Everquest 2 Fan Site Harassed By Trademark Claim

IanDavis

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Aug 18, 2012
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Everquest 2 Fan Site Harassed By Trademark Claim



Legal threats demand EQ2Wire remove a character profile due to the name "Malshandir".

Believe it or not, some MMO players craft plausible names for their characters. For every few "XXghaostfaacekillrrXX" leaping around Goldshire, there's a player with a sensible name trying to fit in. However, there are only so many fantasy-sounding names to claim before they begin to overlap. Some poor, unassuming Everquest 2 player decided that "Malshandir" would be a cool name for a Dark Elf Dirge. Said player was indexed by the fansite EQ2Wire, which allows players to create public profiles for their characters using EQ2's rather ample Data Feed API. However, that unassuming character name caused EQ2Wire to aggro legal threats from a German firm who claim that it violates their trademark. Not only does it seem like a questionable application of trademark law, but the character was made a full year before the trademark was filed.

Feldon, EQ2Wire's proprietor, awoke one morning to receive a terse email from Freyer Consulting, who claimed that [a href=http://u.eq2wire.com/soe/character_detail/446677832604]this profile[/a] was an improper use of their trademark on the word "Malshandir". They demanded the removal of the profile within six hours, or risk further legal action.

After doing some digging around, Feldon discovered that the trademark was filed in Europe, not in the United States (where EQ2Wire's based). Apparently, Malshandir Ltd. was a [a href=https://www.duedil.com/company/06623554/malshandir-ltd]British company[/a] that dissolved in 2010 and whose website lays fallow. Not only that, but Malshandir the EQ2 character was created in 2008, over a year before the British firm filed the trademark.

Feldon decided to call Freyer out on his bluff, claiming that "a series of e-mails sent from a ISP address is insufficient to warrant blocking search results from a publicly accessible API. It also sets a dangerous precedent for other websites that merely index data from a third party source." Thus, [a href=http://u.eq2wire.com/soe/character_detail/446677832604]Malshandir's profile[/a] remains online for all to see.

Source: [a href=http://eq2wire.com/2013/07/24/character-blocked-from-eq2u-due-to-trademark-claim/]EQ2Wire[/a]

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kajinking

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Aug 12, 2009
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I really hope this is just a bot dropping random legal threats and that no one is actually this dumb.
 

IanDavis

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Aug 18, 2012
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Hate to say it, but it seems there's a warm body behind this. You can read the entire email back and forth on EQ2Wire. Freyer even pops up in the comments under a fake name. It's pretty funny.
 

dumbseizure

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Mar 15, 2009
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I seriously hope this is a joke or a bot.

Because if it is serious I don't think that "lawyer" understands how trademark works...
 

KeyMaster45

Gone Gonzo
Jun 16, 2008
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Man the guy is such a fail legal troll. The majority of his e-mails to the site owner are filled with broken english worthy of google translate, and on at least one occasion he straight up uses "coz" instead of "because". That's not even taking into account the myriad of forum troll level insults he slings at the site owner.

If I ran that website I'd just relegate the prick to my spam box and forget he exists.
 

Screamarie

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Mar 16, 2008
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *continues laughing for a few thousand years.* This shit is hilarious. I went to EQ2Wire and read these emails and...it's gold. Everyone GO to the website! Go and read! It's like bad improv! In fact it kind of IS bad improv because Freyer is making up all his legal mumbo-jumbo on the spot.

Also, read the comments! Like IanDavis said Freyer makes a fake account for himself and PRETENDS TO BE A RUSSIAN LAW TEACHER! It's under the name Jo, go look for yourself! Hehehe....I have to tell everyone about this...
 

FoolKiller

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Feb 8, 2008
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Can I trademark my name so that no one else can ever have my name in real life again? No. Really?


Then they can all fuck off.
 

karma9308

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Jan 26, 2013
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Screamarie said:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *continues laughing for a few thousand years.* This shit is hilarious. I went to EQ2Wire and read these emails and...it's gold. Everyone GO to the website! Go and read! It's like bad improv! In fact it kind of IS bad improv because Freyer is making up all his legal mumbo-jumbo on the spot.

