Rebellion Sues Over Rebellion

[Two-A]

Ugh, this is Tim Langdell all over again.

The copyright laws need some serious revision. You can't just claim ownage of a part of the english language, or any language, period.

 

[Saika Renegade]

Unless they intend to start suing for control of a word, I don't think they're going to get very far; Apple tried to sue for exclusive use of the word 'pod' in trademark, but the problem is, that's still part of the English language. I confess I don't know copyright and trademark law in full, but I'm pretty sure that common dictionary words can't be trademarked this way under law because of their ubiquity. That's why Hasbro had to stick "Autobot" in front of Hound, Jazz, and Tracks to actually get anywhere with them; they would be considered too generic to hold on to otherwise.

 

[Dimitriov]

I fail to see how people becoming confused and thinking that your studio made an awesome game that it didn't constitutes damages.

Seriously, this is the name of their studio not another game. If two games have similar names I can kind of see the point. But this? This just sounds moronic.

 

[Apollo45]

So, if Rebellion (the studio) wins this, does that mean LucasArts can sue them for infringing on the trademark of their Star Wars: Rebellion game?

Edit: Assuming it has a trademark still active... Did a quick search and didn't see it, but quick search means I skimmed through the place and clicked on a couple links.

 

[Tanis]

I had to look up this company to know who they were.

O, look, they're the retards because the PSP version of BattleFront AND the "meh, it's a rental", Neverdead...

O, WAIT!
These are they folks that made ROUGE SOLIDER.
Wow...um...they're still in business?
Even HAZE was better then that PoS of a game.

 

[TheEndlessGrey]

How can a YouTube comment possibly be considered evidence for confusion among customers? At least half the comments on any YouTube video are so idiotic the only way I can deal with it is by assuming YouTube is the training grounds for trolls who aren't yet ready for the big leagues.

 

[chimeracreator]

The copyright laws need some serious revision. You can't just claim ownage of a part of the english language, or any language, period.

This has nothing to do with copyright law. A quick refresher: there are 3 major kinds of intellectual property law regarding public works (thus excluding trade secrets).

Patents: These protect functional works and discovers for a limited amount of time, but require that the work be disclosed to the public so it can be used elsewhere once the patent expires. These last 20 years in the US.

Trade Marks: These protect the marks and names used to identify distinct businesses and products to help consumers by avoiding confusion. A trade mark remains active as long as it is used, but it's scope of protection can vary widely depending on how well known the mark is and how unique it is. A trade mark is ALWAYS allowed to be used when showing a product as itself in the media. Trade marks cannot include anything functional.

Copyright: These protect creative works for a limited time that is far far too long and the Supreme Court has ruled can be extended and for new corporate works extends for over a century while works made by a person are protected for Life + 70 years. Copyright can never cover functional components of a work as such an invention is never protected by copyright. However a specific piece of code can be as it is considered a literary work. Thus a computer game, which is functional, is protected by copyright law.

However for generic games without a plot you could still legally recreate a game with the exact same mechanics because copyright can't protect these and original artwork as long as you coded it yourself and your code was inherently different from the original and created without you reverse engineering it.

So once again, the major issues with copyright law have nothing to do with this trademark issue. While it is clear that copyright law is all kinds of messed up right now, trademark law is still mostly sound as the Internet really hasn't done much to change the dynamics of trademarks. If anything it has made them work better as unique trademarks lend themselves Internet searches.

 

[Sis]

Rebellion should give The Escapist money for wasting their time writing an article about something so gobsmackingly stupid.

 

[Rayne870]

I love how one can actually sue a company for using a word that confuses stupid customers. Reminds me of those interviews with people standing in line for PS3s when they released and people were going to get the hot new game "Residence" (Resistance dammit!). Darwin must have gotten something wrong or overlooked the human stupidity factor.

captcha: "check your coat" I haven't worn a coat in years I don't even know where any of mine are....

