Paladin of Baha-who? |
Steamboat Willy has been argued as actually being in the public domain now due to technical problems with the original copyright registration, incidentally, but that's neither here nor there. If copyright terms aren't extended beyond the current length, it will enter public domain in 10 years, at which time you would be able to freely copy and share that film, make derivative works, and so forth. However, that would not mean that the trademark on Mickey Mouse had expired. As long as Disney keeps the Mickey Mouse 'brand' active, their trademark will never expire under current law, unless they get sloppy and fail to enforce the trademark, or if it becomes common usage.
Hasbro is keeping the D&D brand active, and even if they stop selling RPG books, they'll probably continue selling fiction, board games, etc. which will serve to keep the trademark going. The only licensing I can imagine Paizo doing is a license to be able to say that Pathfinder is compatible with Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition, rather than "the 3rd edition of the world's first fantasy roleplaying game" or whatever wording they use now. I can't imagine Paizo would put a whole lot of worth to that, but if Hasbro allowed them to license it for an amount Paizo considered fair, it might be worth doing.
Well, they might also license certain IP, like beholders, mind flayers, or other such creatures. But that would be on a case-by-case basis I'm sure.
LazarX |
Davick wrote:
----Third-- Mickey Mouse. He's supposed to be public domain now. Actually based on when Steamboat Willy came out Mickey Mouse is supposed to have become public domain several times over. Each time Disney has had the influence to lobby to get the IP rules changed. Essentially nothing is ever going that way again.
What you might be thinking of is the Copyright Extension Act which was signed into law by Bill Clinton. Without it, Superman would have become public domain at the end of this year.
Davick |
So it seems important to ask, "Dungeons and Dragons Auto Body Repair and Paint," or "D&D Auto Body Shop"? Because one would seem to violate trademark law while the other would be named after Dale and Don.
I think it was Derrick and his brother D something.
But the thing about trademarks is they work without formality, like copyright. So DnD is a trademark of dungeons and dragons by virtue of its use. But that doesn't allow them to stop Derrick from having his business.
Only legacy marks, Mickey Mouse is likely one, have that kind of power.
Vic Wertz Chief Technical Officer |
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Lots of misinformation about trademarks here. Trademarks, unlike copyrights, are *not* automatic; they must be registered. And when they're registered, they're registered for a particular goods and services ("G & S") category; other people (or the same people) can register the same mark for a different G&S.
So if you look up "D&D" at the US Patent and Trademark Office, you'll find over a dozen registrations by different companies, each with a different scope of use. Wizards of the Coast does indeed have an active registration for the term (reg. no. 1779033) for "fantasy role-playing games and board games, and game accessories; namely, booklets containing role-playing game scenarios, and computer game programs."
Matt Thomason |
Lots of misinformation about trademarks here. Trademarks, unlike copyrights, are *not* automatic; they must be registered. And when they're registered, they're registered for a particular goods and services ("G & S") category; other people (or the same people) can register the same mark for a different G&S.
Actually, that differs across international law. There's no need to register a trademark in the UK, just you using it for a business purpose before anyone else for long enough for it to be seen as established is sufficient to claim it as your trademark.
Of course, defending an unregistered trademark is a lot more difficult than with a registered one :)
Hitdice |
Lots of misinformation about trademarks here. Trademarks, unlike copyrights, are *not* automatic; they must be registered. And when they're registered, they're registered for a particular goods and services ("G & S") category; other people (or the same people) can register the same mark for a different G&S.
So if you look up "D&D" at the US Patent and Trademark Office, you'll find over a dozen registrations by different companies, each with a different scope of use. Wizards of the Coast does indeed have an active registration for the term (reg. no. 1779033) for "fantasy role-playing games and board games, and game accessories; namely, booklets containing role-playing game scenarios, and computer game programs."
Oh wow, I guess all those guys who made me sign non-disclosure agreements were pretty smart to hire a IP lawyers!
. . .
Sorry, I can't legally go into any more detail than that.
Davick |
Lots of misinformation about trademarks here. Trademarks, unlike copyrights, are *not* automatic; they must be registered. And when they're registered, they're registered for a particular goods and services ("G & S") category; other people (or the same people) can register the same mark for a different G&S.
So if you look up "D&D" at the US Patent and Trademark Office, you'll find over a dozen registrations by different companies, each with a different scope of use. Wizards of the Coast does indeed have an active registration for the term (reg. no. 1779033) for "fantasy role-playing games and board games, and game accessories; namely, booklets containing role-playing game scenarios, and computer game programs."
No. Like copyright, when a trademark is created it has associated rights with it. Like copyright, registration is technically not necessary but is exceedingly helpful. Like copyright, this is most important when it comes to showing who was there first. This is actually more important for trademarks than copyright, because trademarks are regional and only apply in areas in which they are used.
