In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines • Hacker News Board

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#91

Post by danielweber » Wed, Feb 06, 2013, 8:51 PM UTC

msandford wrote: post #36

The really unfortunate part of the situation is that they are generally required to defend their trademark or else it goes away. Even when they know something is "fair use" or whatever. "Unlike patents and copyrights, which in theory are granted for one-off fixed terms, trademarks remain valid as long as the owner actively uses and defends them and maintains their registrations with the competent authorities. This of…

They are not required to sue every person to defend their trade mark. They could simply ask Hogarth to enter a license agreement.

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#92

Post by illuminate » Wed, Feb 06, 2013, 8:51 PM UTC

redthrowaway wrote: post #80

illuminate wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Legal wrangling aside, I don't see a problem with a lack of "innovation", the same WH40K I played as a kid would still be fun today, however it is certainly interesting to see how WoTC has attempted to innovate to sell new products. The main difference, of course, is that WH40K is wargaming min-maxy and specific troop-based versus D&D allowing a great deal of flexibility in the rules and creative content.

>it is certainly interesting to see how WoTC has attempted to innovate to sell new products. GW has no affiliation with WotC. Are you thinking of TSR, the makers of DnD?

I'm observing the difference between one approach to RPGs and another. WoTC is the current maker of D&D. Granted, they're competing more against World of Warcraft than other pen & papers these days, but it's still very interesting to see how they've tried to change their model. GW still seems very reliant on pewter miniatures for survival, which will not last as something like this http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/formlabs/form-1-an-affor... gets down to the $500 + cost of resin price level.

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#93

Post by illuminate » Wed, Feb 06, 2013, 8:53 PM UTC

eliasmacpherson wrote: post #77

illuminate wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"the homemade pieces are accepted and encouraged" It's not like they can do much about cardboard cut-outs and stand-ins.

or even these - the proud owner states they've been used in actual tournaments with permission[0]: https://twitpic.com/show/iphone/bcbymh https://twitpic.com/show/iphone/bcbyvf [0] http://warhammer.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=108484

Thanks, those are gorgeous one-offs!

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#94

Post by vacri » Wed, Feb 06, 2013, 8:57 PM UTC

njharman wrote: post #21

dkhenry wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So why is this not an open and shut case ?

Because lack of "prior art" is not a requirement for trademark, nor is uniqueness. "Coke" has other meanings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke_(fuel) and yet is still trademarked.

"Coke" has other meanings in a different industry. "Space Marine" has prior art in the same industry.

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#95

Post by fnordfnordfnord » Wed, Feb 06, 2013, 8:58 PM UTC

njharman wrote: post #21

dkhenry wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So why is this not an open and shut case ?

Because lack of "prior art" is not a requirement for trademark, nor is uniqueness. "Coke" has other meanings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke_(fuel) and yet is still trademarked.

But can the Coca Cola Company enforce its "Coke" trade mark against purveyors of fossil fuel derived coke products? It's silly to think that Coca Cola would try; and nothing at all like GW trying to bogart parts of the common sci-fi vernacular.

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#96

Post by coldarchon » Wed, Feb 06, 2013, 9:05 PM UTC

In case you didn't know, THQ held rights for the Warhammer 40K franchise to produce computer games, which was sold recently because of bankruptcy. The new owner surely will see his new investment is safe and expects all rights defended.

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#97

Post by guard-of-terra » Wed, Feb 06, 2013, 9:10 PM UTC

You should not be able to take down a book, a song or an album, a drawing over intellectual property.

Once it's a piece of art it should be immune to all and every trademark or copyright (if, of course, the art in question is not a strict copy of another copyrighted piece of art).

That's the only way.

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#98

Post by jzilla » Wed, Feb 06, 2013, 9:12 PM UTC

Argorak wrote: post #90

Legally, where does that leave StarCraft, especially the soon to be released Heart of the Swarm (all have units called Space Marines)? If GW don't (and never did) enforce their trademark against Blizzard, do they have any say against a book author that wants to push the topic in front of a court? AFAIK, Blizzard didn't license the term.

It's pretty funny, Warcraft and Starcraft are both blatant ripoffs of GW's Warhammer and WH40k. I even recall reading somewhere the original Warcraft RTS was to be an officially licensed Warhammer game. But gee whiz, I wonder why we don't see legal action brought against Blizzard?

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#99

Post by masklinn » Wed, Feb 06, 2013, 9:14 PM UTC

tristanperry wrote: post #84

This is unfortunate but not unexpected. I used to run a fairly large 40K website (Tau Online, now defunct). I'd regularly receive letters and e-mails from the Games Workshop legal team. I remember one time, someone had made a simple post on our forums saying they were thinking of selling a short story they'd written based around the 40K World. He hadn't named the story. It wasn't for sale. He was just thinking out lo…

At least Warhammer 40K is their actual product. As comments in TFA and here indicate the expression has been in scifi since 1932: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_marine

Re: In the future, all space marines will be Warhammer 40K space marines

#100

Post by wisty » Wed, Feb 06, 2013, 9:20 PM UTC

Argorak wrote: post #90

Legally, where does that leave StarCraft, especially the soon to be released Heart of the Swarm (all have units called Space Marines)? If GW don't (and never did) enforce their trademark against Blizzard, do they have any say against a book author that wants to push the topic in front of a court? AFAIK, Blizzard didn't license the term.

Blizzard was obviously "parodying" the Colonial Marines from Aliens. If you click on them enough, they'll even quote Aliens (as will the Dropship). A little bit of comedy makes almost everything legal (in the US).