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From: matt@oddjob.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st,rec.games.empire
Subject: Re: Empire
Message-ID: <14055@oddjob.UChicago.EDU>
Date: Fri, 30-Oct-87 10:39:56 EST
Article-I.D.: oddjob.14055
Posted: Fri Oct 30 10:39:56 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 31-Oct-87 20:00:28 EST
References: <2731@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> <1030@saturn.ucsc.edu>
Organization: If you worked here you'd go home by now
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Xref: utgpu comp.sys.atari.st:5632 rec.games.empire:225

) >In article <1401@dataio.Data-IO.COM> (Walter Bright) writes:
) >) Be careful to rewrite it from scratch, also don't use the name Empire.

) In article <14051@oddjob.UChicago.EDU> matt@oddjob.UChicago.EDU  writes:
) >You cannot forbid anyone to use the name "Empire" for any program.

In article <32410@sun.uucp> cmcmanis@sun.UUCP (Chuck McManis) writes:
) Sure you can, the same way GM keeps you from building a car and calling
) it a Cadillac. It's called Trademark law.

I thought about this before I sent my message and I sent it anyway.
Establishing a trademark does not prevent anyone from using the name.
It only helps you win the battle if someone *does* use it.  Winning
may include forcing the other person to stop using the name.

But I don't think that's very relevant here, because Walter or his
distributors would have a *very* tough time establishing a claim to
trademark rights on the name "empire" for a computer game, given the
plethora of games already existing with that name.

Furthermore, no word which describes the product may be given
trademark status.  For example, you can not trademark the word "fast"
for a computer or the word "delicious" for a food or drink.  The word
"empire" could well be considered to fall into this category.

Walter, do you think that you or your distributor or licensee has
trademark rights to the word "empire"?  If so, why?
________________________________________________________
Matt	     University		matt@oddjob.uchicago.edu
Crawford     of Chicago     {astrovax,ihnp4}!oddjob!matt
I can't understand it ... induction has always worked before!