[gitback12]

I'm sorry, but I have to agree with the poster who said that trademarking the term "army builder" is like trademarking "wheelchair" or "bunk bed." Moreover, the claim that the term "Army Builder" is prevelant because of Lone Wolf's use of the phrase is like NASA claiming that the term "space shuttle" has only entered our lexicon because they were the first to build it and chose to call it a "space shuttle." It seems pretty obvious to me that we would call anything that "shuttles" stuff into "space" a SPACE SHUTTLE, regardless of whether anyone had ever actually built one, and anyone who wants to build something that "shuttles" stuff into "space" should be able to put the words "space" and "shuttle" together to appropriately describe such. Just because NASA was the first entity to make one doesn't mean they should get to bar anyone else from making similar use of two generic words that, when combined, create an equally generic term.

Along these same lines, I disagree with the assertion that prior to Lone Wolf's "Army Builder" trademark no one used that term. The term might not necessarily have been "prevelant," but it almost certainly would have been one of the common terms that would have been used, along with things like "list maker" or "army creator," to describe such tools. Finally, as far as the situation with the proper noun "Coke" being used as a blanket term for all soft drinks in the south... sorry but that analogy is off the mark. "Coca-Cola" (or "Coke") was a completely original PROPER noun with absolutely no prior meaning within the soft drink industry prior to its creation. Only after the drink became popular did certain segments of the general public begin to use it as a descriptor for soft drinks as a whole (like Kleenex for tissues or Xerox for copies). That's the OPPOSITE of what we have here. Instead of creating an original proper noun which heretofore had nothing to do with designing table top army lists, Lone Wolf essentially appropriated what would otherwise have been a completely generic and intuitive term used to describe such a tool and trademarked that, essentially removing a phrase which would have otherwise naturally existed within the public domain. The more applicable analogy would be if the inventors of Coca-Cola had instead named their product "Soft Drink" or "Carbonated Beverage" and then trademarked that. That is essentially what Lone Wolf has done; indeed this analogy highlights the absurdity of it.

To me, the real test is whether or not a person, with no prior knowledge of the Lone Wolf software, when describing a program such as this, would instinctively call it an "army builder program" or "army builder" for short. I'm sorry, but the answer is CLEARLY yes. It's simply one of about four or five instinctive phrases that come to mind when attempting to describe a tool used to BUILD an ARMY; in my opinion no one should be allowed to essentially "take" such a phrase and bar competitors from using it to also describe their product. There is absolutely nothing creative or unique about throwing the words "army" and "builder" together.

That being said, the real issue to me are the threatening "cease and desist" letters being sent out to small time software dabblers just because it didn't occur to them that the term "Army Builder" was (or even could be) trademarked. I dunno, it's just.... what's the best word... let's go with "douchey." There is really no other way to describe it. YES, you properly trademarked the phrase. YES, the law is on your side. YES, pursuant to the law, you are within your rights to "demand" that the term not be "infringed" upon and you'll "lose the value" of your trademark if you don't "enforce" it. YES, we get all that. But, seriously. "Army Builder?" Really? If you really cared this much about other people trading on your good will, I would think you'd have been a little more creative and original about what to call it.

Now that we've covered your rights, I feel compelled to point out that members of the gaming community are within their rights to think that trademarking such a completely generic term like "army builder," and then getting all legal-pissy anytime someone dare use the term to describe their own army building software, simply smacks of DOUCHYNESS.

I mean, I'd give you something like "Table Top Force Creator," or "Lone Wolf Army Maker," but just "Army Builder?" Seriously? Douchey. Sorry.