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

 

[Mind of tempest]

Well you know what the kids say: mess around and discover things.

Me, reading the comments on the IndieGoGo page

that does seem to be the mood of it.

 

[MGibster]

This is like one of those social diseases they warned us about in health class. No matter how much I scrub the sores keep coming back.

 

[Deset Gled]

Big issue with that case, it seems to me (IANaL) is that TSR 2E was actually careful not to create market confusion, or use trade dress still used by WotC.

I think it's worth stating this again. The fundamental purpose of a trademark is to prevent confusion by identifying companies and informing the public about who they are. The (original) reason that trademarks are supported by the government is a form of consumer protection. The goal is to make sure people know what they are getting when they buy a name brand product.

nuTSR has been blatantly trying to claim a relationship with the original TSR. They have done it by using the logos. They have done it by using the names "Dungeons and Dragons", "Star Frontiers", and others. They have used the names of any people who worked with the original TSR that they can find. Their marketing has done everything they possibly can to make people think they are related to the original TSR.

That's why TSR is hosed. There's 30 points of complaint in WotCs filing. TSR may be able to work their way around a few of them. I'm sure they'll get a bunch of armchair internet lawyers arguing about whether or not WotC abandoned the mark or not, or debating exact dates, or just mindlessly rambling on about tort reform. But at the end of the day, nuTSR was openly flaunting that they were doing exactly what the trademark law is designed to prevent.

 

[J.Quondam]

Well you know what the kids say: mess around and discover things.

Me, reading the comments on the IndieGoGo page

My favorite comment on the Indiegogo page:

 

[Zeromaru X]

TSR 3.5? The last time I looked, there was TSR3 only, lol.

 

[Lidgar]

WoTC review of nuTSR's latest actions:

 

[CleverNickName]

Woah, I just finished reading it. THIRTY POINTS of complaint calling for their trademark cancellation...fifteen under "Priority and Likelihood of Confusion," and fifteen under "Fraud."

This is going to end badly for TSR³. Their lawyer is probably scrambling right now.

 

[Sacrosanct]

This is going to end badly for TSR³. Their lawyer is probably scrambling right now.

I would not be surprised if LaNasa wasn't honest with the lawyer when he had them file the suit in the first place. I suspect when a lawyer sees everything that's happened, 99% won't want to touch this with a 10ft pole. And that 1% will just do it for the lawyer fees knowing they will lose.

 

[Jer]

I don't know that selling a new edition of Top Secret by Merle Rasmussen really counts as trying to quietly sell games. They were definitely trying to align with a certain amount of legacy goodwill for the old TSR name with an old TSR title. The difference - they weren't outright trying to hijack old logos and properties they didn't have/couldn't get rights to.

Yeah - what I meant by "quietly sell games" was "latch onto the legacy of TSR without Wizards noticing". They were absolutely trying to do that - I think they wanted to stay as far away from a fight with Wizards as possible while walking that line.

In contrast, TSR3 seems to want to pick as large a fight as possible without actually selling any games.

 

[Morrus]

I think it's worth stating this again. The fundamental purpose of a trademark is to prevent confusion by identifying companies and informing the public about who they are. The (original) reason that trademarks are supported by the government is a form of consumer protection. The goal is to make sure people know what they are getting when they buy a name brand product.

nuTSR has been blatantly trying to claim a relationship with the original TSR. They have done it by using the logos. They have done it by using the names "Dungeons and Dragons", "Star Frontiers", and others. They have used the names of any people who worked with the original TSR that they can find. Their marketing has done everything they possibly can to make people think they are related to the original TSR.

That's why TSR is hosed. There's 30 points of complaint in WotCs filing. TSR may be able to work their way around a few of them. I'm sure they'll get a bunch of armchair internet lawyers arguing about whether or not WotC abandoned the mark or not, or debating exact dates, or just mindlessly rambling on about tort reform. But at the end of the day, nuTSR was openly flaunting that they were doing exactly what the trademark law is designed to prevent.

They were at one point claiming to actually be the original TSR and lecturing WotC publicly over the hobby they say they created. It was a literal attempt to create brand confusion, not reduce it.