Goliath Crushes David?

Last week Goo Software, former maker of the "Spam Blaster" anti-spamming application, announced on its web site that Goo had shut down due to legal practices ascribed to Creative Labs. Creative Labs is the maker of those ubiquitous "Sound Blaster" hardware sound cards for PCs. In letters from its legal agents, Creative allegedly accused Goo of trademark infringement for using the word "Blaster" on its software. On Sunday, MacInTouch posted an exchange of explanations by both entities. It is worth reading if you are interested in such business practices. In a visit to Creative Labs' site, there are several products and trademarks where the word "Blaster" is included. However, no product named "Spam Blaster" nor just plain "Blaster" is listed. According to my oldest (1970 copyright) available dictionary, "Blaster" is an English word commonly in use for who knows how long. If Creative Labs believes that it has trademarked "Blaster," then it may similarly believe that it has trademarked these commonly-used words: creative, 3D, video, sound, talking, scheduler, phone, advanced, stereo, enhancement, inspire, graphics, performance, and live. Those common English words in various combinations and with neo-words are listed among Creative Labs' and its parent company's trademarks.