Westeros Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 A visit to the US Patent and Trademarks Office website has led to an interesting discovery: HBO has trademarked three new categories of Game of Thrones related products. We’ll discuss the three new categories, and what implications these new trademarks might have. Our first trademark story can be found here, from just over a year ago.read on >>>Visit the Site! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brude Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 I can't wait to get my officially licensed House Lannister back-scratcher! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steel_Wind Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 It's not really possible to read much into this. You need to appreciate the way that IP lawyers work when registering a trademark. They'll use a simple search of the USPTO as a general precedent when trademarking a whole range of goods. So we either search for an existing mark that protects aginst goods of the kind -- and copy paste it in to the form -- or we do the same within our own office precedents. The end result is the same.I guarantee you that nobody at HBO called up a lawyer and said "we want to trademark GoT for use in candles, pet cages and canteens." That didn't happen.What was said was something along the lines of: Producer:"We had a request from the manufacturer of our candles for use on our soundstages to perhaps license to them the right to make and sell AGoT candles to fans. Apparently, their website got a lot of hits after that recent newspaper article and fans have made inquiries about purchasing them. Can you do that please?"IP Lawyer: "Sure. Candles and related consumer products. Wordmark and logo? No problem. Anything else?" Producer: "Might as well do it for weapons too while we are at it. I know that there have been requests and likely will be for those again, too. The author already licenses those under a separate trademark, so we already know there is some demand for them."IP Lawyer: "Weapons, knives that sort of thing? Sure. No problem." >>IP lawyer goes on to USPTO website, does search by goods, finds some hits for products similarly trademarked in the past and copy+pastes the good description into the form. *Done*. Send the bill out ASAP as Xmas is coming and you want this to count towards your 2010 Xmas bonus. Done again.<<Upshot: Somebody asked for candles and candleholders after the article ran and the website got a lot of hits over it. Mock weapons were probably thrown in too at the same time. Largely the same legal fee plus an extra disbursement for the extra registrations. That's it -- that's all. No AGoT pet cages in the offing, I'm afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Yeah, it's just interesting that someone thought about adding more of these just now. It certainly doesn't mean they're definitely planning to produce any of these possible goods, but it does mean they're at least covering their bases in case they do.The swords is the curious one, though. It sounds like from what GRRM has said that Valyrian Steel basically has the rights to steel weaponry, end of story, at this time. But maybe HBO would trademark this even without a license, just ... because. Or defensively? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brude Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I actually used to handle subsidiary rights for a major publisher, so I'm fairly familiar with how broad some of these definitions can be. I worked with those contracts every day. I still just find it funny that things like back scratchers and fireplace tongs get thrown into the mix.The swords is the curious one, though. It sounds like from what GRRM has said that Valyrian Steel basically has the rights to steel weaponry, end of story, at this time. But maybe HBO would trademark this even without a license, just ... because. Or defensively?The way I read the language is that they are securing the trademark for swords and other weapons made of precious metals, so I don't think that steel weapons, which Valyrian Steel has the rights to, count there (no matter how expensive it might be to manufacture the pattern welded stuff). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ogbebaba Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I can't wait to get my officially licensed House Lannister back-scratcher!shaped like a dagger no doubt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wras Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 shaped like a dagger no doubtOr a long lion's paw? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.