LISTSERV® is a trademarked email list management software product, developed and sold by L-Soft. Created in 1986 by L-Soft Founder and CEO Eric Thomas, LISTSERV was the first application of its kind. In continuous development, LISTSERV remains a leading and widely used software program to automate all types of permission-based email lists, including email newsletters, announcement lists, discussion groups and email communities. L-Soft distributes LISTSERV as both licensed software and a hosted service. To avoid trademark misuse, the term "LISTSERV" should only be used to describe L-Soft's product ("LISTSERV software") and the lists that run on it ("LISTSERV lists").
In other cases, generic terms such as "email list," "mailing list" or the name of the other software product being described should be used to prevent LISTSERV trademark infringement. Regardless of font, capitalization or spelling, using "LISTSERV" to describe a product other than L-Soft's or a list not running on L-Soft's LISTSERV software is a misuse of the trademark. L-Soft continues its campaign to raise awareness on this issue by notifying sites and publications when there is violation in the usage of the trademark.
