overgeeked
B/X Known World
Apparently, a Chinese dice manufacturer owns the US trademark for “mind flayer” related to dice and games.
WotC WotC doesn’t own the trademark for Mind Flayer
Sacrosanct
Legend
They also don't own "Bulette". Tim Kask still technically owns that.
Snarf Zagyg
Notorious Liquefactionist
Ugh. I hate this kind of stupid. Look, the guy admits he is not a lawyer, but please, try and remember the following:
Trademarks (trademarks, service marks) are not the same as copyrights or patents.
Trademarks are not acquired through registration. Ever. They are acquired only through use. They can get additional protection (in terms of what can be recovered, etc.) through registration, and there are reasons to protect your trademark by registering it with different jurisdictions (states, USPTO, WIPO, etc.).
Now, I am not going to go further on the merits of this, but the idea that you can swoop in and claim the name that is associated with someone else's business like this ... well, that's some ... LaNasa-level thinking. That's not a compliment.
Trademarks (trademarks, service marks) are not the same as copyrights or patents.
Trademarks are not acquired through registration. Ever. They are acquired only through use. They can get additional protection (in terms of what can be recovered, etc.) through registration, and there are reasons to protect your trademark by registering it with different jurisdictions (states, USPTO, WIPO, etc.).
Now, I am not going to go further on the merits of this, but the idea that you can swoop in and claim the name that is associated with someone else's business like this ... well, that's some ... LaNasa-level thinking. That's not a compliment.
CleverNickName
Limit Break Dancing
...but at least you clicked on the video, right?
Veltharis ap Rylix
Legend
Final Fantasy has been sporadically using squid-headed "Mindflayer" monsters since the original game.
jgsugden
Legend
The question is often not, "Who has the rights and who doesn't?" It is, "Can I make a strong enough claim to the rights that you'd have to pay significant legal fees to dispute my claim, and is paying me off a cheaper option for you?"
And you don't have to have that strong of a claim to make it expensive enough to make a tidy bit of coin. If they can contend they own it, it can hit WotC and anyone they allowed to use the name - like Stranger Things.
And you don't have to have that strong of a claim to make it expensive enough to make a tidy bit of coin. If they can contend they own it, it can hit WotC and anyone they allowed to use the name - like Stranger Things.
Vaalingrade
Legend
Maybe they'll get hit with Truth in Advertising laws and have to call them Cthulu-men.
Snarf Zagyg
Notorious Liquefactionist
Again, that's not how a trademark would work.
Just for starters, they are trying to claim that the first use in commerce was in 2021. The first use in Stranger Things was at the end of 2017.
While people might have their issues with the USPTO, as far as I know, there are no successful patents for time machines, and I doubt that anyone is going to get very far with claims that violate the space-time continuum.
Cordwainer Fish
Imp. Int. Scout Svc. (Dishon. Ret.)
To a first approximation, nobody on the Internet groks IP law. It's been an invariant since back when October existed.
