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

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

So I am going to continue this in this thread, given it's more about the lawsuit-

Here is the OP that gave is WOTC's filing-

TSR - The Full & Glorious History of NuTSR

Because the Saga of TSR3 has been ongoing for a while, with many landmarks, I thought I'd do a quick timeline for those who haven't had the time (or, frankly, inclination) to keep up with the whole palaver. As multiple entities refer to themselves as TSR, I will use the nomenclature (1), (2)...

www.enworld.org

So here are my brief notes.

1. As I stated above, if they filed counterclaims and included LaNasa as a party (counterdefendant) then they were done with this foolishness and were looking to exact vengeance. Well, they added LaNasa and the Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum (LLC, corporate entity). They are aware of LaNasa's shell games, and are done with this foolishness.

2. The answer itself is what you expect. The only slightly interesting thing about it is, if you read it very closely, they come out harder with respect to the Game Wizards Logo than the Lizard Image. (Answer ¶¶ 34-35). This may be due to a variety of reasons, including the fact that there are issues with the Lizard Image (there were two different ones used at different times created by different artists) or perhaps something more relevant (they aren't claiming a specific copyright in that image so much as the work as a whole using it) or may be just an artifact of the wording ... but that seems doubtful given the precision of this response.

3. The affirmative defenses are also standard- prior use should be sufficient. Unclean hands is a fancy way of saying that TSR can't be rewarded for being a bad guy.

4. The counterclaims are where they things get interesting, so I will break this down separately-

a. Why list the Museum and LaNasa?
To get some skin in the game. LaNasa appears to have created numerous shell LLCs; this is a deliberate tactic to try and get the LLC with real assets (the museum) and the individual (LaNasa) on the hook so that they are exposed to monetary damages. At a minimum, LaNasa is going to have to seriously reconsider his grand plans once he realizes that he, personally, could be exposed to a lot of downward liability. This may lead to his choosing to settle the case expeditiously and in WOTC's favor more seriously.

b. Why choose those counterclaims?
Other than the ones you expect (trademark claims brought under federal and state law), they choose to bring claims under state consumer laws. Brief background- there are the federal consumer protection laws, and then most states have some type of "Deceptive and/or Unfair Trade Practice Act" which can be used as a hammer by businesses against each other when one business in engaging in "bad practices." Because of the way these laws are written, when I say hammer, I mean it- many allow for attorney's fees, treble damages, and/or punitive damages. More importantly, they are often written in a way that would allow you to name an individual who is acting as a bridge between multiple LLCs (as is alleged here).


Overall- this is an exceptionally strong response. They are looking to exact as much pain as possible. If I were the Defendants, I would be quite concerned. IMO.

 

[Sir Brennen]

Overall- this is an exceptionally strong response. They are looking to exact as much pain as possible. If I were the Defendants, I would be quite concerned. IMO.

Thanks for the breakdown, Snarf. Seems like things will reach a decisive moment in the near future.

As entertaining as this whole NuTSR debacle has been, I won't be sorry to see all of it reduced to a gaming footnote with no further mention of the instigators ever again.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

A couple things from the legal filing....

In multiple instances, they use the term "controversy." In legalese, it's used to mean "dispute..." essentially, "we have beef."

They are bringing down the hammer. I would point out that at this point they are going for the jugular (bolding mine):

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, Wizards prays for Judgment against Counterclaim Defendants as
follows:
A. That the Court enter judgment in Wizards’ favor on all claims brought by
Wizards;
B. That the Court enter an order pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1116 impounding all
infringing products bearing Wizards’ marks or that otherwise infringe Wizards’ intellectual
property, and any related materials, including business records, in Counterclaim Defendants’
possession or under their control;
C. That the Court enter an order requiring any domain name registries, registrars, and
website holding companies that hold, list, or host one or more domain names or websites that
(1) are associated with Counterclaim Defendants’ infringement of Wizards’ intellectual property,
inter alia, via infringing domain names that include the name “TSR,” and/or (2) are owned,
operated, or controlled by any Counterclaim Defendant and that have displayed one or more
Wizards trademarks, infringed Wizards’ IP, or otherwise created false association with Wizards
product(s), to:
i. take down the infringing websites;
ii. disable any infringing domain names; and
iii. transfer the infringing domain names to Wizards’ ownership and control,
including inter alia, by changing the registrar of record to a registrar of
Wizards’ choosing.
D. That the Court enter an order requiring Counterclaim Defendants to provide
Wizards a full and complete accounting of all amounts due and owing to Wizards as a result of
Counterclaim Defendants’ unlawful activities;
E. That Counterclaim Defendants be required to pay all actual damages that Wizards
has sustained or will sustain as a consequence of Counterclaim Defendants’ unlawful acts,
together with statutory damages to the extent allowable, and that such damages be enhanced,
doubled, or trebled as allowed by law;
F. That Counterclaim Defendants be required to pay the costs of this action and
Wizards’ reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred in prosecuting this action, as provided for by 15
U.S.C. § 1117 or otherwise allowed by law;
G. That the Court enter an order requiring that identified financial institutions restrain
and transfer to Wizards all amounts arising from Counterclaim Defendants’ unlawful
infringement as set forth in this lawsuit, up to a total amount necessary to satisfy monetary
judgment in this case; and
H. That the Court grant Wizards such other, further, and additional relied as the
Court deems just and equitable.

