Online Game Suit Against Facebook Dismissed, But Suit Against Creator of Facebook Game – Chain Rxn Still On
Is Chain Rxn a Clone of Boomshine?
As a follow up to our March 19 post regarding the lawsuit Danny Miller filed against Facebook and the owner of the Chain Rxn game (an alleged clone of Miller's earlier game), we learned that the judge in the case has dismissed Miller's complaint against Facebook for failure to state a claim (upon which relief may be granted) for contributory infringement.
This is the court's way of saying that even taking everything Danny Miller has placed into his complaint as true, that he (really his attorneys) has not stated enough facts or given enough explanation as to how Facebook is actually liable for infringement of any sort.
In short, if you claim that a party has contributorily unfringed, but cannot show how that party either contributed to the infringement of your game or induced others to infringe it, you will have a hard time getting your case heard.
Despite this setback, however, the case still moves forward against the creator of the Chain Rxn game. As Miller claims, the Boomshine and Chain Rxn games really are very close visually and in terms of game play. And based on Miller's complaint and the court's recent order, we believe that Miller will likely convince the court that Chain Rxn is a clone of Boomshine.
See our earlier article, then decide for yourself and let us know what you think.
Virtual Trademark Trends 2005-2009: Virtual Goods, Currency and Worlds
A few years ago, virtual worlds such as Linden Labs' Second Life garnered a lot of media attention and attracted many new users chasing the next big thing. Meanwhile, the creation, sale and use of virtual goods and currency grew strong within the once niche market of massive multiplayer online (MMO) gaming.
Now, virtual goods and currencies reach beyond the MMO gaming world and have significant impact on the business models and development of social games, social networks, and community sites. With various estimates claiming that the virtual goods market will grow from $1 billion in 2009 to $1.6 billion in 2010, we thought it useful to conduct a study of how companies playing within the virtual space protect and leverage their brands. Our findings thus far have been interesting and shed a lot of light on where the industry is going.
The study is ongoing, but to whet your appetite before we publish our report, we include the chart above. This chart shows the number of trademarks filed per year between 2005 and 2009 that expressly cover virtual goods, virtual currency (or virtual money), and virtual worlds.
Here are some of our early conclusions from the study:
1. Those with trademarks covering core virtual brand aspects (i.e. the signs, icons or symbols that consumers know you for) show higher than average ARPU.
2. In markets such as the US, where consumers tend to be more willing to pay for virtual goods, trademark protection appears to make a more significant impact than some other markets where consumers may not be willing to pay as much.
3. With many new entrants and more venture financing entering the social media and virtual goods markets, competition for "share of voice" and consumer attention will only get tougher. Companies with a trademark strategy that incorporates certain "best practices" that we identify in the study are best positioned to distinguish from their competition and profit from their brands in the future.
Please contact us for more details and information regarding the Znaki towarowe wewnątrz™ Virtual Goods Report.
Apple Avoids iPad Trademark Battle – Buying iPad Trademark from Fujitsu
Putting an end to months of speculation by business analysts and legal experts, Apple has avoided a trademark battle with Fujitsu over the iPad trademark.
We believe that Apple paid an undisclosed amount to Fujitsu (estimated to be over $4 million USD) in exchange for an assignment of their iPad trademark rights to Apple. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office records show that Fujitsu assigned their iPad trademark rights to Apple on March 17.
Apple publicly announced the iPad tablet to much fanfare earlier this year. Many, including us (see our previous articles -Part I and Part II), openly wondered about Apple's next steps given Fujitsu's position.
Fujitsu held more senior U.S. trademark rights to "iPad" for its own mobile device. Apple first indicated it's intent to oppose the registration and validity of Fujitsu's iPad trademark in September 2009, but by January 30, 2010 Apple also filed three requests for extensions of time to oppose Fujitsu.
This shows, in retrospect, that Apple and Fujitsu were in the midst of negotiations regarding the iPad trademark. And it is now clear that those negotiations led to Apple's purchase of the iPad trademark, and Fujitsu's assignment of it's trademark rights.
As we have previously discussed, Apple acquired rights to the iPhone trademark from Cisco in a similar fashion. Now, with iPad, Apple again proves it's post announcement trademark acquisition tactics successful.
Cloud Computing Trademark Trends
Cloud computing is all the rage now in the information technology industry. Few, if any, had ever even heard of the term "cloud computing" until 2007, when Dell first tried to secure a trademark for the term. Ultimately, Dell was unsuccessful in it's effort due to the US trademark office's later decision that the term was descriptive in 2008.
What is cloud computing? The term "cloud computing" generally describes internet-based computing where shared resources such as software and data are provided on-demand to computers and other devices. The NIST provides a more extensive definition.
Over the past two years, information technology vendors and marketers have used the term so widely that many still debate its definition and whether cloud computing encompasses all of the various services that it is hyped for. Hype or not, we know that companies will take certain steps to position themselves to take advantage of new concepts or technologies introduced into their industry.
One step that companies take to position themselves is trademark filing. While there are other steps, such as R&D, marketing investment and others, successful long-term branding is generally built upon a strong foundation of trademarks.
Our review of filings seeking to cover cloud computing (either in the name or description of goods/services) reveals that a number of companies have more than just a passing interest in cloud computing, and are clearly positioning themselves to make cloud computing part of the brand proposition that they offer.
Key Findings:
- The first trademarks covering cloud computing were filed in 2007
- Cloud computing trademark filings have since increased at an exponential rate
- There was a %483 increase in cloud computing trademarks between 2008 and 2009
- Companies have already filed 112 new cloud computing trademarks this year (as of Mar 24, 2010)
- We project that by year-end there will be 500-1000 cloud computing trademarks on file
For more information on the impact of trademarks on companies marketing cloud computing services please contact us.
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Top 4 Posts
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- Trademarks in Social Gaming - A Key Indicator of Success for Game Developers (Part II)
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