*Sigh* Sometimes I think my upcoming game Jumping stick-man on a doodle-edge will never see the light of day...
Stick Sports Ltd's only game is free with IAP, so it'll cost nothing to let your feeling known where it will hurt them most.
Stick Sports' lawyers Sheridans explains App Store 'Stick' trademark infringements http://www.pocketgamer.biz/r/PG.Biz/Stick+Cricket/news.asp?c=27222
This may be an unpopular view, but I don't see why people are complaining. They have the trademark for the word 'stick' related to computer software. It's a valid trademark, because it's not a common association - at least, I wasn't aware of any software called Stick <whatever> prior to this. They are obligated by law to defend their trademark, or it becomes invalid. How many of you who named your game 'Stick xxxx' did it in isolation, without knowing anything about the existing brand? Those of you in that category, bad luck - but you should change your name as someone else got there first. Those of you that named your game that way to capitalize off the success of the existing trend should know better. This isn't the wild west - there are laws. How would you feel if the shoe was on the other foot and it was happening to you? You wouldn't care? Really? Even if it was costing you money and reputation due to a bunch of poor imitations? The point is, they have a valid trademark relating to Stick XXXX where XXXX is the name of a piece of software. Unless it can be shown that there is significant commercial usage of Stick XXXX by someone else prior to the trademark being granted, you're all violating the trademark, intentionally or otherwise. Andrew
That's nonsense, sorry. For as long as I've been on the internet "Stick" has had a direct relation to "stickmen" when it comes to digital comics, cartoons and games. I'm sure most people do not think of "Stick Sports" when they see a stick figure game called "Stick <blank>". And I suppose it's just pure coincidence that 99% of the games that are "benefiting from the Stick Sports brand" (lol) happen to also feature stick figures. (many of which were created before 2006, the year Stick Sports has as their start date) http://stickdeath.com/ http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/search/title/stick http://appshopper.com/search/?cat=1&platform=all&device=all&sort=rel&dir=asc&search=stick I guess they got some court cases to fight.
If any of those are prior to 2007 when the TM was granted, then yep, they do. However, trademark law requires that a trademark owner go after an infringer when they are made aware of the infringement. And even then, the typical strategy is to go for the weakest infringer first as that then sets precedent for tackling the stronger infringers. Andrew
True, but my point is the lawyer's case is that people are trying to benefit from the "Stick Sports" branding when naming their game "Stick <blank>" and I'm saying, in most cases, that is simply not true. There is an entire subculture of Flash animations and games (that are making their way to mobile) that feature badly drawn stick figures called "Stick <blank>" and have absolutely nothing to do with Stick Sports or their branding.
Well, from a purely legal point of view: I.e. there is a valid trademark and people are infringing it, he's right. The validity of the trademark is another matter, and I suspect that would be the attack vector for the defense. In most cases, it's just going to be easier to change the name. Andrew
Yeah, most will change the name the minute they get served with any kind of papers or notice. That's what they are counting on, unfortunately. :\
I agree with you. I wouldn't choose a common word like STICK for a TM - it's too easy to attack. I don't think it should have been granted in the first place. However, given that it *has* been granted, they are doing the right thing by defending it. And legally, they have no choice. If we lived in a perfect world where people didn't try piggy-backing off others success, it wouldn't be necessary, but we don't. For example, there's a company developing iPhone games that named themselves Angry Doodle LLC... I mean what the hell? It's sleazy and it's dishonest. <preach mode="on">Developers should believe their games are good enough on their own merits, not the stolen perceived merits of others. If not, they shouldn't bother polluting the App Store.</preach> Not that my game is a shining example of a success, but if it was and someone decided to call their game Castles & Creatures (instead of Creatures & Castles) I'd be calling my lawyer too. Closer to home - how would you feel if boom boats became a roaring success, and then there were a succession of boom truck, boom dinghy, boom car etc. games trying to piggy-back? Andrew
Question? When you only earn the right for 1 country, can you really ask other games to be renamed on the other stores? JC
Gmail was allowed to be called Gmail everywhere except the UK, where it was Googlemail because of a trade mark infringement. (this has been resolved and it is now Gmail in the UK).
So, it means Google was able to use the word GMail outside the UK. So, it might also means that everyone might be able to use the title "Stick SportyThingy" outside of the U.K. Not that I care really, I'm just wondering here JC
Just read the Pocket Gamer article. Apparently developers will be OK if they change the name to Stickman, as that is descriptive. Trademarks cannot be descriptive. I think the word Stick is pretty close to the mark as well, but I'm no lawyer.
no.. apparently its only for the uk.. if thats true , go into itc and add a localizated entry for the UK and change the displayed name to something else uk only... that should be enough since most lawyers just check the appstore entires.. then with an update localize your name in the uk only and be done with it.. you might want to remove/edit screenshots for the uk
The trademark holder has the option of using the Madrid Protocol to extend their protection to other countries in the agreement where there is not already a similar trademark. The extended protection is usually backdated to the intiial trademark. Andrew