 

[loc978]

If they win this one, I'd say Lucasfilm has a good chance of taking 'em both down over a certain galaxy-wide war in a certain world-famous property.

So yeah, fuck Rebellion Developments. Obvious patent trolls are obvious.

 

[Olrod]

Maybe that Studio shouldn't use a common word with a common meaning as their name.

 

[Neonit]

I just wait till some religion will try to prove they have patented "sins".

WTH IS WRONG WITH THOSE PEOPLE?! ARE WORDS PATENTED NOW?!

good god, can someone remind me WHY we have patents in first place? because I think this is getting out of the hand....

 

[Nimbus]

Roughly equivalent to Apple suing a company which sells apples. Completely stupid, and should be shot down immediately.

 

[Two-A]

Spoiler: snip

The copyright laws need some serious revision. You can't just claim ownage of a part of the english language, or any language, period.

This has nothing to do with copyright law. A quick refresher: there are 3 major kinds of intellectual property law regarding public works (thus excluding trade secrets).

Patents: These protect functional works and discovers for a limited amount of time, but require that the work be disclosed to the public so it can be used elsewhere once the patent expires. These last 20 years in the US.

Trade Marks: These protect the marks and names used to identify distinct businesses and products to help consumers by avoiding confusion. A trade mark remains active as long as it is used, but it's scope of protection can vary widely depending on how well known the mark is and how unique it is. A trade mark is ALWAYS allowed to be used when showing a product as itself in the media. Trade marks cannot include anything functional.

Copyright: These protect creative works for a limited time that is far far too long and the Supreme Court has ruled can be extended and for new corporate works extends for over a century while works made by a person are protected for Life + 70 years. Copyright can never cover functional components of a work as such an invention is never protected by copyright. However a specific piece of code can be as it is considered a literary work. Thus a computer game, which is functional, is protected by copyright law.

However for generic games without a plot you could still legally recreate a game with the exact same mechanics because copyright can't protect these and original artwork as long as you coded it yourself and your code was inherently different from the original and created without you reverse engineering it.

So once again, the major issues with copyright law have nothing to do with this trademark issue. While it is clear that copyright law is all kinds of messed up right now, trademark law is still mostly sound as the Internet really hasn't done much to change the dynamics of trademarks. If anything it has made them work better as unique trademarks lend themselves Internet searches.

Oh, thank you. I'm not really well versed in US laws.

I still think this lawsuit is pretty stupid, though.

 

[Signa]

If someone made a game called Valve, and the lawyers working with Gabe starting a legal proceeding, would the internets react the same??

Hmm, I wonder.

Depends. Is the game about shooting aliens in an underground lab, or is it a casual puzzler involving turning valves?

 

[Cobalt Lion]

This is what happens when Internet Trolls grow up and gt jobs as corporate lawyers.

 

[Something Amyss]

True, but because it has been on the books for long enough without being challenged (that I know of) it might need to go to court simply to prove that the mark is overly generic.

The thing is, the ones who are suing are the ones looking to protect their trademark. It may need to go to court to determine the status of the trademark (I'm fuzzy on this point), but what baffles me is the fact that it seems very likely the ones suing are the ones who stand to lose. Unless they're trying to force a settlement, I guess.

 

[chimeracreator]

The thing is, the ones who are suing are the ones looking to protect their trademark. It may need to go to court to determine the status of the trademark (I'm fuzzy on this point), but what baffles me is the fact that it seems very likely the ones suing are the ones who stand to lose. Unless they're trying to force a settlement, I guess.

Yep, odds are if this goes to court and plays itself out fully Rebellion Studios will end up losing which will weaken the strength of their trademark. So odds are they think they can get a settlement out of it, have a bad attorney or just have some sort of grudge.

Oh, thank you. I'm not really well versed in US laws.

I still think this lawsuit is pretty stupid, though.

Yep, it is a stupid lawsuit.