04-21-2023, 10:15 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Central Ohio
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Ummmm…say what???
https://www.wargamevault.com/product...-Metal?src=TMP
He says he updated Battlesuit? Sure looks like trademark/copyright infringement to me…
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"Think of it as Evolution in Action"... Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle, Oath of Fealty My Ogre Miniatures Blog: http://ogreminiatures.blogspot.com |
04-21-2023, 10:32 AM | #2 |
Join Date: May 2012
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Re: Ummmm…say what???
I Am Not A Lawyer, but I wouldn't want to be in this guy's shoes.
Reimplementations of play mechanics are generally fair game under American IP law. [Mileage may vary in other jurisdictions.] But your words and art /have/ to be your own. You don't get to reuse any proprietary vocabulary or even overly specific nouns. So yeah, he can be heavily inspired by Battlesuit, and even say as much. He can even make a power-armor tactical game that plays just like Battlesuit. But using the word Battlesuit in the name of the game is a pretty obvious infringement, and if he's reusing any of Battlesuit's text, that is clearly right out. SJGames don't own tactical boardgames about dueling squads of power armor, but I think they've got a pretty legitimate claim to the use of the word "Battlesuit" in a game title at this point. |
04-22-2023, 09:48 AM | #3 | ||
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: London, England
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Re: Ummmm…say what???
Quote:
Battlesuit is also used by Games Workshop, and as such it can't be. Besides, the word is insufficiently unique to be trademarked, which was why GW are moving away from vanilla Space Marine's into Primaris SM. Quote:
As I said above, Battlesuit is, in and of itself not copyrightable or sufficiently strong enough to be a trademark either. Just google battlesuit. It's in the common domain.
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One cannot always win – but one cannot always lose either. Blogs: http://panther6actual.blogspot.co.uk/ http://ashleyrpollard.blogspot.co.uk/ |
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04-22-2023, 09:55 AM | #4 |
Join Date: May 2012
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Re: Ummmm…say what???
You may very well be correct, but having just, with my wife, gone through a ridiculously expensive legal proceeding against her ex, I still wouldn't want to be paying lawyer'$$$ bills to try to prove to a judge that another game company's actual title of an actual published game (and recently reprinted at that!) is a lapsed trademark.
Not on the margins that guys getting from Wargame Vault anyways. Last edited by HeatDeath; 04-22-2023 at 10:01 AM. |
04-22-2023, 10:00 AM | #5 |
Join Date: May 2012
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Re: Ummmm…say what???
I have to think that a significant reason - not the whole reason, but definitely a significant reason - to do the Pocket Box Games KS at all was to authoritatively reestablish trademark protection on all that stuff.
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04-22-2023, 11:33 AM | #6 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Central Ohio
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Re: Ummmm…say what???
Yeah, I get that anyone can create a game about man to man armor suited combat and call it “Battlesuit” or something similar.
But this guy comes right out and says he reworked the SJGames title…
__________________
"Think of it as Evolution in Action"... Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle, Oath of Fealty My Ogre Miniatures Blog: http://ogreminiatures.blogspot.com |
04-22-2023, 12:58 PM | #7 | |
Join Date: May 2012
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Re: Ummmm…say what???
Also, the cover of the Battlesuit rulebook [2019 Reproduction] says
Quote:
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04-23-2023, 05:13 PM | #8 |
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Bradenton, FL
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Re: Ummmm…say what???
I originally thought the title itself was copywritable, but apparently that is not*, either. The actual game mechanics and verbiage should be, though. And marketing might well prove to be an Achilles Heel to Mike Nagel's otherwise nice-looking work insofar as he directly states and intends this to be a revised or updated version of a preexisting game.
*https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/5...cant-copyright |
04-24-2023, 01:39 AM | #9 | |
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: London, England
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Re: Ummmm…say what???
Quote:
And even that is arguably just advertising. Think, just like x, but better.
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One cannot always win – but one cannot always lose either. Blogs: http://panther6actual.blogspot.co.uk/ http://ashleyrpollard.blogspot.co.uk/ |
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04-24-2023, 10:19 AM | #10 |
President and EIC
Join Date: Jul 2004
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Re: Ummmm…say what???
Titles are subject to trademark, not copyright. Wholly different set of rules.
I was as surprised by this as anyone. Finding no contact info on the site except LinkedIn (hah!) I have reached out to the best e-mail address I could find for a Mike Nagel in our own records. I believe Hunter will be locking this thread soon because all we can do is speculate, and we have accomplished that. Thanks for letting us know. |
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