Earth And Beyond Trademark

[Zathman]

Thought someone here might like to know the Trademark was cancelled in 2009 (coincidentally on my birthday of that year).

Here is a PDF with a scan of all documents filed with the USPTO regarding "Earth and Beyond": [url="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12376839/EaB/75696742.pdf"]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12376839/EaB/75696742.pdf[/url]

More information below:


[b]Typed Drawing[/b]
[b]Word [/b]Mark [color=#0000ff]EARTH AND BEYOND[/color]
[b]Goods and Services[/b] [color=#0000cd](CANCELLED) IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Computer game software and related instruction manuals sold together as a unit. FIRST USE: 20020924. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20020924[/color]
[b]Mark Drawing Code[/b] [color=#0000cd](1) TYPED DRAWING[/color]
[b]Serial Number[/b] [color=#0000cd]75696742[/color]
[b]Filing Date[/b] [color=#0000cd]May 3, 1999[/color]
[b]Current Filing [color=#0000cd]Basis[/color][/b][color=#0000cd] 1A[/color]
[b]Original Filing [color=#0000cd]Basis[/color][/b][color=#0000cd] 1B[/color]
[b]Published for Opposition[/b] [color=#0000cd]January 4, 2000[/color]
[b]Registration Number[/b] [color=#0000cd]2678477[/color]
[b]Registration Date[/b] [color=#0000cd]January 21, 2003[/color]
[b]Owner (REGISTRANT)[/b] [color=#0000cd]Electronic Arts Inc. CORPORATION DELAWARE 209 Redwood Shores Parkway Redwood City CALIFORNIA 94065[/color]
[b]Attorney of Record[/b] [color=#0000cd]RUTH A KENNEDY[/color]
[b]Type of Mark[/b] [color=#0000cd]TRADEMARK[/color]
[b]Register[/b] [color=#0000cd]PRINCIPAL[/color]
[b]Live/Dead Indicator[/b] [color=#0000cd]DEAD[/color]
[b]Cancellation Date[/b] [color=#0000cd]August 29, 2009[/color]

-----

[left][b]Thank you for your request. Here are the latest results from the [url="http://tarr.uspto.gov/"]TARR web server.[/url][/b][/left]
[b]This page was generated by the TARR system on [/b][color=#0000FF]2012-01-24 12:00:22 ET[/color]

[b]Serial Number:[/b][color=#0000FF] 75696742[/color][color=#000000] [/color][url="http://assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=tm&sno=75696742"]Assignment Information[/url][color=#000000] [/color][url="http://tmportal.uspto.gov/external/portal/tow?SRCH=Y&isSubmitted=true&details=&SELECT=US+Serial+No&TEXT=75696742"]Trademark Document Retrieval[/url][color=#000000] [/color]
[b]Registration Number:[/b][color=#000000] [/color][color=#0000FF]2678477[/color][color=#000000] [/color]
[b]Mark[/b][color=#000000] [/color][b](words only):[/b][color=#0000FF] EARTH AND BEYOND[/color]
[b]Standard Character claim:[/b][color=#0000FF] No[/color]
[b]Current Status:[/b][color=#0000FF] Registration cancelled because registrant did not file an acceptable declaration under Section 8. To view all documents in this file, click on the Trademark Document Retrieval link at the top of this page.[/color]
[b]Date of Status: [/b][color=#0000FF]2009-08-29[/color]
[b]Filing Date: [/b][color=#0000FF]1999-05-03[/color]
[b]Transformed into a National Application:[/b][color=#0000FF] No[/color]
[b]Registration Date: [/b][color=#0000FF]2003-01-21[/color]
[b]Register: [/b][color=#0000FF]Principal[/color]
[b]Law Office Assigned:[/b][color=#0000FF] LAW OFFICE 102[/color]

[left][color=#000000][b]If you are the applicant or applicant's attorney and have questions about this file, please contact the Trademark Assistance Center at [email="TrademarkAssistanceCenter@uspto.gov"]TrademarkAssistanceCenter@uspto.gov[/email][/b]

[b]Current Location:[/b][color=#0000FF] 40S -Scanning On Demand[/color]
[b]Date In Location:[/b][color=#0000FF] 2008-03-26[/color][/color][/left]
[color=#000000] [b]LAST APPLICANT(S)/OWNER(S) OF RECORD[/b]
[color=#000000]1. [/color][color=#0000FF]Electronic Arts Inc.[/color]
[b]Address: [/b]
[color=#0000FF]Electronic Arts Inc.[/color]
[color=#0000FF]209 Redwood Shores Parkway[/color]
[color=#0000FF]Redwood City, CA 94065[/color]
[color=#0000FF]United States[/color]
[b]Legal Entity Type: [/b][color=#0000FF]Corporation[/color]
[b]State or Country of Incorporation:[/b][color=#0000FF] Delaware[/color]

[b]GOODS AND/OR SERVICES[/b]
[b]International Class: [/b][color=#0000FF]009[/color]
[b]Class Status: [/b][color=#0000FF]Section 8 - Cancelled[/color]
[color=#0000FF]Computer game software and related instruction manuals sold together as a unit[/color]
[b]Basis: [/b][color=#0000FF]1(a)[/color]
[b]First Use Date: [/b][color=#0000FF]2002-09-24[/color]
[b]First Use in Commerce Date: [/b][color=#0000FF]2002-09-24[/color]

[b]ADDITIONAL INFORMATION[/b]
[color=#000000](NOT AVAILABLE)[/color]

