a chemical formula, and if so would this have any impact on using the term in scientific papers should anyone try to research dijaponium monoxide? Would Britvic attempt legal action to prevent the "J" symbol from being adopted for the element?
 

Asami

Banned
It's possible that the trademark would be revised to only apply to beverages, and food products. Not to chemical compounds of the actual J2O combination.
 
Given that H2O have been used as trademarks before, I don't see the issue here. Clearly Britvic cannot enforce the use of its trademark against the chemical J2O, and the original trademark would not be revoked.
 
Would it remain a trademark despite also being the name of a chemical formula, and if so would this have any impact on using the term in scientific papers should anyone try to research dijaponium monoxide?
I'd love to see that paper, considering the element's lifetime...

More seriously, I don't think it would be a major issue. There's plenty of precedent for restricting trademarks in totally unrelated fields, and the fact, as I noted, that forming a molecule of J2O would likely be impossible in a physical sense, to say nothing of the actual chemistry, would make it effectively non-operative in any case.
 

Zagan

Donor
1. IUPAC decreed a long time ago that no more single letter atomic symbols would be accepted.

2. Atomic symbol J was commonly used as a symbol for Iodine instead of and concurrently with I until relatively recently.


I might have missed this. When you are talking chemistry, please @ call me.
 
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