TSR Now it’s WotC’s Turn: WotC Moves Against TSR3

I guess after you provoke somebody enough, they’ll eventually bite back. The company has begun trademark cancellation procedures against the newest TSR.

TSR3 briefly filed for a court declaration on Dec 7th as to their ownership of the TSR trademarks — with an IndieGoGo campaign to fund it — and then voluntarily dismissed it a couple of days later on Dec 9th.

This filing is dated Dec 6th, the day before TSR3 launched its campaign.

In WotC’s response, they cite fraud as one of the causes of action, alleging that TSR3 misled the trademark office in its original application.

Mike Dunford, on Twitter, breaks down the action.

TSR - TSR3.5 Voluntarily Dismisses Lawsuit

A lawsuit filed by TSR3 against D&D owners Wizards of the Coast a few days ago was voluntarily dismissed. Dismissal without prejudice means that the suit can be filed again. The suit lasted two days from the 7th to the 9th of December. The IndieGoGo fundraiser to fund it is still running...

www.enworld.org

TSR - TSR3.5 Launches IndieGogo Campaign to "Stop" WotC

The latest in the TSR3 saga, which has gone quiet for a while, is a new IndieGoGo campaign launched to "stop Wizards of the Coast". They cite wrongful bullying of TSR, and refusal to answer requests that WotC show TSR "proof of their claims" (although the campaign page doesn't mention what those...

www.enworld.org

 

[dirtypool]

It is completely separate from the OGL, it is an agreement between Wizards of the Coast and OneBookShelf to supplement the OGL to allow users to publish 5th edition content and use D&D Materials so long as it is set in The Forgotten Realms(initially, the available settings of course expanded.) Anything outside of 5th edition or Forgotten Realms is not able to be covered by supplement and must conform to the SRD provided through the OGL.

 

[bonchon]

The fraud claim kind of seals this one. LaNasa filed for the trademark knowing it was still in use by Wizards of the Coast. He cited the attempt by Evil Hat to register Star Frontiers in 2016. Star Frontiers was a big part of TSR3's marketing when they launched this past summer, just behind Giantland.

The biggest irony though? LaNasa's statements about the legacy disclaimer seal that he knew Wizards of the Coast was still using the trademark. The only way he'd know about the disclaimer is if he knew that Wizards was still selling those products and still using the trademarks.

So even if LaNasa could prove trademark dilution or abandonment by claiming that Jayson Elliot's use of the TSR name for TSR2 from 2009 to 2021 without action from Wizards of the Coast proved they abandoned the trademark, he's still going to get all of his claims to the trademark dismissed because he perjured himself in filing the applications.

I've also got a sneaking suspicion this isn't going to be the last of it either because trademark is only half of it. There's still the issue of the copyright on the artwork that LaNasa is using. If Wizards of the Coast's legal team is coming out swinging like this, I seriously doubt they're going to let that one stand.

The moral of this story: If the bear is sleeping, do not poke it.

Hey, this is Jayson Elliot.

Our use of the TSR name was as a separate brand - we created our own logo, and always took care to point out that we were a completely new company, not related to the original TSR. For us, the name was just a tribute.

This LaNasa company tried to use copyrighted art that belongs to Wizards, and even claimed to actually be the original TSR.
We created a new brand of our own, while they tried to impersonate an old company and use someone else's design mark. That's where they got into trouble.

 

[bonchon]

View attachment 148321Everything is possible in this the best of all possible worlds.

Maybe it's just because I like Steve martin so much, but Stuart R. Dunwoody looks like a cool guy to hang out with.

 

[humble minion]

They're just trying to get the trademark registration cancelled. That's all. They're not suing him or trying to claim damages or anything.

It's not WotC who'll be chasing TSR for money, it's TSR's lawyers.

I'm completely ignorant about whether it's possible or likely that a court might award costs to one side in a case like this, but if so, TSR could be saddled with the bill for WotCs lawyers too. Which is entirely academic of course - I suspect the end result of this shemozzle will be TSR getting wound up and TSR4 springing into existence immediately, and that the likelihood of anyone getting paid by any iteration of TSR for this debacle is pretty minimal.

 

[Ancalagon]

... the likelihood of anyone getting paid by any iteration of TSR for this debacle is pretty minimal.

That is one of petty grifters' defenses: you can get them to pay because they don't have a lot of money

 

[teitan]

So the publishers of D&D are going after TSR3 with lawyers and not cursing them with black magic?!?
I feel I've been misled by Jack Chick.

They could be doing both.

 

[darjr]

They could be doing both.

Looks at the law firm and “all this”.

Yup both.

 

[embee]

Maybe it's just because I like Steve martin so much, but Stuart R. Dunwoody looks like a cool guy to hang out with.

A) I can't afford the high-end stuff that he undoubtedly drinks.

B) I can't afford his hourly rate, which is probably north of $1,000 an hour. For some perspective, 15 years ago, when I was a lowly junior associate, I was billed out at $350 an hour.

 

[adamantyr]

What value does TSR even have now as a brand? The company that it represents is long gone. Does the TTRPG community really want to see it become the gross characterture that Atari has become in the video game industry?

WotC is doing the right thing with the old TSR branded products, making them available still but with a disclaimer. They could have just yanked them from digital download entirely.

 

[Umbran]

Looks at the law firm and “all this”.

Yup both.

I think maybe it is more that TSR3.5 botched the ritual and brought the curse they intended for others on themselves, or has brought the Threefold Rule down on their own heads.