Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Glade Riven" data-source="post: 5077058" data-attributes="member: 86468">BTW, a quick rundown of US Trademark Law basics<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Just about anything can be a registered trademarked - even if someone else has trademarked it before. Partially, this is because it is legal for businesses of two completely different feilds to have similar names or logos (You won't see Delta Machinery sue Nintendo over the use of the Triforce logo in a Zelda game).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Registering a trademark does not mean that it will hold up in court, but you do have to have a trademark registered in order to defend it in court.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A Trademark can be claimed without registering it (using TM instead of the Circle R). Companies usually do this for a number of reasons, such as time (product needs to get to market), variations of the orginal logo, or registering items in bulk to save on cost. Still needs to be registered for court purposes.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Fair Use is a nice, fuzzy grey area designed to protect common people from being sued for using a term, either because it is generic or it is referencing whatever is trademarked.</li> </ul>There's a goverment website with more details, but a lot of it does seem to come down to how good of a lawyer you have and how long the trademark has been used/registered. This letter looks to be written either by or at the order of someone who doesn't quite understand US Trademark law, thereby just making them look stupid. It also implies certain misconceptions about digital media and interactive tools. I don't see this going to court, or at least not lasting very long before the judge dismisses the complaint. Oh, fun fact: Fan-created content is classified under trademark law as Derivitive Works, which means that holders of trademarks can legally order you to cease and desist. It's rare for it to be excercised, though, due to it not being the the companies best interest (cost, alienates customer base, hurts the brand, etc.).</blockquote>

Verification