Some TV shows (and movies, and novels) go out of their way to avoid mentioning real-life brands. This video shows countless mentions of faux social networks: Friendbranch, Facefinder, Friendnet, etc etc, rather than Facebook. But others freely portray real-life companies when they want to. How come? [more inside]
posted by so_necessary on May 29, 2013 - 27 answers

What legal issues might I run into when writing an instructional guide book for a video game? [more inside]
posted by joshrholloway on Oct 14, 2011 - 7 answers

I want to create a website that presents the schedule/info of a con in a more usable format than officially provided. Is this something I should be asking a lawyer about? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Jun 24, 2011 - 9 answers

Will my fan site violate trademark law? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Nov 8, 2010 - 11 answers

I'm thinking of creating a political parody website that may step on some toes and/or trademarks. I have a few technical and legal questions about how best to go about this. [more inside]
posted by Riki tiki on Dec 22, 2009 - 6 answers

Usernames, trademarks, and Facebook. Someone e-mailed my friend, saying that he owned the trademark to his name and has the right to demand that he turn over his username to him. [more inside]
posted by krisken on Jun 18, 2009 - 31 answers

This is a bit of a follow up to this question. I'm contemplating a small comics project staring a fictionalised version of HP Lovecraft (something I've done before but thsi will be slight higher profile) and the title will be something along the lnes of "H.P. Lovecraft's World of Weirdness". Is the use of his name in the title like that, which might imply some kind of authorship or endorsement or somesuch, likely to bring the Lovecraft estate down on me like a ton of bricks?
posted by Artw on Aug 26, 2008 - 7 answers

I noticed a well known food related domain name is available. What's the deal if I register it? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on May 3, 2008 - 14 answers

Is it necessary to include ® or ™ symbols on every instance of a logo or brand name? [more inside]
posted by andreux on Jan 23, 2008 - 6 answers

Does trademark law really offer any basis for the practice of using legal threats to prevent a trademark from becoming common usage? This article in the Google Blog strongly suggests that trademark law prohibits me from using (in a non-commercial context like a post on MeFi) the verb "to google" to mean "to search on the Yahoo search engine." Is this so? [more inside]
posted by winston on Oct 26, 2006 - 30 answers

How can I learn about intellectual property law before I go to law school? [more inside]
posted by brett on Oct 10, 2006 - 13 answers

I have some copyright and trademark questions for the fine folks at AskMe. Ok, so I run this online t-shirt store and I had a design based on Godzilla playing the drums. I know some of the Godzilla movies had passed into the public domain, so I just assumed (or perhaps hoped) that would place my design firmly into fair use territory. Welp, I got a cease and desist from the folks that own the trademark and copyright on Godzilla, so I was just hoping to find out more about my options here. [more inside]
posted by Jezztek on May 9, 2006 - 27 answers

Another MeFi trademark question: A small restaurant chain (let’s say ABCFood) opened in Colorado in 1996 and closed all its locations in Q4 2004. All of ABCFood’s state business registrations are in "Delinquent" and/or "Administratively Dissolved" status, and the proprietor has moved on to other endeavors. The USPTO still has a "live" listing for ABCFood’s trademark, though, as mentioned, the mark is no longer maintained. What obstacles would stop someone from hypothetically opening a similar chain with the name ABCFood in another state?
posted by fourstar on Feb 7, 2006 - 8 answers

Is there any legal reason that a registered trademark symbol (®) HAS to be a capital letter "R" inside a perfect Euclidean circle, even in a typeface that renders other round characters like "O" and "0" otherwise? I'm willing to let the "R" go, but our QA department at my job insists that only a true circle is legal. For examples of fonts that use other-than-round ® signs, see here, here, and here(That last example might be too extreme, admittedly). The USPTO website says nothing about typefaces.
posted by 40 Watt on Aug 10, 2005 - 32 answers

There's a guy out there on the web that has chosen to name his blog after me, Armando Bellmas. Instead of feeling flattered, I feel used. As a photographer my name is my business name, too, and I can't have this guy moving in on my turf. I don't know him nor have I given him permission to use my name. Plus, his blog is coming up in the top ten search results for my name at Google. He has not replied to any of my email inquiries and, short of calling an attorney for advice, I'm turning to you guys and the web for help. Thanks in advance.
posted by armando on Feb 11, 2005 - 32 answers