"Space Marines" Now A Trademarked Phrase

Status
Not open for further replies.

Melanie Dawn

Gypsy, wasted from the hips down.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 30, 2012
Messages
463
Reaction score
33
Location
Nor Cal
Doesn't surprise me even a little... ever since GW took on the more "corporate" feel they've slowly been going down hill. Hell the US president of GW wants to have Games Day in Tennessee instead of Baltimore.
 

Gilroy Cullen

Handsome servant of a redhead
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Messages
4,567
Reaction score
677
Location
Deep in the State of Confusion
Website
swordsvspens.blogspot.com
Can this even be enforced, considering that, as Gilroy said, the term predates Warhammer and has appeared in quite a bit of media?

Based on that wikipedia article, they'll be going against Heinlen's estate... And the people who created the movie Avatar... Ew!
 

lilyWhite

Love and Excitement
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 13, 2012
Messages
5,357
Reaction score
766
Location
under a pile of mistletoe
All I'm going to say is that expressing my feelings on this subject to the fullest extent would involve far too many profanities.
 

Roger J Carlson

Moderator In Name Only
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 19, 2005
Messages
12,799
Reaction score
2,499
Location
West Michigan
It appears that one of the dangers of self-publishing includes the inability to defend yourself against frivolous law suits.
 

amergina

Pittsburgh Strong
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
15,599
Reaction score
2,471
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
Website
www.annazabo.com
Well, it's easy enough to *start* with a self-published author with no cash to defend herself...
 

benbradley

It's a doggy dog world
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 5, 2006
Messages
20,322
Reaction score
3,513
Location
Transcending Canines
In their last email to me, Games Workshop stated that they believe that their recent entrée into the e-book market gives them the common law trademark for the term “space marine” in all formats.
Is there really such a thing as "common law trademark?" Did Games Workshop not actually register it as an official trademark as the USPTO?
 

Writelock

Tribal Wanderer
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 26, 2013
Messages
2,276
Reaction score
384
Location
Dark side of my mind.
Uggghhh .... and this is why I switched to independent miniature companies. GW has forgotten when they proudly published pics of tanks made out of deodorant bottles and other companies' model kits.
 

lilyWhite

Love and Excitement
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 13, 2012
Messages
5,357
Reaction score
766
Location
under a pile of mistletoe
In their last email to me, Games Workshop stated that they believe that their recent entrée into the e-book market gives them the common law trademark for the term “space marine” in all formats.

Really? So because my current story has "dryads" in it, if I get it published, no one else can ever write about dryads ever again?

Seriously, how freaking stupid can these idiots be?!
 

maxmordon

Penúltimo
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Messages
11,536
Reaction score
2,479
Location
Venezuela
Website
twitter.com
Well, considering how Super-Hero is owned jointly by DC and Marvel, I'm not surprised.
 

PeteMC

@PeteMC666
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 26, 2011
Messages
3,003
Reaction score
367
Location
UK
Website
talonwraith.wordpress.com
Based on that wikipedia article, they'll be going against Heinlen's estate... And the people who created the movie Avatar... Ew!

Heh, I wish them luck with that. Actually I don't, I hope they lose their Shirt (tm) on it, but you know what I mean.

There, I used the word "shirt" in online media, with a capital letter and everything, so it's now my common law trade mark. :)
 

RedWombat

Runs With Scissors
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 3, 2006
Messages
1,197
Reaction score
327
Location
North Carolina
Website
www.ursulavernon.com
This is just doubly infuriating because Hogarth is such a sweetheart. I mean, it'd be awful if they did it to ANYBODY, of course, but she so doesn't deserve to have to deal with this sort of bullying.

Scalzi and Popehat have both taken up the cry, though, so I'm really hoping they don't get away with this.
 

BigWords

Geekzilla
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 22, 2009
Messages
10,670
Reaction score
2,360
Location
inside the machine
They can claim all they want that they have been protecting the term, but - even without searching - I can think of dozens of instances of the use of "Space Marines" from the 90s and 00s. Anyways, it is about as generic a term as I can think of.
 

dpaterso

Also in our Discord and IRC chat channels
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
18,802
Reaction score
4,591
Location
Caledonia
Website
derekpaterson.net
I tell ya, it'll be a cold day in the Warp before I stop using space marines in my stories.

-Derek
 

shadowwalker

empty-nester!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 8, 2010
Messages
5,601
Reaction score
598
Location
SE Minnesota
Did Amazon even ask for proof of trademark or just decide to accept the Big Guy's word over the Little Guy's?
 

ULTRAGOTHA

Merovingian Superhero
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
2,467
Reaction score
313
They took The Big Guy's word.

Really? So because my current story has "dryads" in it, if I get it published, no one else can ever write about dryads ever again?

Seriously, how freaking stupid can these idiots be?!

It works for the Olympics. Try using *that* ancient term commercially.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.