Bethesda's Legal suit against Mojang

[Misnik]

taken from another article about it but sums up the main issue:

Still, some legal experts say Bethesda might have legitimate grounds. Attorney and game industry analyst Mark Methenitis told Wired.com that the publisher was just doing what any prudent trademark holder would normally do.

“The basic question here is whether the two trademarks are likely to be confused,” Methenitis said in an e-mail. “There’s a pretty well-established test for this under U.S. trademark law, and based on those factors, Bethesda has a reasonable argument.”

These factors, which include “similarities of the goods involved” and the physical proximity of goods, according to legal resource BitLaw.com, seem to support Bethesda’s case. While hard-core gamers would generally know the difference between Scrolls and The Elder Scrolls — one is a card game and the other is an epic fantasy adventure — Methenitis says average shoppers might think the two are related, since both titles include the word scrolls, both are games and both have similar fantasy themes (at a very shallow level).

“To me, the real question is the strength of The Elder Scrolls,” Methenitis said, pointing out that people usually refer to The Elder Scrolls games by their subtitles: Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, etc. “Even then, I wonder about the relative strength of Scrolls without Elder. That strength of the mark factor, along with evidence or lack of evidence of actual confusion, could be the determining factor.”

Minecraft Maker Jokingly Calls Quake Challenge ‘Poor Choice,’ Vows to Fight | GameLife | Wired.com

[Reoh]

Interesting info, but...

World of Warcraft
World of Tanks
World of Planes
World of Battleships
Word of (all sorts of other stuff)
Wide World of Sports

How about craft?
Warcraft
Runecraft
Tradecraft
Minecraft

Meh.

[Bort]

I can only conclude that the people doing this for Bethesda are knobs. Or they think any publicity is good publicity?

[DaedalusAlpha]

Very interesting info Obsi, thanks for that

[DarkDuck]

thanks Obsi, I shall go out and copy your clothing lines in china, muhahahhaa VICTORY IS MINE!!!!!


Like I said ages ago and I think Someone backed it up too, this is all postering, as you have said nothing will be decided for a while yet, so the lawyer talk is just trying to make it appear to the trademark guys like Bethesda are serious and hoping that Mojang will drop the name. Cause if Mojang win then bethesda will be in the same spot as all those names (except Wide World of Sports) that Reoh mentioned.

[Obsi]

thanks Obsi, I shall go out and copy your clothing lines in china, muhahahhaa VICTORY IS MINE!!!!!

LOL, well I don't sell clothing, and I can tell you now it's not successful enough to bother .... But then that would be more a case of copyright infringement, rather than trademark... as a trademark generally applies to the name of something (or a logo, phrase etc.)... whereas the design of the actual item is a copyright issue.

Eg Mojang may have registered the name "creeper" as a trademark, but the actual shape/design (look) of the creeper will be covered by copyright. Copyright is something that's mostly automatic, you don't need to register it....

Like I said ages ago and I think Someone backed it up too, this is all postering, as you have said nothing will be decided for a while yet, so the lawyer talk is just trying to make it appear to the trademark guys like Bethesda are serious and hoping that Mojang will drop the name.

Absolutely. I think they need to give several months for both parties to submit all their arguments, but undoubtedly the hope of Bethesda's side is that Mojang will just agree to rename theirs. But since Mojang have already gone to the effort of trademarking it themselves, it's doubtful they will just backdown. Both parties have enough money to see a dispute through to the end, so that won't bother them.

[Reoh]

I wonder if there's a lawyer forum somewhere that is discussing gaming lexicon.

[Obsi]

hahaha

[DarkDuck]

I have just trademarks the name Obsi, in category 19, 21, 46, 38, 12, 16, 92 and 4....

Obsi you have to rename yourself, hehehehehehe

your a wealth of info though Obsi, thanks for all the info, umm, lets start a new thread "Obsi's Trademark and Copryright Information Service"

[Obsi]

LOL, well I'm not a product or service, so I think I'm safe, but that's:

4. Industrial oils and greases; lubricants; dust absorbing, wetting and binding compositions; fuels (including motor spirit) and illuminants; candles and wicks for lighting.

(interesting... and eww!)

12. Vehicles; apparatus for locomotion by land, air or water.

(Actually there is an obsidian mustang - http://www.amcarguide.com/wp-content...mustang-16.jpg)

16. Paper, cardboard and goods made from these materials, not included in other classes; printed matter; bookbinding material; photographs; stationery; adhesives for stationery or household purposes; artists' materials; paint brushes; typewriters and office requisites (except furniture); instructional and teaching material (except apparatus); plastic materials for packaging (not included in other classes); printers' type; printing blocks.

(Ohh, I do have a thing for stationary!)

19. Building materials (non-metallic); non-metallic rigid pipes for building; asphalt, pitch and bitumen; non-metallic transportable buildings; monuments, not of metal

(Well it does make a good building material, you just need a diamond pick..)

21. Household or kitchen utensils and containers; combs and sponges; brushes (except paint brushes); brush-making materials; articles for cleaning purposes; steelwool; unworked or semi-worked glass (except glass used in building); glassware, porcelain and earthenware not included in other classes.

(lol obsi(dian) glasswear works!)

38. Telecommunications.

(Good afternoon, my name is Obsi, how may I direct your call?)

.. and there is no 46 or 92 :P (IP Australia : Trade Marks > Before You Apply > Classes of goods and services - I do like that 42 is related to science and research lol)

your a wealth of info though Obsi, thanks for all the info, umm, lets start a new thread "Obsi's Trademark and Copryright Information Service"

haha

It just happens to be one of the very few topics around I know anything about

Funnily enough I did have someone contact me recently about a trademark issue - someone had complained to facebook that her page-name was infringing on that other person's trademark, so they removed it, and she wanted advice on what to do (she got her page back )

..and I do mod another forum, where I'm known to be a bit of a copyright nazi...we have stricter rules there, we don't even allow embedding images in a forum post... which was a rule I instituted (it's not copyright issue, but it's a bandwidth stealing one) so I do feel both liberated and also a bit hypocritical when I post pictures here.... it's kinda like going to nanna's house and having cake for breakfast without telling your mum...