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

mcahogarth.org

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

#21

Post by njharman »

dkhenry wrote: post #12
bunderbunder wrote: post #8

According to Wikipedia[1], the first use of the term 'space marine' in literature was the 1932 short story Captain Brink of the Space Marines by Bob Olsen. That's a full 43 years before Games Workshop was founded, and 55 years before Warhammer 40K was introduced. And the prior usage of the term and concept kept coming strong throughout the intervening half-century. 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_marine

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.

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

#22

Post by ominous_prime »

dkhenry wrote: post #12
bunderbunder wrote: post #8

According to Wikipedia[1], the first use of the term 'space marine' in literature was the 1932 short story Captain Brink of the Space Marines by Bob Olsen. That's a full 43 years before Games Workshop was founded, and 55 years before Warhammer 40K was introduced. And the prior usage of the term and concept kept coming strong throughout the intervening half-century. 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_marine

So why is this not an open and shut case ?

It may be, but an open and shut case still costs 10's of thousands of dollars, and that's if it doesn't go to court.

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

#23

Post by hipsters_unite »

a2tech wrote: post #2

As a huge science fiction nerd and Games Workshop customer, this feels like rank betrayal. I expect this kind of legal bullying from big companies, but from a company that makes minifigs and other gaming accessories I expect better behavior.

Ditto. Still have fond memories of GW from my pre-teens. That they'd do this really offends my adult (sci-fi reading) self.

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

#25

Post by waterlesscloud »

drakeandrews wrote: post #14

I knew this was going to happen some day. Games Workshop is essentially two separate companies, the raving legal department/copyright trolls (A couple of years ago they regularly put full page colour adverts in all the British wargaming magazines warning that they would enforce their IP with the full power afforded to them by the law, it was generally considered a bad joke by most.) and the (for a lack of a better te…

Are there alternate rulesets that happen to be playable with the same minis? Could there legally be such things?

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

#26

Post by bencollier49 »

styluss wrote: post #24

They also have a trademark on Eldar, a term for a race of Elves in Lord of the Rings.

I rather hope that this will be one of those situations where overstepping the mark leads to their being pulled up on all of their unreasonable trademarks and copyright assertions.

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

#27

Post by drakeandrews »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #25
drakeandrews wrote: post #14

I knew this was going to happen some day. Games Workshop is essentially two separate companies, the raving legal department/copyright trolls (A couple of years ago they regularly put full page colour adverts in all the British wargaming magazines warning that they would enforce their IP with the full power afforded to them by the law, it was generally considered a bad joke by most.) and the (for a lack of a better te…

Are there alternate rulesets that happen to be playable with the same minis? Could there legally be such things?

I know several of the staff at GWHQ in Nottingham had what was basically their own separate ruleset cobbled together from what they considered the best parts of the games over the prior 25 years. Most clubs had enough house rules that they were basically playing separate games. Although with the current player-unfriendly stance any ruleset distributed as "for GW figures" would find its self on the wrong side of a legal team.

And then a lot of players have very, very irrational attitudes towards proxy figures. I couldn't turn up with a Warmachine army sheet and my Imperial Guard army and play, or vice versa. In fact, that'd get you kicked out of a lot of hobby shops.

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

#28

Post by nroach »

The G&S description for their mark is board games, parlor games, war games, hobby games, toy models and miniatures of buildings, scenery, figures, automobiles, vehicles, planes, trains and card games and paint, sold therewith.

The mark has been registered for more than five years so it is "incontestable"(with caveats). But, even if the registration is valid, they have an issue with the class and g&s for their mark in terms of enforcing it against your goods and services.

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

#30

Post by cube13 »

nroach wrote: post #28

The G&S description for their mark is board games, parlor games, war games, hobby games, toy models and miniatures of buildings, scenery, figures, automobiles, vehicles, planes, trains and card games and paint, sold therewith. The mark has been registered for more than five years so it is "incontestable"(with caveats). But, even if the registration is valid, they have an issue with the class and g&s for their mark in…

GW has the printed material trademark in Europe. They complained to Amazon UK, which caused Amazon to remove it from everything.

http://mcahogarth.org/?p=9999

This strikes me as more of an issue with Amazon than anything else, because they should have only removed the book from the markets where it the complaint was raised, instead of everywhere.

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