Business records, I would think, would be bad news for LaNasa. But really, the whole thing is bad news for LaNasa, and he couldn't be more deserving. I'm starting to see some talk online of people kvetching about "the big company throwing their weight around." Which, really, doesn't justify siding with a bigot and a grifter, not to mention someone quantifiably infringing on their IP.

Also, as far as receiving the infringing products, other than the t-shirts, I imagine it would look a whole lot like this meme:

 

[qstor]

I got the answer from PACER. I was wondering why didn't file a motion to dismiss and a Rule 11 motion. The whole case is BS.

FYI I'm an attorney IRL.

 

[Sacrosanct]

. I'm starting to see some talk online of people kvetching about "the big company throwing their weight around." Which, really, doesn't justify siding with a bigot and a grifter, not to mention someone quantifiably infringing on their IP.

Yeah, I'm seeing more and more posts of people saying they are on LaNasa's side because "all corporations are evil". Regardless of what one thinks about corporations, siding with someone like LaNasa just because you don't like corporations sure seems like an unwise thing to do.


Based on my initial reading of this suit the other day, I read it as:

• WoTC is gonna own all the websites LaNasa has been using to promote anything that had a TSR logo on it (TSR LLC, Dungeon Hobby Shop, etc).
• They are asking for records, so they are asking for every penny he ever made at those sites. And then triple that (IIRC, I think the law allows for triple damages)
• They are going after all legal fees.
• They are taking all physical products he was trying to sell (That big display case at the Hobby Shop is going to be empty real soon).
• Justin is going to be held personally responsible (piercing the corporate veil I think the term is, when it seems like a person is using LLCs to hide behind unlawful acts)

I could be wrong, of course, but that's how I read it. I'll let someone more skilled in law than me interpret that better.

If I were Jeff Leason, currently living at the Dungeon Hobby shop upstairs (IIRC), I would be worried about finding a new place to live, because it appears as if Justin is gonna have a hefty judgement against him.

 

[CleverNickName]

Me, reading through WotC's filing the first time:

Me, reading through WotC's filing for the fifth time:

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I got the answer from PACER. I was wondering why didn't file a motion to dismiss and a Rule 11 motion. The whole case is BS.

FYI I'm an attorney IRL.

1. Motion to dismiss is procedural- absent special circumstances, it doesn't get to the underlying issues. They want this case over, and they want it done forever.

2. Sanctions motions require a safe harbor- it's entirely possible that they sent one, but they can't file it with the court until a period of time elapses allowing the claims to be withdrawn. In addition, now that there are counterclaims filed, the case can't just "go away" if LaNasa dismisses it. Finally, given the allowance for attorney's fees with the underlying action, there is less need to file a sanctions motion.

 

[darjr]

So. If LeNasa poured money into his own go fund me, is it possible that’s also in the table?

 

[Wilphe]

Business records, I would think, would be bad news for LaNasa.

Would it be worse news if they discover he doesn't have any?

B. That the Court enter an order pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1116 impounding all
infringing products bearing Wizards’ marks or that otherwise infringe Wizards’ intellectual
property, and any related materials, including business records, in Counterclaim Defendants’
possession or under their control;

So WOTC will have a shed load of dollar store dice they can bury in the desert next to ET cartridges.

 

[darjr]

Would it be worse news if they discover he doesn't have any?





So WOTC will have a shed load of dollar store dice they can bury in the desert next to ET cartridges.

The museum has quite a few artifacts. Many donated to the Museum.