Unfortunate Developments with Privateer Press

[rob]

Originally Posted by P3wnd_666

there is a campaign editor in it which many of my friends and people who played it in my local community referred to as an army builder before the release of your software

If I understand this correctly, your local gaming community used the term "army builder" for an editor within a computer game. And you're using that as the basis for claiming the term "army builder" was not popularized within the miniatures gaming community by our Army Builder product brand over the past 12 years.

Here's some information to consider. If you do a search through the Usenet archives on Google dating back to 1997, you won't find references to the term "army builder". Starting in 1998, references abound, and they all refer to our Army Builder product. If you search through the old eGroups (now YahooGroups) archives, you'll get similar results. Back in 2003, the US Patent & Trademark Office did an exhaustive search of their own to vet our trademark application. If the term had been in use as a general term, the application would have been denied. However, the USPTO drew the conclusion that the term was suitable to grant the trademark.

So it's quite possible that your local gaming group used the term "army builder" back in 1997. However, an isolated group does not make for widespread use. The widespread popularity of the term "army builder" within the miniatures community is attributable to the global adoption of the Army Builder brand as a de facto standard over the past 12 years, and the term has acquired significant secondary meaning as a result.

[n0valoco]

I just hope that the USPTO buys enough copies of your unnamed product to keep your lights on and your employees in house.

So referring to myself as an army builder due to the fact that I have been wargamming for the last 20+ years somehow is detrimental to the software that I have used on occasion at a friend's house that I bought for him? Nice...

I guess I'll get a C&D if I put down "army builder" as a hobby of mine on Facebook? LOL

Yeah, great effort to NOT make yourself look like a Douche. God luck with any furher ventures and thanks for replying to none of my emails that I sent since I set up this account here.

In an era when game shops and companies are closing at an alarming rate due to a massive downturn in the economy, I simply have to shake my head at a company that decides to burn bridges that really are not very strong to start with. I can only wish you well with trying to get additional volunteers to write the code that keeps your unnecesary software current with game releases. It really won't matter to me at all.

[Duggan]

Originally Posted by n0valoco

So referring to myself as an army builder due to the fact that I have been wargamming for the last 20+ years somehow is detrimental to the software that I have used on occasion at a friend's house that I bought for him? Nice...

Nope.

Originally Posted by n0valoco

I guess I'll get a C&D if I put down "army builder" as a hobby of mine on Facebook? LOL

Nope.

In neither case are you releasing a product including the trademarked name. *facepalm* Why is it that whenever a topic like this comes up, you get people who can't seem to get the distinction between using a name where it can be mistaken as a trademark and just using it? If you said something was a "mickey mouse operation," people would understand that it was shoddily built. If you claimed that a building was "a marvel of archetecture", they'd know that you were impressed by it. If you try to market "Mickey Mouse Peanut Cookies" or "Marvel Bedspreads", you're going to get people from Disney and... well, Disney on your back for infringing their trademark. Similarly, here, it's not people calling themselves "army builders" or saying that they enjoy "army building" or even saying that they're using an "army builder program." It's the people who are releasing "Bob's Army Builder" and "Army Builder 2010."

{shakes head} I know that kids aren't being taught the same things in school as they were when I was growing up, but when did they lose the ability to parse the English language?

Just because it always seems obligatory, not an employee of Wolf Lair, just a fan with enough knowledge of the legal system to know that they're doing the reasonable thing they need to to keep themselves from being crowded out of the market by knockoffs trying to ride their coattails by appropriating their trademark.

[Mr_Rose]

Why is it that whenever a topic like this comes up, you get people who can't seem to get the distinction between using a name where it can be mistaken as a trademark and just using it?

The answer is that, unfortunately, people generally are entirely incapable of critical thought. There is no process that starts from "I've just read some information explaining how trade mark law works two posts above mine" and goes to "I should integrate that information into my reasoning about this issue" in the mind of the prototypical modern consumer drone.

Speaking of...
How is your facebook page these days? Has everybody managed to find it again after what happened the other day?

[rob]

Originally Posted by n0valoco

God luck with any furher ventures and thanks for replying to none of my emails that I sent since I set up this account here.

What emails are you referring to here? We received a small number of emails from people about this issue. Some expressed concrete concerns, while a few were simply venting and provided nothing to substantively respond to. The former group received replies, and the latter did not. I'll go back through and see if we missed something that should have received a reply.

[rob]

Hold on there, Mr. Rose. Please keep any frustrations under control here. I truly appreciate the fact that you, Duggan, and other posters have leapt to our defense on this issue. However, this is already a very emotionally charged topic for some, and responding in kind could simply degenerate the thread into a flame war that defeats its entire purpose. While I can empathize to some degree, level heads need to prevail here. Please keep the discussion civil and constructive.

[Mr_Rose]

Originally Posted by rob

Hold on there, Mr. Rose. Please keep any frustrations under control here. I truly appreciate the fact that you, Duggan, and other posters have leapt to our defense on this issue. However, this is already a very emotionally charged topic for some, and responding in kind could simply degenerate the thread into a flame war that defeats its entire purpose. While I can empathize to some degree, level heads need to prevail here. Please keep the discussion civil and constructive.

Yes, sorry. Target of opportunity. I have altered the final statement to be more generic; I merely wished to provide supporting evidence for my hypothesis rather than make specific claims about individuals.

[Duggan]

My apologies for venting my spleen overmuch. I let myself get worked up too readily. Mr. Rose, I'm not entirely certain I follow the intent of the article you posted. Although I certainly hope that the people posting comments about thinking the page was the actual Facebook page were being facetious...

[Mr_Rose]

Originally Posted by Duggan

My apologies for venting my spleen overmuch. I let myself get worked up too readily. Mr. Rose, I'm not entirely certain I follow the intent of the article you posted. Although I certainly hope that the people posting comments about thinking the page was the actual Facebook page were being facetious...

The point was to reinforce the "people don't think" angle with suitable evidence. And, no, for the first couple of pages at least, those comments are entirely genuine; they are in fact the reason the bold, indented fourth paragraph of the article was inserted after the article became the top result for "facebook login" on google.
If you look carefully, you can actually see when the first hints of mockery start.

[53marine]

Rob,

After reading your responses in this thread, I wanted to give you a thumbs up. I felt that you explained yourself well and that you were very gracious considering the maturity level of some of the responses that you received.

I wish you the best in your future efforts to educate people on the realities of the real world.