If DnD only sold rpg s in Montana I could sell DnD games in Florida. But if WotC has registered their trademark nationally, I can't do that. But even without registering, if I wanted to sell my games in Montana I would have to either change the name or pay/buy them. And it wouldnt matter if I had registered my trademark in Florida. If however, I managed to register in Montana before them, they would have to prove they had been using the name first. Registration puts the burden of proof on the unregistered, but the rights rightfully belong to the originator, otherwise they couldn't argue a case at all. But they can.
This is why TM exists.
Vic Wertz Chief Technical Officer |
Davick |
I stand corrected about registration being required. That was a silly mistake on my part, and I'm not sure what I was thinking. I've ™d many a brand!
It can be confusing because without registration you're dealing with common law.
There are international treaties that deal with trademark and help streamline it globally, but nothing like the Berne Convention for copyright.
Purple Dragon Knight |
Purple Dragon Knight,
Pathfinder Online is still in development. The easiest way to keep up with it is to check their blog.
thank you; i still cannot find an estimated time of release... does anyone know, ballpark, if we're like months away, 2 years away, 5 years or 10 years away?
Edit: skimming through this blog, this game strikes me as uber-complicated... wow...Vic Wertz Chief Technical Officer |
The specific blog you seek is this one. (It gives dates for Early Enrollment, Open Enrollment, and other milestones towards the bottom in a section labeled "The Timeline," but you'll want to at least skim the rest of the blog so that you understand what Early Enrollment and Open Enrollment *mean*.
As for complexity, a lot of the blogs cover things that are really deep under the hood. To take just one example, the fact that you can strip mine an outpost you've held for at least 10 minutes is a fact that will be completely irrelevant to a lot of players... but it'll be *incredibly* important to a small number of players. It's a lot like the Pathfinder RPG in that way—if you're a fighter, you don't need to worry about the fact that a wizard needs to make a check and pay a particular amount of gold in order to copy a spell into his spellbook.
I'd say so long as you can find something interesting in every second or third blog, you might want to try the game when it comes out.
Vic Wertz Chief Technical Officer |
Thanks Vic. This is great. Would love to try the game - will there be a single player / offline mode?
Nope—the main goal of Pathfinder Online is maximizing meaningful human interaction. (That doesn't rule out *other* Pathfinder electronic games that offer single-player experiences... but it's not in the plan for this one.)
SirUrza |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Purple Dragon Knight wrote:Thanks Vic. This is great. Would love to try the game - will there be a single player / offline mode?Nope—the main goal of Pathfinder Online is maximizing meaningful human interaction. (That doesn't rule out *other* Pathfinder electronic games that offer single-player experiences... but it's not in the plan for this one.)
I know I would enjoy a strong story driven experience. Baldur's Gate and Torment are two of my favorite games of all time.
Werthead |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"It’s going to make us look at Eternity as a brand. What else can we do with it? I want to hook up with the Pathfinder guys and see about doing a Pathfinder Eternity world book thing. It sounds a little weird, but… A card game. A board game. I’ve already been chatting with Cryptozoic Entertainment. We have nothing going on specifically, but they have a lot of experience in board games and card games. That’s what’s going to be transformative."
Orthos |
Quote:"It’s going to make us look at Eternity as a brand. What else can we do with it? I want to hook up with the Pathfinder guys and see about doing a Pathfinder Eternity world book thing. It sounds a little weird, but… A card game. A board game. I’ve already been chatting with Cryptozoic Entertainment. We have nothing going on specifically, but they have a lot of experience in board games and card games. That’s what’s going to be transformative."
Danke
The Fourth Horseman |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Purple Dragon Knight wrote:Thanks Vic. This is great. Would love to try the game - will there be a single player / offline mode?Nope—the main goal of Pathfinder Online is maximizing meaningful human interaction. (That doesn't rule out *other* Pathfinder electronic games that offer single-player experiences... but it's not in the plan for this one.)
I really hope that you guys can build and make a Pathfinder single player game with all the classes and feats and character options. A single player game built entirely on the actual pathfinder RPG rules.
Gorbacz |
Vic Wertz wrote:I really hope that you guys can build and make a Pathfinder single player game with all the classes and feats and character options. A single player game built entirely on the actual pathfinder RPG rules.Purple Dragon Knight wrote:Thanks Vic. This is great. Would love to try the game - will there be a single player / offline mode?Nope—the main goal of Pathfinder Online is maximizing meaningful human interaction. (That doesn't rule out *other* Pathfinder electronic games that offer single-player experiences... but it's not in the plan for this one.)
That will likely never happen, due to complications with using OGL in a video game.