i'd hate to think all long haired white guys with a beard automatically are considered to be look a likes

Originally Posted by Snowflake

i'd hate to think all long haired white guys with a beard automatically are considered to be look a likes

RTM REPLY - considering his recent "litigation warpath", plus his track record (suing that cartoon representation) it would not surprise me if he were to launch suit. Then again, he never sued the makers of "South Park" for their "alleged" parody of KoK.

Prior legal rulings however exist as Lindsay Lohan's money-grubbing attempt to sue the maker of the GTA franchise failed miserably. Her "claim" was ludicrous, that her so-called "trademark" peace-sign...something until that lawsuit was launched you never saw her do...coupled with "the look" was a direct representation of her thus she sued for "damages" and the lawsuit was ultimately thrown out of court.

The king's name is actually BaronMan too.... BaronMan, BM, definitely not a coincidence there.

And I'd like to think the "How low can you go" is also related. He's shown recently that he's willing to go pretty damn low!

fair enough, i've seen some ridiculous lawsuits

i remember reading trump tried to trademark "you're fired". think thats stupid? whats even stuipder is the reason he was denied. someone else trade marked "you're hired" and so his "you're fired" trademark would infridge on the "you're hired" trademark

Originally Posted by Snowflake

fair enough, i've seen some ridiculous lawsuits

i remember reading trump tried to trademark "you're fired". think thats stupid? whats even stuipder is the reason he was denied. someone else trade marked "you're hired" and so his "you're fired" trademark would infridge on the "you're hired" trademark

RTM REPLY - well over a decade ago my company (an ad agency) invited the parent company's legal expert on copyright infringement, intellectual property rights and trademarking to come and explain to us the differences and nuances of these concepts.

At the time I told Walter that his plans to copyright the terms "video game championship", "video game world championship" and a few other very generic terms could not be copyrighted. The same applies to common phrases such as "That's Hot" (no, Paris Hilton could not copyright that though she tried) nor can "You're hired" (or fired) be copyrighted as these combinations are far too common and generic.

Billy, for example, cannot copyright "Player of the Century" (forget the fact that "someone" we know would dispute that)...it's too generic. Even "Video Game Player of the Century" could not be copyrighted...that's not unlike someone trying to copyright "Greatest of All Time" (i.e. "G.O.A.T.")...far too generic.

He cannot copyright his "look" either "mullet, beard, suit and American flag tie. It's not a copyrighted character's unique costume such as "Superman's" costume.

Nor can he copyright someone standing there with a thumbs-up...that would be as dumb as trying to copyright the image of yourself waving hello.

Just about the only video game-related thing that he stands a chance at trademarking would be his phrase about "Work is for people who don't play video games". That is unique enough and long-standing enough to win trademark approval as it has been in use for well over a decade if not two. Now that I come to think of it, I'm surprised that he did NOT yet trademark that phrase (he didn't otherwise we would see the superscript of "TM" anytime that phrase appeared on one of his posters.

On a somewhat related note, over a decade ago several people including myself advised Brian Kuh to trademark his catch-phrase "There's a Donkey Kong kill screen coming up, if anyone is interested" (as well as the shorter subset of "There's a Donkey Kong kill screen coming up" just to cover the bases.

He could have made a killing on it personally post-KoK, booking himself to appear at special events or a surprise visit to the office in front of your fellow co-workers, or at any other number of possible venues and opportunities.

Can you picture some deep-pocketed KoK fan from the UK or the US flying Kuh out all-expenses-paid so he can pay a visit to either Buckingham Palace or The White House to join a tour group and then at a most critical moment yelling out his catch-phrase ? Worth the price of admission alone, as the expression goes :)

“You’re hired” can’t be copyrighted but can be and is trademarked

the difference being you can write a book and have a character say “you’re hired” and owe the trademark owner noting since it’s not copyrighted. However you could name you’re company “you’re hired” or you’re product “you’re hired”

trademarks can be common two words but also are only owned in far more limited senses than copyrighted

regardless, this is semantics end result is I think we both agree on the foolishness of any such lawsuit

Originally Posted by Snowflake

“You’re hired” can’t be copyrighted but can be and is trademarked

the difference being you can write a book and have a character say “you’re hired” and owe the trademark owner noting since it’s not copyrighted. However you could name you’re company “you’re hired” or you’re product “you’re hired”

trademarks can be common two words but also are only owned in far more limited senses than copyrighted

regardless, this is semantics end result is I think we both agree on the foolishness of any such lawsuit

You can get official permission from the author or patent owner, but this does not apply to classic stories and expired patents.

thanks for the advice, this is very good