I have discovered that the name of the main character in my game is also a name of a city in pero? Is this a problem? or is it actually better because no one can say this name belongs to him and I can use it freely? Thanks in advance.

No it won't be a problem. Generally there are no problems with using the same name as that of a real person, provided that the character is clearly NOT based on that person. As for a city I doubt that it will get upset.

Neither famous nor obscure city names are a problem. If you want a story about a giant lizard burining down Tokyo, or a giant ape climbing buildings New York City, the city won't mind. The movie studios probably would, though.

Famous people have trademark rights on their names either implictly or explicitly given in most of the world. In the US, it's implicitly given and can additionally be registered with the USPTO. Naming a character Cindy Crawford, Elvis Prestly, Tiger Woods, Osama Bin Ladin, or George Bush will get you in trouble, even if the character itself has no other similarity.

Quote: Original post by frob

Neither famous nor obscure city names are a problem. If you want a story about a giant lizard burining down Tokyo, or a giant ape climbing buildings New York City, the city won't mind. The movie studios probably would, though.

Famous people have trademark rights on their names either implictly or explicitly given in most of the world. In the US, it's implicitly given and can additionally be registered with the USPTO. Naming a character Cindy Crawford, Elvis Prestly, Tiger Woods, Osama Bin Ladin, or George Bush will get you in trouble, even if the character itself has no other similarity.

I'm curious, how does this interact with the ideas that trademarks are only valid in the same field (I forget the correct terminology) and the use of such characters in cartoons with political motives?

Copyright/trademark/patents/etc. are an area I'm largely ignorant of, but find interesting.

Quote: Original post by Way Walker

Quote: Original post by frob

Neither famous nor obscure city names are a problem. If you want a story about a giant lizard burining down Tokyo, or a giant ape climbing buildings New York City, the city won't mind. The movie studios probably would, though.

Famous people have trademark rights on their names either implictly or explicitly given in most of the world. In the US, it's implicitly given and can additionally be registered with the USPTO. Naming a character Cindy Crawford, Elvis Prestly, Tiger Woods, Osama Bin Ladin, or George Bush will get you in trouble, even if the character itself has no other similarity.

I'm curious, how does this interact with the ideas that trademarks are only valid in the same field (I forget the correct terminology) and the use of such characters in cartoons with political motives?

Copyright/trademark/patents/etc. are an area I'm largely ignorant of, but find interesting.

Normal IANAL disclaimers apply. I have an IP Law expert friend, (I mean REALLY expert, as in, on the board of major international IP law groups) and we've had some fun discussions that quickly get over my head.

Here are the basics, as I understand them.

You would need to read up on something called the Paris Convention that's just over a century old. It is to trademarks what the Berne Convention is to copyrights. (All programmers really ought to understand the Berne Convention, since everything they do is covered by it.) The Paris Convention discusses trademark standardization between countries, and how famous marks don't necessarily need to be recorded as trademarks under a bunch of circumstances in order to gain protections.

One feature is product differentiation.

Imagine a TV commercial. If I point to a shiny silver laptop and say "Apple", you know I'm referring to Apple Computers. If you're in the UK and point to a stack of records and say "Apple", it would obviously be referring to the recording company.


Differentiation from people is different. If I say "This is the authorized biography of George Bush", you are using the name (mark) of a famous person, specifically the 41st US President. You might be attempting to refer to a biography of George Bush, the grumpy old history professor.

The problem is that you didn't differentiate.

I do know that George Bush (history professor) has a right to use the name just as much as George Bush (41st president) does. If you wanted to use them in commerce, you need to be absolutely certain that they are differentiated.


The part that I don't know is when fictional names (business are considered fictional names) collide with other names. There was an earlier issue with "Mike Rowe Soft", where Microsoft threatened to sue (but decided to offer a lot of money and good will). Microsoft very recently found themselves on the other end of the stick when they found out through a legal notice that Vista is a company with a logo similar to the MS Windows Vista proposed logo, and is just down the road from their corporate offices.


Getting back to the famous people marks, if your story wasn't clearly differentiated from the famous person, nor was it a parody, you could easily be in trouble.

Don't make your game about a fictional Tiger Woods playing miniature golf. That would be a Really Bad Idea ™

Thanks, that clears up a lot.

Quote: Original post by frob
Differentiation from people is different. If I say "This is the authorized biography of George Bush", you are using the name (mark) of a famous person, specifically the 41st US President. You might be attempting to refer to a biography of George Bush, the grumpy old history professor.

The problem is that you didn't differentiate.

I do know that George Bush (history professor) has a right to use the name just as much as George Bush (41st president) does. If you wanted to use them in commerce, you need to be absolutely certain that they are differentiated.

You also didn't differentiate from the 43rd president of the USA. Is that an issue? And are you saying that Prof. George Bush can or cannot release a book and claim it to be the authorized biography of George Bush? What if he didn't use the name similarity in any way to promote it (any gain being accidental)? Would the synopsis on the back offer any protection? What if he put his picture on the cover?

Quote:
Don't make your game about a fictional Tiger Woods playing miniature golf. That would be a Really Bad Idea ™

Heheh... I understand why, but it still makes me giggle that, in a manner of speaking, you can include Tiger Woods playing golf so long as it's the real one and you mock him.

So, I might have two problems with my game.
First, the name of my game is also part of a name of a certani spider specie.
Actually, I thought on the name first, and after I discovered there is also a spider with that name, I decided to insert that spider in my game.
Can there be any problem with this?
Secondly, the name of the main character in my game is the same is the name of a city in pero. However, I didnt use anything related to this city in this game, it's a fantasy game with swords and magic and I don't think there is anything related to the city with this game or the main character.
There is no city in the game with the name of the city in pero, only the main character's name.
So there isnt going to be any problem with this?

Thanks in advance.

Quote: Original post by The C modest god
So, I might have two problems with my game.
First, the name of my game is also part of a name of a certani spider specie.
Actually, I thought on the name first, and after I discovered there is also a spider with that name, I decided to insert that spider in my game.
Can there be any problem with this?
Secondly, the name of the main character in my game is the same is the name of a city in pero. However, I didnt use anything related to this city in this game, it's a fantasy game with swords and magic and I don't think there is anything related to the city with this game or the main character.
There is no city in the game with the name of the city in pero, only the main character's name.
So there isnt going to be any problem with this?

Thanks in advance.

Probably no problem with either.