The fragility of the human ego

I've never been in favour of restrictive practices or restraint of trade. A few years ago the mighty Harrods took legal action against a small retailer near where I lived for calling itself "The 'arrods of the North". More recently the fast food outlet known as KFC went after a small pub restaurant in rural Derbyshire because it advertised a menu item as "family feast". The wrapper on a loaf of bread I bought from Tesco announced, "Rustic" is a trade mark of Tesco. But my favourite is page iv in the preface of a book which states, "What Works™ and related names such as Blended Learning: What Works™ are registered trademarks of Bersin & Associates. Copyright © 2006 Bersin & Associates." Should I burn my old copy of "What Works in Adult Instruction: The Management, Design and Delivery of Instruction" by William E. Montague and Frederick G. Knirk? By the way the verb 'josh' has had the vernacular meaning "to tease or banter with someone" for about two hundred years and is probably based on the name of the 19th century American humorist, Josh Billings. Can you copy protect a name? All Joshua's beware!