The Myth of the Retaliatory Trademark: William Gibson vs. Cyberspace™

By Eric Gullichsen | October 2026 Location: Park Güell, Barcelona, 1990 Cast: Michael Girard, Deborah Gibson, Timothy Leary, Eric Gullichsen, William Gibson

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🌐 The Legend of the "Cyberspace" Rumor

Since the dawn of the World Wide Web, a specific piece of folklore has persisted: the claim that Autodesk attempted to trademark the term cyberspace, prompting a vengeful William Gibson to trademark the name Eric Gullichsen in return.

🛠️ The Autodesk VR Era

In 1989, I was a member of the Autodesk Research Lab, focusing on the early frontiers of virtual reality. This initiative was sparked by a visit to Scott Fisher at NASA Ames. Our hardware setup was primitive by modern standards:

The performance was meager. We were operating at a rate of: $\text{Performance} \approx 6 \text{ to } 10 \text{ frames per second}$ ...while rendering models consisting of only a few hundred polygons. It was a sluggish experience, yet it was just enough to allow us to feel as though we were stepping Through the Looking Glass.

🍄 The Leary Connection

During this period, I spent significant time with Timothy Leary. It was actually Leary's encouragement that led me to leave my position at MCC and relocate to California. Our friendship began in 1986 at the Hackers 2.0 conference, where I provided him with a lift to the San Jose airport.

We became close collaborators, co-authoring various pieces of writing (most of which remain unpublished). Leary—who appears in a samizdat VR video produced by Autodesk—gave our laboratory the nickname "Cyberia."

Timothy held a deep admiration for William Gibson, viewing the 1984 masterpiece Neuromancer as a prophetic blueprint for the digital age.

⚖️ The Trademark Dispute

As Autodesk moved toward commercializing its VR developments, the company filed an application to register the trademark for cyberspace.

When Leary informed me that Gibson was displeased by this move, I sent Gibson a letter. I intended for it to be conciliatory, though I couldn't resist adding a touch of snark at the end by quoting Gibson's own philosophy:

"The street finds its own use for things."

🌀 The Propagation of the Prank

Timothy Leary, always the provocateur, decided to stir the pot. He began spreading a rumor that Gibson was retaliating by trying to trademark the name Eric Gullichsen. This story was later expanded upon by Barlow for his own reasons.

🇪🇸 Resolution in Barcelona

Roughly a year later, having transitioned from Autodesk to my own startup, Sense8 Corporation, I attended the first Art Futura 1990 in Barcelona.

It was there that I encountered Gibson. In his characteristic laconic drawl, he remarked that while it is true that the street finds its own use for things, Autodesk is the street Autodesk is NOT the street.

The tension dissolved amidst:

• Plenty of flowing cava.
• Late-night rounds of traditional tapas.
• A visit to Park Güell.

Interestingly, the massive, colorful ceramic lizard found at Park Güell actually makes an appearance in Gibson's novel Count Zero.

📝 Final Verdict

To set the record straight:

• Autodesk applied to register Cyberspace.
• William Gibson objected to the filing.
• Gibson attempted to trademark Eric Gullichsen. $\leftarrow$ FALSE

The idea of the retaliatory trademark was nothing more than a prank by Timothy Leary that eventually evolved into an accepted historical "fact."

def check_rumor(event):
    if event == "Autodesk_TM_Cyberspace":
        return "True"
    elif event == "Gibson_TM_Gullichsen":
        return "Prank by Timothy Leary"
    else:
        return "Unknown"

print(check_rumor("Gibson_TM_Gullichsen")) 
# Output: Prank by Timothy Leary