Damon wrote:
.......
>no results found on the US trademark electronic search system
>
>I tested it and found that microchip does indeed have picmicro
>trademarked as well as picstart and a few others.. no openpic found
>though.. :)
>

If it matters at all to Mchp in this particular case, I think
the important thing is if they have "pic" trademarked, viz-a-viz
it's appearing "inside" other words related to the pic micro.
Probably the best thing is for you to make at least a cursory
examination of the trademark laws. Otherwise, it's all just
wheel-spinning.