Also, read the comments! Like IanDavis said Freyer makes a fake account for himself and PRETENDS TO BE A RUSSIAN LAW TEACHER! It's under the name Jo, go look for yourself! Hehehe....I have to tell everyone about this...
People really need to do this. Also, people should check out
http://www.malshandir.us/
DISCLAMIER: Malshandir.us is not affiliated with -- nor intended to be confused with -- any other entity using the name Malshandir, whether it be elven characters in Everquest 2, already existing brutal grindcore bands, energy drinks manufactured in North Korea, or overly litigous European douchebags. In other words, even a moron in a hurry could not possibly think this domain is infringing on anyone's trademark.
Sometimes I love the internet.
 

Bostur

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Mar 14, 2011
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karma9308 said:
Also, people should check out
http://www.malshandir.us/
DISCLAMIER: Malshandir.us is not affiliated with -- nor intended to be confused with -- any other entity using the name Malshandir, whether it be elven characters in Everquest 2, already existing brutal grindcore bands, energy drinks manufactured in North Korea, or overly litigous European douchebags. In other words, even a moron in a hurry could not possibly think this domain is infringing on anyone's trademark.
Sometimes I love the internet.
Thanks for that link, that is pure gold.

I'm relieved that Feldon didn't cave in to that scammer. We don't need more legal phoney behaviour on the internet. It's bad enough that the big corps are trolling, we don't need every Tom, Dick and Harry doing it as well.

Unfounded legal threats should be treated as such, by ignoring them. Doesn't matter if it comes from Sony, Mithrandir or Napoleon Bonaparte.
 

lacktheknack

Je suis joined jewels.
Jan 19, 2009
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THE TWIST: Malshandir chose the character name, and then started the company in Britain in an elaborate attempt to get more profile views!

And because of the Streisand Effect, it totally worked.
 

Eclectic Dreck

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Sep 3, 2008
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From the ancient days of quake through Tribes and a bit beyond I went by the name SynTek. While possibly a bit obscure now, that name later used (years later in fact) by Ritual Entertainment's Sin as the name for the notable evil corporation of the moment.

I was never sued.
 

Roander

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Dec 27, 2009
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IanDavis said:
Everquest 2 Fan Site Harassed By Trademark Claim


After doing some digging around, Feldon discovered that the trademark was filed in Europe, not in the United States (where EQ2Wire's based). Apparently, Malshandir Ltd. was a [a href=https://www.duedil.com/company/06623554/malshandir-ltd]British company[/a] that dissolved in 2010 and whose website lays fallow. Not only that, but Malshandir the EQ2 character was created in 2008, over a year before the British firm filed the trademark.


Source: [a href=http://eq2wire.com/2013/07/24/character-blocked-from-eq2u-due-to-trademark-claim/]EQ2Wire[/a]

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Even if none of this were true the lawsuit would still be ridiculous. It's a posting of a character profile from a game. It's not a company or even a product and no one with any intelligence is likely to think it's representing a company or product. This would be like if I named a cat Kellogg and decided to post some pictures of Kellogg in stupid hats on the internet, then got sued by the Kellogg company. If anyone would have a right to sue me it would be the cat.
 

Charli

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Nov 23, 2008
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Pft, what's the betting this is someone sore who Malshandir pissed off in game.

Seems plausible. Anyway this is a joke of the highest order... Or I'm about to be sued by Namco for a name in WoW...
>_>
 

Zeckt

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Nov 10, 2010
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So this guy awoke to find himself assaulted by a massive hot air balloon booming loudly, and promptly popped it with a sewing needle.
 

MetallicaRulez0

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Aug 27, 2008
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This is some dumb third-rate business fishing for idiots. He's butthurt that this EQ2 character shows up first in a google search for his company, and thus waves idle threats at some poor guy running a fansite. Sad, really.
 

Vladislav Arkhipov

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Jul 29, 2013
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Screamarie said:
Also, read the comments! Like IanDavis said Freyer makes a fake account for himself and PRETENDS TO BE A RUSSIAN LAW TEACHER! It's under the name Jo, go look for yourself! Hehehe....I have to tell everyone about this...
I understand that I risk greatly by providing something which trolls may consider as food, but I do not see much trolls here at The Escapist. Freyer did not seem to pretend to be a Russian law teacher, I am the real one (teacher) instead.

Being a Russian lawyer interested in virtual worlds, playing EQ2 and appreciating EQ2Wire, I left a comment with a kind of informal opinion on that ungrounded legal threat. One does not have to be a German or American to see the fallacies of that particular claim, but I got attacked.

Something which I really laughed at: if you check the conversation, Jo (presumably, Freyer) warned me to be careful with legal opinions, because my comment, written from Russia at an American website, could be interpreted as a free legal advice under the German law, and I do not have a license to practice in Germany (!).