tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Feb 06 17:47:09 2007
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Re: KLI authorized user
- From: McArdle <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: KLI authorized user
- Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2007 17:45:45 -0800 (PST)
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- In-reply-to: <[email protected]>
Out of curiosity, I searched the trademark database at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (uspto.gov) and here are all the live entries that mention the word 'Klingon':
78685044 the phrase 'TARG-B-QUE RIB SAUCE A KLINGON TRADITION'
78357998 the phrase 'KLINGON ENCOUNTER' [amusement part ride]
75369200 the word 'KLINGON' [on wine]
75262598 the word 'KLINGON' [on computer game software]
74486699 the Klingon Empire insignia [on a lapel pin]
74462058 the word 'KLINGON' [on model spaceship kits]
There are 13 other "dead" listings for 'KLINGON ENCOUNTER' on a variety of products, and two for 'KLINGON' all by itself (hats & shirts; computer keyboard mounting supports(!)).
According to the USPTO site, you can use TM on anything you want to claim rights to, but (R) only when you've officially registered the trademark. This would seem to mean that Paramount couldn't today put the (R) on anything but the items listed above (rib sauce, wine, etc.), although it may have had more registrations when it published, say, KGT.
OTOH registration isn't necessary to enforce a trademark if you can establish that you got there first (uspto.gov: "Is registration of my mark required? No. You can establish rights in a mark based on legitimate use of the mark."), and I don't think Paramount's high-powered attorneys would have any trouble establishing this.
The question of whether an entity can have rights to a whole language (not trademark, certainly, but perhaps copyright) is a different issue. What I've read on the 'net about wrangles over Tolkien's languages seems to indicate that there are lawyers ready and willing to argue both sides of that one. I tend to think that it would be hard to establish exclusive rights to the language itself, although specific works that use the language (TKD, KGT, and so forth) are certainly copyrighted. But IANAL, so what do I know?
Savan
mIq'ey
Steven Boozer <[email protected]> wrote:
>ja' Quvar:
> > We frequently see the note "Klingon, Star Trek, and all related
> > marks are Copyrights and Trademarks of Paramount Pictures. All
> > Rights Reserved. Klingon Language Institute Authorized User."
> >
> > I just wondered, "Authorized User" of what? Only user of the word
> > "Klingon" in its name, or user of the klingon language?
ghunchu'wI':
>That legal formula states that the KLI is authorized by Paramount
>Pictures to use the specified marks ("Klingon, Star Trek, and all
>related marks") over which Paramount claims control. It most
>obviously applies to the word "Klingon" itself.
IIRC (I don't have them with me at the moment) if you'll examine the cover
of KGT, TKW and maybe the KLI Hamlet you'll see that the words "Star Trek"
and "Klingon" are followed by the symbol for a registered trademark -
either the circled (R) or TM. No ambiguity there.
To inject some tlhIngan Hol into the discussion, let's have another look at
the Skybox Card copyright notice for the benefit of newcomers to the list:
SKYBOX COPYRIGHT NOTICE (2nd-3rd seasons)
(Published in HolQeD 4.3:5)
TM, (R) (c) je tera' DIS wa'-Hut-Hut-vagh Paramount Pictures. Hoch SeH.
Paramount Pictures malja' permey bIH Star Trek pong'e' Deghmey'e' je.
bIH lo' SkyBox International, Inc. 'e' chaw'.
TM, (R) c.1995 Paramount Pictures. All rights reserved. "Star Trek" and
related marks are trademarks of Paramount Pictures. SkyBox International,
Inc. Authorized user.
I always found it amusing that SkyBox asked Okrand to translate this
warning. Note the word for trademark {malja' per} and the especially
relevant (or ominous?) line {Hoch SeH} "All rights reserved", literally
"[Paramount] controls everything." From the stories I've heard from
fandom, they mean it too.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
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