RTX: A Name Clash
Aerospace company Raytheon Technologies, one of the world’s largest defense contractors, has made the decision to rebrand itself from Ray to RTX. However, this new name may cause some slight awkwardness for graphics card manufacturer Nvidia, whose GeForce RTX name is currently facing oppositions. While Raytheon operates in the aerospace industry and Nvidia in the graphics card industry, the clash of names raises some interesting questions.RTX is commonly known as an abbreviation for real-time ray tracing. Nvidia, an existing partner of GeForce, has achieved great success with its Turing-based technology under the name GeForce RTX. Now, Raytheon, renowned for its defense activities, joins the mix with its own aerospace endeavors, creating an ironic twist.
The company explains its name change: “We have a long history at Raytheon, stretching back to 1924 and earlier. To avoid any confusion, we have changed our name to RTX (we like to think it stands for ‘Regional Transportation Express’) to better define our commercial activities. These encompass technology, aerospace, advanced materials, as well as our missile and munitions businesses, which are utilized by every branch of the US military and in 90% of all US Department of Defense and commercial space launches.”
Established nearly a century ago in 1924, Raytheon operates on a global scale, with operations spanning across the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and the Pacific. The company employs a staggering 50,000 individuals and specializes in the production of high-tech jets, missiles, high-capacity magazines, and even assault weapons. Despite its primary focus on defense, Raytheon is not short on surprising innovations.Currently, RTX has a market capitalization 30 times less than that of Nvidia. Nvidia still holds the trademark for GeForce RTX, although it has faced several oppositions regarding its use of the name, and the trademark's status is under examination.
It is important to note that this is not merely an Nvidia GeForce RTX problem, as RTX itself is an acronym for ‘Regional Transportation Express,’ a transport company utilized in a few US states, supporting rail and truck freight. Nevertheless, this situation raises intriguing conundrums, particularly when considering some of the definitions associated with the word ‘trick.’
However, putting oneself in the shoes of a lawyer working in the trademark department of a global defense firm, the use of a name like RTX would be taken very seriously, while graphics card companies may face relatively less scrutiny in comparison. Regardless, it remains unclear whether Raytheon obtained permission from Nvidia to use the acronym. However, the likelihood of trademark issues is reduced due to the differing industries in which the companies operate.
Interestingly, both RTX and Nvidia prioritize artificial intelligence and machine learning, suggesting the potential for future competition. However, it is still early days, with RTX's market value being only a fraction of Nvidia’s, which has previously faced competition from AMD. The article even ends on a humorous note, suggesting that someone might mistakenly order a battleship helm motherboard instead of a GPU. The stage is yours, gamers, with your unintentionally amusing wordplay.
