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it still is in violation of the license, correct

That's arguable. More elaborate software licenses define terms like 'derivative work', but BSD-style licenses generally don't.

Do open specifications count as 'products derived from this software'? There's obviously no code being shared.

Legally, it's probably more of a trademark issue, and trademarks can be lost, in particular if they are not enforced and lose their distinctiveness.

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Is Markdown actually trademarked? It's beed used in similar fashion for years and I've never seen a trademark referred to anywhere.

I don't know the legal situation in the US, but you generally do not need to register a trademark. It certainly helps if you do so, but I believe it's actually not a requirement in many jurisdictions.

It's not a BSD License, it's styled on it. But anyway, all of this has nothing to do with code/specifications/philosophy. It's a copyright issue.

And if trademarks are not enforced, they are lost. Anyway, I clarified my post.

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