The key thing to remember when you're dealing with trademarks is that the "content" of the mark is almost totally irrelevant.
All that matters is context. When a trademark is "registered", the government basically is awarding a monopoly in certain contexts for the use of a certain identifier (the trademark) to a company or individual for a good or service. The government does that because it recognizes that consumers benefit when they are given some measure of surity that a good really is the good they intend to purchase, rather than a potentially inferior good being marketed in a way that might have mislead them into making a mistaken purchase. The trademark laws (unlike the copyright laws) are not intended to reward producers - they are intended to protect consumers. Trademark litigation therefore is a situation where the trademark holder litigates >on behalf of customers<, rather than on behalf of itself. It has to prove that customers might be confused, not that it might lose business. What that means is that it does not matter how many points of differentiation a mark has from a registered trademark. What matters is that if a court decides that your mark is >likely< to cause confusion, or dilute the value of a registered trademark (which creates implied confusion for other customers), you can be enjoined from using the infringing mark and may face additional damages as well. If Wizards is successful in their attempt to register the "d20" trademarks (and I suspect that they certainly will be), anyone who attempts to create a trade identity which is similar to the "d20" trademarks for use in a similar purpose (i.e., the sale of roleplaying games) will have to be concerned that they will be sued for infringement. Trademarks are nothing to screw around with. Unlike a copyright, a company can lose it's trademarks if they allow them to become diluted or to become common marks. One way a company can prove that it is working to stop that from happening is to agressively pursue cases that are even marginal, to establish a history of having taken actions to protect the mark. Thus, there is often an upside to a company's litigation for trademark infringement even if that company expects to lose the case. My advice remains the same: Before pursuing a trademark effort, you need to consult an attorney who specializes in the field. Ryan _______________________________________________ Ogf-l mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.opengamingfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/ogf-l
