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I'll raise you with Homicidal Proclivity.Assassin's Hunch sounds like it'd be uncontested.
I'll raise you with Homicidal Proclivity.Assassin's Hunch sounds like it'd be uncontested.
It won't be hard to argue against it simply because games are not TV shows
It doesn't matter if some games become tv shows or some TV shows become games
Fox didn't apply for games
MS didn't apply for TV show
And using a fox subsidiary (ign) as a source is kind of funny
Whoa...what?Rösti;45021473 said:As long as the mark is not abandoned or cancelled, it will be considered "Live".
No idea, but seeing as one Ukrainian guy (Roman Bilko) and four US guys (Joe Ortiz, Michael Grover and Paul Richey) on the 30th of August this year trademarked Jet Force Gemini (serial number 85717170), it could be difficult for Rare to renew their marks (one is abandoned, one is cancelled). It's not published for opposition yet though.
GAF never fails.Killer Inxtinct.
It's not game related.Whoa...what?
Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Digital materials, namely, CDs and audio files featuring music
IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Entertainment services in the nature of live musical performances; Music production services
You're right -- the deciding factor isn't the whole games become TV shows and some show become games thing, but it's still important. The basic standard for trademark infringement is whether a likelihood of confusion between two things using a mark exists. Fox's TV show might be completely unrelated, but there's still a reasonable possibility (as far as the USPTO is concerned) that someone could hear there's a game called Killer Instinct, and think it's in some way connected to the show. And that's made reasonable by the fact that TV shows have a tendency to be spun off into games. And that's all that matters as far as the law's concerned. Sure, there are arguments against it like "nobody's heard of this shitty TV show that lasted for like 2 episodes," but uh, yeah, none of that really matters at this point.
Rösti;45022917 said:It's not game related.
I totally see how a tv show about the son of a serial killer chasing down serial killers is anything like a fighting tournament between aliens, werewolves, dinosaurs, robots, skeletons, gargoyles, boxers, secret agents and stuff
Totally confusing me just thinking about the two and how they are so similar that it implies they both come from the same companies!
(Sarcasm, just in case uspto tries to use this as evidence)
I would say just change the name. It's not like it has some incredible cachet anyway.
I don't see how Street Fighter: The Movie and Street Fighter 2010 are related, either, and yet...!
That's fine too.the name is ALL is has going for it. If they make a new Killer Instinct game it will be trading purely on nostalgia. If you don't have the name you might as well create a new IP.
Well, I tried.
On to the next franchise
Perhaps if Microsoft had attempted to do something with the franchise in the last 10 years since they purchased Rare this would not have happened.
In their defense, the audience for fighting games is pretty small.
In their defense, the audience for fighting games is pretty small.
I'm glad I don't have to explain this.Microsoft's best bet here might be to argue that Fox has effectively abandoned the trademark by not using it in the last 3 years.
I'm glad I don't have to explain this.
MS can argue that Fox hasn't been actively using the mark. I recall a case where the firm I worked for did that as the other party couldn't provide proof. It took a long time though...
And to all the suggestions...nothing with killer and instinct in it will work. I can't change I to 1, I can't add 'the' or 's' or put a tag line with it.
Personally, I think MS should argue this and I think they have a decent chance of winning. The examiner is being a bit of a dumb ass since they are different goods and fox never applied for killer instinct the game.
In reference to the combo names:
Triple Instinct
Super Instinct
Master Instinct
Brutal Instinct
Awesome Instinct
Monster Instinct
Killer Instinct
King Insintct
Ultra Instinct
Ultimate Instinct.
Did I miss any?
They could...but killer instinct is more well known than KI. If I saw KI on a game walking by a shop one day, I wouldn't assume killer instinct. Dota is a special case where blizzard and valve negotiated. Kinda wished more companies did this, but those lawyers gotta get paid I guess.They can just call it "KI" and make it one word (pronounced KAI) like DOTA.
They can just call it "KI" and make it one word (pronounced KAI) like DOTA.
They could...but killer instinct is more well known than KI. If I saw KI on a game walking by a shop one day, I wouldn't assume killer instinct. Dota is a special case where blizzard and valve negotiated. Kinda wished more companies did this, but those lawyers gotta get paid I guess.
As long as it has the horribly designed CGI characters that the KI games are famous for people will get the connection.
.any reason they took this long to secure it? KI came before this show sad to see they got bumped out of the way
Microsoft actually never had a trademark on Killer Instinct before. Nintendo held the trademark until 2006 when they finally abandoned it.
As far as the USPTO cares, Nintendo held the trademark until 2006 when they abandoned it. Fox entered the trademark in 2005 and finally got it in 2008 (probably in part due to Nintendo's abandonment of it). And now Microsoft is trying to fill for the trademark but has been denied due to the similarity to Fox's trademark.
I'm glad I don't have to explain this.
MS can argue that Fox hasn't been actively using the mark. I recall a case where the firm I worked for did that as the other party couldn't provide proof. It took a long time though...
And to all the suggestions...nothing with killer and instinct in it will work. I can't change I to 1, I can't add 'the' or 's' or put a tag line with it.
Personally, I think MS should argue this and I think they have a decent chance of winning. The examiner is being a bit of a dumb ass since they are different goods and fox never applied for killer instinct the game.
That is depressing...Yeah, the examiner went to quite the trouble to screencap amazon customer reviews and IGN so as to show that consumers link video games based upon tv shows to said tv shows.
And considering that Fox hasn't released DVDs, syndicated the show, streamed it in any capacity or even mention it on any of their websites anywhere, Microsoft should be able to argue for abandonment.
Microsoft's real problem here is time. Even if everything goes there way, its still going to take over a year for anything to be remotely decided. Even the initial appeal could be a 6 month wait on Fox's behalf. Whatever release plans they had for this mystery Killer Instinct project have probably been ruined.
If they have to claim ownership of a trademark in 5 years, how likely is it that FOX would reclaim trademark of a property that (from their perspective) is largely useless and hasn't been around in forever? If it's a 5 year duration, that would make the expiration in 2013. If Rare/MS started development now, the trademark would be expired by the time they're ready to go gold.
Better yet, agree with the other people that say call it KI. 3 or fewer letter branding is the in-thing nowadays. Just use a large sans-serif font for the box art and they're good to go.
Better yet, don't make a new Killer Instinct game at all. The game was terrible.
KI didn't age well at all, but KI2 is fine for casual play. It reminds me of the first gen Capcom vs games.If they have to claim ownership of a trademark in 5 years, how likely is it that FOX would reclaim trademark of a property that (from their perspective) is largely useless and hasn't been around in forever? If it's a 5 year duration, that would make the expiration in 2013. If Rare/MS started development now, the trademark would be expired by the time they're ready to go gold.
Better yet, agree with the other people that say call it KI. 3 or fewer letter branding is the in-thing nowadays. Just use a large sans-serif font for the box art and they're good to go.
Better yet, don't make a new Killer Instinct game at all. The game was terrible.
People are gonna see "KI," not associate it with Killer Instinct (which is the only selling point a hypothetical Killer Instinct sequel would have), and not wanna play a game that they're going to pronounce "Key." Because Key is a stupid name for a fighting game.
"Ki" is a way of spelling Qi/Chi, the life force that lets martial artists do Hadokens. So it's a pretty good name for a fighting game.