Aw...Edge mag is evil

http://www.offworld.com/2009/06/the-edge-of-madness-the-copyfi.html

No, it’s more that Tim Langdell appears to be an unbelievable shit.

I know nothing of this other than what I read in the linked article, but based on the contents of the article this man suing people has nothing to do with the current magazine Edge except for the fact that I guess they are one of many companies who have agreed to his terms and licenced rights to the name from him at some point in the past.

So yeah, this guy Tim whatever is evil, but the thread title here is wrong and confusing.

Not as evil as the bureaucrat who granted trademark monopoly for such a common word.

What a dick.

The wikipedia entry on him is, not surprisingly, deleted but you can still find the cached version.

I didn’t think he’s legitimately in the gaming industry but maybe he is:

Langdell has confirmed credits on three titles. These are:[11].[ul]
[li]Between Heaven and Hell (2006), MadGames (Special Thanks)[/li][li]God of War (2005), Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. (Special Thanks)[/li][*]Fairlight (1985), “The Edge”.”[/ul]

Urgh, trademark law is so irritating if the owner gets arsey like Mr Langdell here. How the hell he forced people to settle for uses such as Mirrors Edge, The Edge and use in marvel comics, when the trademark is related to some old software house, is beyond me. What a bastard.

So is that his job? Ownership of the word ‘edge’?

So what happens if some person/company simply ignores him and says “yeah, our product is easily seperated from your company name and there is no dilution”. Is he just using legal letter scare tactics or has he ever taken someone to court? Legal bullying is so annoying.

Is he only going after games? Because if not, and he wants to go after anything trademarked as “Edge,” you’d think sooner or later he’d pay attention to this guy:

Or he might think that going after the WWE is a bit out of his league.

Yeah, I’m guessing that guy could pound him into a smear on the pavement if he fucked with him.

Edge would not even condescend to touch that big fat failure turtle.

here’s a thread with Tim “The Extortionist” Langdell attempting to defend himself. After several posters ask the simple question why he registered the name EDGY on May 16 2009, he stops posting. After that, the piling on begins.

Interesting to skim, and it’s too bad that he got as far as he did.

The appropriate response:

http://www.chillingeffects.org/resource.cgi?ResourceID=31)

Awesome.

Hell yes.

How can one trademark common words? This is beyond stupid. It sounds like the assholish Monster Cable lawyers who try to sue any company with Monster in its name in the US. I remember years ago here a bottled juice company named Oasis was trying to do the same thing in Canada.

Buzzkill!

You can certainly register common words as a trademark. But bear in mind that unlike patents and copyrights, trademarks are meant to protect consumers. You probably wouldn’t want to accidentally put a “Nentendo” DS under the Xmas tree when your little precious had his heart set on a Nintendo.

That’s why trademarks are usually limited to defined products - there’s little chance of accidentally making a Continental Airways reservation when you really wanted Continental Inn. That’s also why trademarks that have to be actively defended or they will risk being lost. For example, if consumers decide that “Escalator” is just a generic word for moving staircase (originally a trademark), then they can’t really be confused any more, can they?