3 ms·

You can't use trademark in that way if they would need it for compatibility. Nintendo made games have a "nintendo" title scroll on Gameboy and checked for it a

by cma 4y ago

You can't use trademark in that way if they would need it for compatibility. Nintendo made games have a "nintendo" title scroll on Gameboy and checked for it as "genuine cartridge" protection in a special chip, and sued third parties for trademark violations if they included the title scroll to get around the protection chip. Courts ruled Nintendo couldn't use trademark in that way, that it was laundering in more rights than trademark provides.

jrochkind1 4y ago
ah, righto. thanks for specific case history example. and indeed i'm glad of this. It's weird in this case because it's not Mozilla itself that was requiring Mozilla in the user-agent string for a site to allow or support the browser, but third-parties, who Mozilla didn't encourage or particularly want to do that, as far as I know. But it's still probably true that it would not be enforceable under trademark for this and other reasons, okay. I wonder if Firefox has ever considered taking "Mozilla" _out_ of their user-agent! At this point it's probably impossible. We're just stuck with this mess.
mattl 4y ago
This isn’t quite right. The BIOS checks for a copy of the Nintendo logo/name in certain ways on boot because licensed games include a copy. Nintendo also manufactured the games which made this easier.
- cma 4y ago
  The lawsuit ruling said unlicensed games could include/present a copy too, despite trademark.
  - mattl 4y ago
    Which lawsuit was that? Having no luck finding it
Vogtinator 4y ago
Do you have sources for such rulings? I'm only aware of the very similar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_v._Accolade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_v._Accolade.
- cma 4y ago
  The case may have been with Sega and I misremembered, but there was a similar system in place on Gameboy.
  - kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
    There definitely was a case involving the GB logo in ROM. The internet seems to have forgotten it, though. Whenever I've tried to look it up in the past the results always point to the unrelated Game Genie lawsuit.

by cma 4y ago

jrochkind1 4y ago

ah, righto. thanks for specific case history example. and indeed i'm glad of this. It's weird in this case because it's not Mozilla itself that was requiring Mozilla in the user-agent string for a site to allow or support the browser, but third-parties, who Mozilla didn't encourage or particularly want to do that, as far as I know. But it's still probably true that it would not be enforceable under trademark for this and other reasons, okay. I wonder if Firefox has ever considered taking "Mozilla" _out_ of their user-agent! At this point it's probably impossible. We're just stuck with this mess.

mattl 4y ago

This isn’t quite right. The BIOS checks for a copy of the Nintendo logo/name in certain ways on boot because licensed games include a copy. Nintendo also manufactured the games which made this easier.

cma 4y ago
The lawsuit ruling said unlicensed games could include/present a copy too, despite trademark.
- mattl 4y ago
  Which lawsuit was that? Having no luck finding it

Vogtinator 4y ago

Do you have sources for such rulings? I'm only aware of the very similar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_v._Accolade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_v._Accolade.

cma 4y ago
The case may have been with Sega and I misremembered, but there was a similar system in place on Gameboy.
- kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
  There definitely was a case involving the GB logo in ROM. The internet seems to have forgotten it, though. Whenever I've tried to look it up in the past the results always point to the unrelated Game Genie lawsuit.