body: I have stumbled over a problem how I can safely name my software. I would like to have a name with a cultural reference, that is character names from older literature or folk tales. Now, there is the \_\_\_\_\_wood, which steals all names and trademark them as their own invention. So then, it may happen that *Gretel* becomes an illegal name like the English version *Schneewittchen*.
  
  
  However, I then see that *Voldemort*, owned by the Harry Potter franchise, is used by LinkedIn on opensource software, which seems strange in this context.
  
  
  My questions:
  
  
  1. Can I safely use this kind of names on my software?
  2. Does it matter where the software is used? I wish to put the software on GitHub.
  3. Does the home country of the developer matter? I am not from the US.
  4. Does the application purpose matter? Data storage is far from entertainment. However, what I am doing is some kind of game engine (*not* a game) that I use to learn about collision detection.
  
  
  
title: Naming free software and avoiding trademark collision