6 ms·

IKEA sues indie game developer over survival horror game set in furniture store

28 points by ummonk 4y ago

iLoveOncall 4y ago
The title is wrong, they have not sued him, they sent a cease and desist letter. They have also been perfectly reasonable, because they only ask him to change the assets that make it directly identifiable as an Ikea store. It's a non-story really. Read the kotaku article, it's way better and show how measured Ikea has been: https://kotaku.com/ikea-furniture-horror-game-store-is-closed-kickstarter-1849715848 https://kotaku.com/ikea-furniture-horror-game-store-is-close...
- Kubuxu 4y ago
  He should just rename it to IDEA: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Q_gY90vH3t0/maxresdefault.jpg https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Q_gY90vH3t0/maxresdefault.jpg
  - partomniscient 4y ago
    I too wondered whether this article was going to be about Escape From Tarkov. In Tarkov you can visit the IDEA store, eat a 'slickers' bar, and even find Blaypoy magazines. For the curious, here are links to a few more images of the inside of the IDEA store area on the interchange map: https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/media/id/314 https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/media/id/314 https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/media/id/315 https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/media/id/315 https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/media/id/316 https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/media/id/316
- jhbadger 4y ago
  Yeah, you can do a parody of Ikea without infringing on them. The basic idea for this game seems to be taken from Grady Hendrix's 2014 novel "Horrorstör" which is obviously set in an Ikea, even though in-universe it is called "ORSK". I don't think Ikea did anything about that.
- WastingMyTime89 4y ago
  Hardly reasonable. It’s a parody it should be fine. They probably would never have won the trial but they have the money. The way modern corporation protects their branding is a huge infringement on artistic liberty and freedom of expression. It’s disturbing.
  - iLoveOncall 4y ago
    > The way modern corporation protects their branding is a huge infringement on artistic liberty and freedom of expression. It’s disturbing. Except they HAVE to defend their branding, or they could lose the right to it. If you don't enforce it you lose the right to enforce it.
    - skyyler 4y ago
      Did the game use their branding? It seems they stylized it in a way similar to IKEA, but it doesn't appear to use anything trademarked or copyrighted. It's not like IKEA owns Noto or Verdana.
      - unknownaccount 4y ago
        IKEA probably thinks they own that particular color scheme(big yellow letters on a blue building). Similar to how Deutsche Telekom(T-Mobile parent) thinks they own a particular shade of pink and sends a c&d to any webmaster who so much as uses that HTML color code as a background tag for an unrelated blog. The only way to have a semblance of free expression on the modern internet is using Tor,cryptocurrency,and offshore hosting to protect your identity from these overzealous legal firms.
        brokenmachine 4y ago
        What is this forbidden color hex code, so I can, umm... not use it on anything?
  - mikkergp 4y ago
    They even responded to Kotaku and said it was simply to protect the trademark, and they'd come to an agreement with the game maker. Blame trademark law, not Ikea
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
yellowapple 4y ago
If I were in IKEA's shoes, instead of suing / sending a C&D I'd lean into the parody and say "hey, we're cool with this as long as we can sell boxed copies in IKEA stores". Indie dev wins, IKEA wins, win-win. Instead, indie dev loses, IKEA loses (and looks like a bunch of humorless jerks), lose-lose.
- iLoveOncall 4y ago
  The publicity the game is getting out of those articles is a massive win for the developer. It's also a win for Ikea because their request is reasonable and their communication open, but they still defend their brand image. Seems like a win-win to me.
_def 4y ago
Ha, only recently I read the SCP this is based on (I assume). It's a fun read, especially the journal: https://the-scp.foundation/object/scp-3008 https://the-scp.foundation/object/scp-3008
tgsovlerkhgsel 4y ago
Aren't trademarks restricted to the areas of business for which a trademark was registered? Is the IKEA trademark registered for video games? Edit: Video games seem to be Nice class 9 https://www.wipo.int/classifications/nice/nclpub/en/fr/?basic_numbers=show&class_number=9&explanatory_notes=show&lang=en&menulang=en&mode=flat&notion=&pagination=no&version=20220101 https://www.wipo.int/classifications/nice/nclpub/en/fr/?basi... and after some fighting with the atrocious WIPO interface it does seem like some of their trademarks include that class.
CodesInChaos 4y ago
Previous thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33405541 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33405541

28 points by ummonk 4y ago

The title is wrong, they have not sued him, they sent a cease and desist letter. They have also been perfectly reasonable, because they only ask him to change the assets that make it directly identifiable as an Ikea store. It's a non-story really. Read the kotaku article, it's way better and show how measured Ikea has been: https://kotaku.com/ikea-furniture-horror-game-store-is-closed-kickstarter-1849715848 https://kotaku.com/ikea-furniture-horror-game-store-is-close...

