That sounds bad, phonetically.
Zenimax files trademark for "Dragonborn"
That sounds bad, phonetically.
RedShirtNo5.1
Explorer
Interesting. According to the trademark register the basis for the application is intent to use under section 1(b) rather than existing use under 1(a). It may be that they are considering "Dragonborn" as the name of a new game in the series.
Its hard to win a case like this.
Owning the word “Dragonborn” is about as useless as owning the word “Vampire”.
The “born” suffix is a perfectly normal word.
For example in the context of Norse tradition, “Elfborn”, “Trollborn”, “Giantborn”, etcetera, including “Dragonborn”, mean exactly the same thing as “Half-Elf”, “Half-Troll”, “Half-Giant”, “Half-Dragon”, respectively.
Owning the word “Dragonborn” is about as useless as owning the word “Vampire”.
The “born” suffix is a perfectly normal word.
For example in the context of Norse tradition, “Elfborn”, “Trollborn”, “Giantborn”, etcetera, including “Dragonborn”, mean exactly the same thing as “Half-Elf”, “Half-Troll”, “Half-Giant”, “Half-Dragon”, respectively.
One of the things I remember from my "basic law dealing with stuff relating to journalism" class is that trademarks must be defended, or the holder can lose the trademark.
Of course, that assumes that there is a trademark holder already. I'm not sure how that would play out with a new application. But, if I were a judge, I'd look to the fact that Zenimax didn't raise a stink in 2006 when Wizards of the Coast introduced the Dragonborn in a book nor in 2008 when they were published as a core race in Wizards' flagship product. Granted, there was no trademark on file at the time, but I'd find their application dubious.
If Zenimax is registering a trademark for a game title (and that's perfectly feasible), then I don't mind, so long as they let WotC continue on with the name. However, I am wondering how this might gum up the works for them:
Dragon Born - Official Unofficial Dragon Born Site - Browser Game - DotMMO.com
Of course, that assumes that there is a trademark holder already. I'm not sure how that would play out with a new application. But, if I were a judge, I'd look to the fact that Zenimax didn't raise a stink in 2006 when Wizards of the Coast introduced the Dragonborn in a book nor in 2008 when they were published as a core race in Wizards' flagship product. Granted, there was no trademark on file at the time, but I'd find their application dubious.
If Zenimax is registering a trademark for a game title (and that's perfectly feasible), then I don't mind, so long as they let WotC continue on with the name. However, I am wondering how this might gum up the works for them:
Dragon Born - Official Unofficial Dragon Born Site - Browser Game - DotMMO.com
In any case, this looks a little dangerous. This case looks similar to the lawsuit between Bethesda and Notch about the word "Scrolls". I hope companies will not suddenly decide to TM any regular-ish words to try to limit them being used in any other medias. Else we'll see more lawsuits like the "Scrolls" one...
And when the license holder decides to make a video game based on D&D? What happens then? What if Neverwinter has dragonborn in it? Will Zenimax then raise hell because someone used "dragonborn" in a video game that wasn't an Elder Scrolls game?
Past behavior leans to "yes."
Greatwyrm
Been here a while...
You mean like the D&D game on Facebook that has Dragonborn in it?
Jester David
Hero
If WotC does have a trademark on the term "dragonborn" already, then they haven't defended it against Bethesda. Which means they've lost it. Makes it hard to fight back.
