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Trademark infringement in game?


Jason2189

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Indeed better being safe than sorry. Something I learned from the game :)

 

On the other hand, maybe just a nice letter with the request to use the brandname, trademark name in the game might be an idea. Getting the written and signed consent by the law-office of the company for future (past) use might really come in handy.

 

And for the sake of playability, having "everything" start with adhesive ...(tape, bandage) is a bad idea, as it makes scrolling through the inventory and lists extremely tedious.

Using the brandname separates things on the list and make it easier to find it, like in real life

*spooky* 

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Thats seems to be the term our beloved dev's should think about.

 

 Writing guides such as the AP Stylebook advise writers to "use a generic equivalent unless the trademark is essential to the story".

 

under topic: 

List of protected trademarks frequently used as generic terms

 

 

Offtopic and for the lol's

 

TM-name

Super Heroes  

 

generic name

Superhero

 

TM owner

DC Comics,Marvel Comics

 

And on topic again, I was working with 3M prior, and to be honest they were one of the nicest companies to work with, yet.

So just asking them would be a valid option.

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Alternatively, Indie Stone could make a trademark permission request with the selected entity(s). Big entities process these regularly and have a formal process with forms etc.

My gut tells me that most would likely deny but who knows? More and more companies are finding video games a great marketing opportunity for a prized demographic. Maybe an upstart gun maker would love to see their products fighting the zombie apocalypse in a video game? Zombies are main stream now with The Walking Dead being the #1 show on American TV.

I think the key would be identifying a product that brand name inclusion would enhance gameplay immersion without distracting by seeming to be a lame marketing ploy. Including a single brand of gun might seem too ploy-ish but getting three different gun brands would be less so.

I also think you'd probably want several different name brands for a variety of items if you went down this route. Finding a Crest Toothbrush doesn't stick out as much if you also find Monster Energy Drinks and Bic pens.

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I don't think PZ needs product placement that badly :P

I think they'd rather take 20 seconds to swap a file name to something generic than have to pay a lawyer to draft a legal agreement for a brand name use :P

From my imperfect research of the issue, it appears some companies have boilerplate agreements for these things.

The only brand name products I could think of which would make sense would be Kentucky specific brands. But yes, swapping of fiction-izing makes most sense.

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And for the sake of playability, having "everything" start with adhesive ...(tape, bandage) is a bad idea, as it makes scrolling through the inventory and lists extremely tedious.

Using the brandname separates things on the list and make it easier to find it, like in real life

 

Repeating myself here.

Keep that in mind, especially with multi-lingual translations, the things still have to be differentiated a bit. (and this is really a tough task.)

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I once saw a movie where the prettiest girl at the dance desperately needed to be hidden, like in a barn. She desperately pleaded with the boy "Please! Take me to your home now!!!!" He was overjoyed she wanted to go to his house, but his reply was truly wise: "Say please," he replied, and she did.

 

Maybe the trick here is not to get their permission to use their product name. Maybe the trick is to ask them to pay you to include their product name. Be on the cutting edge of product placement for profit. Probably wouldn't get much, but who knows until you try? With free money plus not having to worry about the name being the upside, what's the downside?

 

"For the small fee of $500, we would be happy to include your product. Other types of sponsorship are also negotiable if desired." What have you got to lose? Just address it to their Marketing Department or Public Relations.

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And for the sake of playability, having "everything" start with adhesive ...(tape, bandage) is a bad idea, as it makes scrolling through the inventory and lists extremely tedious.

Using the brandname separates things on the list and make it easier to find it, like in real life

 

Repeating myself here.

Keep that in mind, especially with multi-lingual translations, the things still have to be differentiated a bit. (and this is really a tough task.)

 

Eh, it doesn't have to get silly. Not every tape needs to be Adhesive X, it could just be called Tape or Cello-Tape, or any number of other names used for the product.

There's just no reason it has to be Scotch or Duck.

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There's only 2 items with adhesive in the name as far as I'm aware? I think it's a bit crazy to be worried about that. It's not any different than having completely different names- they still both appear in the inventory list and both take up space. In what way is it any different? Should we also not have items that start with the same letter???

 

 

I once saw a movie where the prettiest girl at the dance desperately needed to be hidden, like in a barn. She desperately pleaded with the boy "Please! Take me to your home now!!!!" He was overjoyed she wanted to go to his house, but his reply was truly wise: "Say please," he replied, and she did.

 

Maybe the trick here is not to get their permission to use their product name. Maybe the trick is to ask them to pay you to include their product name. Be on the cutting edge of product placement for profit. Probably wouldn't get much, but who knows until you try? With free money plus not having to worry about the name being the upside, what's the downside?

 

"For the small fee of $500, we would be happy to include your product. Other types of sponsorship are also negotiable if desired." What have you got to lose? Just address it to their Marketing Department or Public Relations.

 

The "to be lost" is time. Time is money, and spending time to do this would take time away from game development. I also think you're highly underestimating how much time it takes to strike this kind of deal, and overestimating how much billion+ dollar companies care about product placement in small indie games.

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You could be right. Or you could be wrong. Is it not worth spending ten minutes to shoot off a letter and find out?

I'd say "no, it might be worth it" if they seemed inclined to use product names in the game. So far, they've created all their own or used generic names, aside from the two present in this thread.

It seems like a waste of time unless they really want to have real-world products in the game (and are preferably looking to get paid for the advertising).

Not that any of us in this thread get to make that determination. That's up to the developers.

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I suspect their desire to make money is a big part of what motivates their drive to include things in the game. I doubt their desire either to include or not to include real world products is the driving concept here, but rather the desire to make money. And for a company without a marketing dept, I'm just tossing some ideas out there.

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I suspect their desire to make money is a big part of what motivates their drive to include things in the game. I doubt their desire either to include or not to include real world products is the driving concept here, but rather the desire to make money. And for a company without a marketing dept, I'm just tossing some ideas out there.

Again, there's no evidence that this is thier goal when it comes to items in the game.

Though they could be secretly opening up a line of Fossoil gas stations and Spiffo Burgers.

After all, they've already given me a hefty down payment on Enigma Books. I mean- You didn't hear that.

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Still ignoring how hard a process it is to work out sponsorship deals. There's no "could be right/wrong" about it. It's a lengthy and in depth legal process. It would cost money. It's not worth it, and they wouldn't say yes anything because as I said before, multibillion dollar companies don't cut advertising deals with small indie game companies.

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