Kubuxu 4y ago
He should just rename it to IDEA: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Q_gY90vH3t0/maxresdefault.jpg https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Q_gY90vH3t0/maxresdefault.jpg
- partomniscient 4y ago
  I too wondered whether this article was going to be about Escape From Tarkov. In Tarkov you can visit the IDEA store, eat a 'slickers' bar, and even find Blaypoy magazines. For the curious, here are links to a few more images of the inside of the IDEA store area on the interchange map: https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/media/id/314 https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/media/id/314 https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/media/id/315 https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/media/id/315 https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/media/id/316 https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/media/id/316
jhbadger 4y ago
Yeah, you can do a parody of Ikea without infringing on them. The basic idea for this game seems to be taken from Grady Hendrix's 2014 novel "Horrorstör" which is obviously set in an Ikea, even though in-universe it is called "ORSK". I don't think Ikea did anything about that.
WastingMyTime89 4y ago
Hardly reasonable. It’s a parody it should be fine. They probably would never have won the trial but they have the money. The way modern corporation protects their branding is a huge infringement on artistic liberty and freedom of expression. It’s disturbing.
- iLoveOncall 4y ago
  > The way modern corporation protects their branding is a huge infringement on artistic liberty and freedom of expression. It’s disturbing. Except they HAVE to defend their branding, or they could lose the right to it. If you don't enforce it you lose the right to enforce it.
  - skyyler 4y ago
    Did the game use their branding? It seems they stylized it in a way similar to IKEA, but it doesn't appear to use anything trademarked or copyrighted. It's not like IKEA owns Noto or Verdana.
    - unknownaccount 4y ago
      IKEA probably thinks they own that particular color scheme(big yellow letters on a blue building). Similar to how Deutsche Telekom(T-Mobile parent) thinks they own a particular shade of pink and sends a c&d to any webmaster who so much as uses that HTML color code as a background tag for an unrelated blog. The only way to have a semblance of free expression on the modern internet is using Tor,cryptocurrency,and offshore hosting to protect your identity from these overzealous legal firms.
      - brokenmachine 4y ago
        What is this forbidden color hex code, so I can, umm... not use it on anything?
- mikkergp 4y ago
  They even responded to Kotaku and said it was simply to protect the trademark, and they'd come to an agreement with the game maker. Blame trademark law, not Ikea

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

yellowapple 4y ago

If I were in IKEA's shoes, instead of suing / sending a C&D I'd lean into the parody and say "hey, we're cool with this as long as we can sell boxed copies in IKEA stores". Indie dev wins, IKEA wins, win-win. Instead, indie dev loses, IKEA loses (and looks like a bunch of humorless jerks), lose-lose.

iLoveOncall 4y ago
The publicity the game is getting out of those articles is a massive win for the developer. It's also a win for Ikea because their request is reasonable and their communication open, but they still defend their brand image. Seems like a win-win to me.

_def 4y ago

Ha, only recently I read the SCP this is based on (I assume). It's a fun read, especially the journal: https://the-scp.foundation/object/scp-3008 https://the-scp.foundation/object/scp-3008

tgsovlerkhgsel 4y ago

Aren't trademarks restricted to the areas of business for which a trademark was registered? Is the IKEA trademark registered for video games? Edit: Video games seem to be Nice class 9 https://www.wipo.int/classifications/nice/nclpub/en/fr/?basic_numbers=show&class_number=9&explanatory_notes=show&lang=en&menulang=en&mode=flat&notion=&pagination=no&version=20220101 https://www.wipo.int/classifications/nice/nclpub/en/fr/?basi... and after some fighting with the atrocious WIPO interface it does seem like some of their trademarks include that class.

CodesInChaos 4y ago

Previous thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33405541 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33405541