Hey Al,

Again, I'm no lawyer...but here's my take...According to the US Copyright Office webpage:

"If registration is made within 3 months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney's fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner."

The way I interpret this is that if your book has been sent to the publisher before he is able to register the copyright, then the only thing he could do is sue you for *ACTUAL* damages....and I don't know how in the world he could show any monetary damages from you using that term in your book.

By the way, a yahoo search on the phrase "true rotary" returns 1,220 items....I'm not sure how he could claim that the term is his personal property...

But, again...I'd consult a lawyer for the best advice.

Monte