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I noticed something on the BrikWars site the other night that caught my eye.
It was the specific reference to the fact that the LEGO(r) trademark (and
presumably other toy brick trademarks) had not been used in the instructions
of the game, so as to avoid legal difficulties.
http://www.brikwars.com/rules/2000/0.htm#1
"We have to use this term to avoid using the copyrighted name of any
specific company's plastic building brick; we wouldn't want to make the
lawyers angry."
I'm wondering if someone can provide me with a bit more detail. Please
forgive my ignorance if this has been a previous topic of discussion
somewhere. But I'm wondering if this was based on a particular indident, or
if it was simply a pro-active measure to avoid any possible infringement? I
know there is a mention in the legal disclaimer of the problems caused by
'LEGO Wars', but I didn't quite understand why the LEGO name couldn't be
used in association with BrikWars.
Now... before this thread gets off on a tangent, let me make a mid-course
correction right now. My _real_ question is essentially a follow-up
question to everything I've asked above.
I'm wondering:
Is there any reason not to use the LEGO(r) brand name, if I am going to
release a set of instructions for a game that people can play at home with
their own bricks?
The game instructions would be free... available on the web for anyone to
use. (1) The game would be playable with LEGO bricks and nothing else.
There would be nothing else to buy and the intent would strictly be to share
the game rules in the same manner in which freeware software is distributed.
The game rules would be copyrighted, but would not be for sale. I want to
use the LEGO(r) name for obvious reasons(2), but not if it's going to create
a legal brouhaha.
Any thoughts or insight would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Allan B.
(1) For an example of this style of game rules, please see:
http://www.apotome.com/games/triangulate.htm
(2) Obvious reasons are: personal bias toward LEGO(r) brand bricks, and the
desire to let people know that you *could* play this game with MegaBloks,
but it just wouldn't be the same. ;)
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: Use of the LEGO(r) name/trademark in game instructions
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| I think it comes down to how you use the trademark. Using it in the name of the game will not fly (because people could assume the game was a product of TLC). Mentioning in the game rules that TLC makes an excellent set of LEGO sets that can be used (...) (21 years ago, 9-May-03, to lugnet.gaming)
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