More than a little confused…
I can’t let this post stand unrefuted but I can’t find a way to diplomatically say how bad it is.
This is the best I could do.
It’s pretty straightforward. You contact the USPTO and file a form saying “I want a trademark on the name “Spathi” for toys, videogames, movies, etc”. Then no one else can use the word “Spathi” in a videogame in a way that confuses it with your trademark (for instance, making them an alien in a space game).
What’s so confusing about that?
You’re talking about the process, not what a trademark is. and you are a little confused as to the process as well.
There’s no legal expectation of filing for a trademark in order to protect other IP.
Given your use of the word ‘deserved’, I also have to point out that there’s usually not a moral expectation either, but I will of course yield to direct experience of such a thing!
A trademark is to identify the source of goods. Trademarking all the alien names is nonsensical in the first place. “Star Control” identifies a series of games. There is no “Frungy” company, brand, series, etc.
It also need to be points out that by saying P&F want to squeeze Stardock you have things completely backwards. Stardock is personally suing P&F. P&F were fine with Stardock making a game set in a different universe as they originally claimed was their intent. They did not sue Stardock over their plan to make SC:O. Stardock repeated P&F’s announcement of their game as part of the marketing for SC:O, but then decided the announcement that they themselves repeated was so bad that P&F must pay damages for making it.
What makes you believe they never really intended to make another game? I know Stardock has been spreading this idea on their forums since it gets repeated so often by people who just also happen to be in the founders program. What basis is there to believe they don’t really want to make a game? They’ve talked many times over the years about returning to the series when they could.
And then they deny it because you didn’t submit an example and you didn’t demonstrate in any way how the mark identifies a source of goods.
Also if they had trademarked things back then, those trademarks would have expired. You need to be actively using a trademark for it to remain valid.
You really do have a fundamental misunderstanding of what a trademark is if you think that you can just trademark any name you want for any reason.
I’ve filed a trademark, been granted it, and defended against infringement. I’ve also created brands I didn’t trademark, sold the rights, and then watched someone else trademark brand name I created.
But go ahead and lecture me on how they work.
The timing is easily solved. A trademark lasts 10 years and you can renew it in 10 year increments. As soon as Toys For Bob or whoever put any effort into another game (besides talk) they should have filed any IP protections they think they needed.
They let this IP languish for years and then someone announces they have spent actual money to aquire the rights and they made a stink. That is a dick move to me. No wonder Stardock is fighting so hard, they have put all the effort and money behind a project and Ford and Reiche have expended none, and then bitched and moaned and have the audacity to try and fundraise 2 million bucks to fight for a property they abandoned.
Sour. Grapes.
Keep in mind I loved Star Con 1 and 2, and respect Reiche and Ford as developers, but they appear to be terrible businessmen. That’s not Stardock’s fault.
Or services. If you’d like to be better informed about this, go look up all the Star Wars trademarks for the character names.
Getting sued by Stardock is apparently “making a stink”. I guess they should indeed just agree to the hostile settlement conditions Stardock gave them and pay Stardock $250k for all the making of stink that they did.
If you know that, then you know they don’t work like this:
Sorry, that paragraph was poorly written. Two separate points there. The point of mentioning the date and long timeline is they have had plenty of opportunity to work on a new game or protect it through IP. The system was available to them at anytime.
Anyone have a link to the Exhibit documentation for these claims? I’m curious about some of Stardock’s evidence.
Let’s be clear that in order to maintain a trademark on the names of the alien races, Stardock is literally obligated to demand that Ur-Quan Masters not use those names. Failure to defend a trademark will result in its loss.
So yeah, this is bad behavior on Stardock’s part and everyone speaking up on their behalf should feel ashamed of themselves.
Yes, but we are talking about trademarks, not copyrights.
Look over Stardock’s list of games. How many character names, worlds, spacecraft design names, etc. Have they trademarked from previous games. I think the number is zero or very close to it. Because that is not what is being sold, so it is irrelevant to a trademark.
In other words, I’d better go download Ur-Quan Masters tonight while I still can.
This link has all the court docs that are available, including some of the exhibits.
A youtube lawyer’s take on the amended complaint
He makes some good points about how Stardock is asserting rights but doesn’t provide any evidence to demonstrate it has those rights.
Actually it turns out they were pretty good businessmen because they made sure the contracts directly spelled out that they own all the copyrights, names, etc. Stardock’s denial of these things doesn’t make them bad businessmen.
You are being lectured on how trademarks work because your posts demonstrated a completely failure to understand how trademarks work. I not sure how angrily now claiming to be an authority on the matter is helping you here.
You also continue to claim things like P&F “made a stink” when it has been pointed out to you that Stardock is the one suing P&F personally (not Toys for bob).