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This kind of thing has been attempted in the past. For example, after the Lego brick patents expired, Lego sued Mega Bloks (in Canada) claiming a trademark over

This kind of thing has been attempted in the past. For example, after the Lego brick patents expired, Lego sued Mega Bloks (in Canada) claiming a trademark over the design of the brick. They lost the case, because the Supreme Court (of Canada) ruled you can’t double‐dip on IP protection by turning a functional (i.e., patentable) design into a trademark. Disney putting Steamboat Willie in their logo is unlikely to actually allow Disney to effectively extend restrictions on the cartoon—but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a calculated move to deter people from reproducing Steamboat Willie after its liberation simply by the implicit threat of expensive litigation from a very large team of lawyers.

JoshTriplett 3y ago
> They lost the case, because the Supreme Court (of Canada) ruled you can’t double‐dip on IP protection by turning a functional (i.e., patentable) design into a trademark. There's case history on that in the US as well.
- ronsor 3y ago
  IIRC, non-Nintendo-licensed Gameboy games were allowed to reproduce Nintendo's trademarked logo because it was necessary for the game to run. Trademarks are restricted to brand identification only; attempting to use them for anything else will result in trouble and wasted money.
  - bentley 3y ago
    Nintendo did attempt that trick, although the case you’re thinking of is Sega v. Accolade, which as you said, ruled that forcing your competitor to display your trademark unwillingly doesn’t mean you can smack them down for trademark infringement.
  - kmeisthax 3y ago
    The case was SEGA v. Accolade, but the lockout system on the Genesis worked on the same legal theory (e.g. induced trademark infringement equals Doctorowian[0] interpretations of "intellectual property"[1]). For the Game Boy, the problem was that Taiwan[2] didn't have a copyright treaty with Japan, but they did have a trademark treaty, so if you induced pirates to commit a trademark violation you could get them with something. Same idea, but the jurisdiction is different, so all the existing case law about not turning trademark into mutant perpetual copyright wouldn't apply here. [0] "Intellectual property is any law that allows you to dictate the conduct of your competitors." - Cory Doctorow, paraphrased [1] Yes, it's a shitty made-up term to make you confuse four different kinds of law, no I don't care. There's enough negative sentiment around "intellectual property" these days that the Stallmanian position sounds like a defense of it now. [2] It's a country, get over it
8note 3y ago
This makes much more sense with a patent than copyright. How do you trademark the exact shape of a Lego brick? On the other hand, trademarks tend to be some form of art, so copyright and trademarks make sense to coincide
- HenryBemis 3y ago
  > How do you trademark the exact shape of a Lego brick? ..and the hundreds of differently shaped bricks that come with it.
- EvanAnderson 3y ago
  > How do you trademark the exact shape of a Lego brick? You can trademark a shape, actually. It's called Trade Dress[0], and The Lego Group uses it, too. The Minifig, for example, is registered[1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_dress https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_dress [1] https://trademarks.justia.com/865/37/n-86537461.html https://trademarks.justia.com/865/37/n-86537461.html
bloak 3y ago
And Philips tried to use trademark law after their patent on triple-headed rotary shavers expired, and they failed: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/jun/19/marketingandpr.uknews https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/jun/19/marketingandpr...
fennecfoxy 3y ago
>Disney putting Steamboat Willie in their logo is unlikely to actually allow Disney We're talking about a company that caused copyright duration to be extended, ha ha.

JoshTriplett 3y ago

> They lost the case, because the Supreme Court (of Canada) ruled you can’t double‐dip on IP protection by turning a functional (i.e., patentable) design into a trademark. There's case history on that in the US as well.

ronsor 3y ago
IIRC, non-Nintendo-licensed Gameboy games were allowed to reproduce Nintendo's trademarked logo because it was necessary for the game to run. Trademarks are restricted to brand identification only; attempting to use them for anything else will result in trouble and wasted money.
- bentley 3y ago
  Nintendo did attempt that trick, although the case you’re thinking of is Sega v. Accolade, which as you said, ruled that forcing your competitor to display your trademark unwillingly doesn’t mean you can smack them down for trademark infringement.
- kmeisthax 3y ago
  The case was SEGA v. Accolade, but the lockout system on the Genesis worked on the same legal theory (e.g. induced trademark infringement equals Doctorowian[0] interpretations of "intellectual property"[1]). For the Game Boy, the problem was that Taiwan[2] didn't have a copyright treaty with Japan, but they did have a trademark treaty, so if you induced pirates to commit a trademark violation you could get them with something. Same idea, but the jurisdiction is different, so all the existing case law about not turning trademark into mutant perpetual copyright wouldn't apply here. [0] "Intellectual property is any law that allows you to dictate the conduct of your competitors." - Cory Doctorow, paraphrased [1] Yes, it's a shitty made-up term to make you confuse four different kinds of law, no I don't care. There's enough negative sentiment around "intellectual property" these days that the Stallmanian position sounds like a defense of it now. [2] It's a country, get over it

8note 3y ago

This makes much more sense with a patent than copyright. How do you trademark the exact shape of a Lego brick? On the other hand, trademarks tend to be some form of art, so copyright and trademarks make sense to coincide

HenryBemis 3y ago
> How do you trademark the exact shape of a Lego brick? ..and the hundreds of differently shaped bricks that come with it.
EvanAnderson 3y ago
> How do you trademark the exact shape of a Lego brick? You can trademark a shape, actually. It's called Trade Dress[0], and The Lego Group uses it, too. The Minifig, for example, is registered[1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_dress https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_dress [1] https://trademarks.justia.com/865/37/n-86537461.html https://trademarks.justia.com/865/37/n-86537461.html

bloak 3y ago

And Philips tried to use trademark law after their patent on triple-headed rotary shavers expired, and they failed: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/jun/19/marketingandpr.uknews https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/jun/19/marketingandpr...

fennecfoxy 3y ago

>Disney putting Steamboat Willie in their logo is unlikely to actually allow Disney We're talking about a company that caused copyright duration to be extended, ha ha.