Trademarks and Such (6 comments)

Trademarks and Such

Monday, January 04, 2010 - 07:43 PM

This is probably exciting to no one but me, but the trademark for "Sheldon" has moved from a "TM" (unregistered trademark) to an "R" (fancy-shmancy registered trademark), according to the lovely, embossed paperwork I received from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

So, in addition to all the other new-year changes I have to make to the website, I now have to change all the little TM's in the html. But that's a good problem to have!

Patjade


Posts: 7

Registered:
Mar 2008
Re: Trademarks and Such (Score: 1)
posted Monday, January 04, 2010 - 08:37 PM (#50722)

Does that mean that one of the main characters of a super-geeky comedy TV show is in hot water? How about the website that shows off the various T-Shirts he and his friends wear? Will they now have to bow to your superioritude?

Or are we talking about the combination of the name Sheldon, the blue sircle, and the smiling face?


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tudza


Posts: 68

Registered:
Jun 2009
Re: Trademarks and Such (Score: 1)
posted Monday, January 04, 2010 - 09:26 PM (#50725)
That's Alt-0174 or Yeah, how much territory do you believe Sheldon® will cover?
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justinsage1


Posts: 14

Registered:
Dec 2006
Re: Trademarks and Such (Score: 1)
posted Tuesday, January 05, 2010 - 06:06 AM (#50731)

@ Dave, as a patent and trademark attorney, I can tell you that that is exciting to more than just you.

@Patjade, no, trademark registrations are limited to their specific areas of use in commerce, so there should not be any conflict between this webcomic (and the Sheldon Store items) and a character name from a tv show. The character name itself is a "fair use" anyway, and any rights to the characters themselves is covered by the copyright laws, which require "substantial similarity" (among other factors) to establish an infringement. From what I observe, there are only basic, common similarities between Sheldon of the webcomic and Sheldon from Big Bang Theory, and that the major individual characteristics are significantly different. So no worries for the Chuck Lorre fans out there.


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sarge_5150


Posts: 19

Registered:
May 2009
Re: Trademarks and Such (Score: 1)
posted Tuesday, January 05, 2010 - 10:42 AM (#50735)

Just think of how much Dave could get siphoning just a small amount off Mm. Lorre and Prady's torrent o' cash. It would probably be enough to start development on the Sheldon MMORPG.

Oh, well. I guess we'll just have to hope for a mention in a vanity card.


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Collon28


Posts: 6

Registered:
Jan 2010
Re: Trademarks and Such (Score: 1)
posted Tuesday, January 05, 2010 - 07:41 PM (#50736)

That's terrific, Dave! It somehow just makes the package that much more complete, making it more your own. Congratulations on the little big milestone.


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abracadabra
abracadabra



Posts: 264

Registered:
Feb 2008
Re: Trademarks and Such (Score: 1)
posted Wednesday, January 06, 2010 - 12:20 AM (#50739)

Congratulations on another level of achievement.


--
Black holes are where God divided by zero.
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