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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pbrink" data-source="post: 4370642" data-attributes="member: 16457">No, it's not that many. Player's Handbook, Monster Manual and Dungeon Master Guide are the only ones. The settings are also registered and then there's a bunch of (what seems to me to be) Magic: the gathering cards.Note that Handbook in Player's Handbook, Manual in Monster Manual and Guide in Dungeon Master Guide are disclaimed, it's only in combination with the prefix that they are trademarks. It's also interesting that there are allowed as trademarks because the title of a book, in it self, cannot be a trademark. These terms are also highly descriptive so it's only because WotC managed to claim that they were marks for a series of books that they got a registration. Also note that the abbreviations are not registered...The above registrations are only valid in the U.S. and AFAIK WotC has only registered "Dungeons & Dragons" abroad.As a footnote:IMO a term such as Player's Handbook do not qualify as a trademark under European law, neither do Monster Manual. Both are descriptive and under European law it doesn't matter that they are used as a mark for a series of creative works - they are still just descriptive. Europe doesn't use common law trademarks, indeed some jurisdictions only protects registered marks. However if one can prove that the mark has become established on the market then the mark is protected. A sign is considered to have become established on the market when it is, within a significant portion of the circle for which it is intended, known as a symbol for the goods which are being made available under it. This is similar to the U.S. concept of "secondary meaning". The term "significant portion" means about 30% of the actors on intended market and by "the circle for which it is intended" we mean:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">all persons that are potential customers of the goods or service and</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">competitors and their staff and</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">people that work in retail and/or handles the goods or service</li> </ul>(see the <a href="http://www.ohim.eu.int/en/mark/aspects/pdf/JJ020371.pdf" target="_blank">"Bostongurka" case</a>)The potential customers of a RPG are not just those who play or might play RPG:s, it's everyone who might play or buy games in general. 30% of these would have to a) recognize Player's Handbook as a trademark for b) a game and c) have a clue about it's source. Not likely to happen. The very same argument can, btw, be made for "d20" and "d20-system". I would even go further and suggest that "d20" is a generic (functional even) term that totally lacks distinctiveness.</blockquote>

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