[b]MADRID PROTOCOL INFORMATION[/b]
[color=#000000](NOT AVAILABLE)[/color]

[b]PROSECUTION HISTORY[/b] [b]NOTE: To view any document referenced below, click on the link to "Trademark Document Retrieval" shown near the top of this page.[/b]

[color=#0000FF]2009-08-29 - Canceled Section 8 (6-year)[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2008-03-26 - Case File In TICRS[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2003-01-21 - Registered - Principal Register[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2002-11-20 - Allowed for Registration - Principal Register (SOU accepted)[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2002-11-19 - Assigned To Examiner[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2002-11-15 - Statement Of Use Processing Complete[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2002-11-15 - Extension 5 granted[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2002-09-25 - Use Amendment Filed[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2002-09-25 - Extension 5 filed[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2002-09-27 - PAPER RECEIVED[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2002-02-15 - Extension 4 granted[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2002-02-15 - Extension 4 filed[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2001-08-17 - Extension 3 granted[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2001-08-06 - Extension 3 filed[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2001-03-15 - Extension 2 granted[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2001-02-15 - Extension 2 filed[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2000-10-13 - Extension 1 granted[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2000-08-16 - Extension 1 filed[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2000-03-28 - NOA Mailed - SOU Required From Applicant[/color]
[color=#0000FF]2000-01-04 - Published for opposition[/color]
[color=#0000FF]1999-12-03 - Notice of publication[/color]
[color=#0000FF]1999-10-20 - Approved For Pub - Principal Register[/color]
[color=#0000FF]1999-10-13 - Assigned To Examiner[/color]

[b]ATTORNEY/CORRESPONDENT INFORMATION[/b]
[b]Attorney of Record[/b][color=#000000] [/color]
[color=#0000FF]RUTH A KENNEDY[/color]

[b]Correspondent[/b][color=#000000] [/color]
[color=#0000FF]SUE GARFIELD[/color][color=#000000] [/color]
[color=#0000FF]ELECTRONIC ARTS INC.[/color][color=#000000] [/color]
[color=#0000FF]209 REDWOOD SHORES PARKWAY[/color][color=#000000] [/color]
[color=#0000FF]REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA 94065[/color][color=#000000] [/color][/color] Edited January 24, 2012 by Zathman

[Kyp [LDEV]]

We had been aware of this, but thank you nonetheless.

[Zathman]

@Kyp ahh I see, well I'd been going through the forums and I'd come across recent posts wondering if EA still had "patents" or "trademarks" on E&B.

Nonetheless, here're the documents

[Kyp [LDEV]]

Aye, we never posted about it, one of our developers found it and linked it to the rest of us during a meeting discussion we were having.

[Terrell [BT]]

So what does that mean for the emulator, exactly? Does that mean that EA is less likely to be interested in stopping the emulator, or better still less able?

[Kyp [LDEV]]

Possibly a little less able but technically that trademark applies to the packaging more than the product itself. I get the impression that this could still be skewed in court because of how the trademark is worded but regardless even with this expired, they still hold a copyright for up to 95 years from the date of registration of said copyright on a for-hire work.

[jrichards]

Kyp is correct in that its only the naming of the product. So the Devs can use the name Earth and Beyond without any legal repercussion.

However...and this is a big however.......EA still owns the code, art, sound, and all other assets used in the client.

[Daywolf]

[quote name='Crichton' timestamp='1327454880' post='52214']
Kyp is correct in that its only the naming of the product. So the Devs can use the name Earth and Beyond without any legal repercussion.

However...and this is a big however.......EA still owns the code, art, sound, and all other assets used in the client.
[/quote]Retains copyright, distribution rights, and general idea or theme much like you cant write a book about R2-D2 living on Tatooine servicing a moisture farm. But you can now create and sell an “Earth and Beyond” mug.
Edit: Note: Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer. End Disclaimer. Edited January 25, 2012 by StarbuckJD

[Kyp [LDEV]]

What Starbuck says here is correct, and I have had courses in Intellectual Property law, that's why I knew the 95 year date off the top above. Copyright on a for-hire work lasts this long, the only way we could obtain full rights is to license from EA or to buy that copyright outright (pfft, as if, since it's intertwined with C&C.)

[Hatu]

[quote name='Kyp' timestamp='1327504369' post='52272']
What Starbuck says here is correct, and I have had courses in Intellectual Property law, that's why I knew the 95 year date off the top above. Copyright on a for-hire work lasts this long, the only way we could obtain full rights is to license from EA or to buy that copyright outright (pfft, as if, since it's intertwined with C&C.)
[/quote]

EA is aware of this project and they aren't pursuing this community. EnB was Westwood's baby, not EA's - they're much too busy thinking about other things

[Kyp [LDEV]]

Oh yes, I'm fully aware of that, just pointing it out that they could easily take us down if they so chose to do it. They know we've existed for a long time, heck we tried approaching them to ask about being licensed before, to no avail though.

[shadowxsx]

To bad the copyright code does not have an abandonware clause stating that if a company does not support software for x period then the copyright is null and void and they have to release the software or allow its usage. Or US law was more like Europes laws on software.

As we all know unlike other game companies EA is like a black hole, once they get ahold of something they wont let go. Unlike what microsoft did with MW4 releasing it as freeware.and many other games companies have done either releasing the source code or the entire game outright. To bad they refuse to learn from others sucess (in MANY MANY WAYS).

[tg626]

[quote name='StarbuckJD' timestamp='1327463790' post='52240']
Retains copyright, distribution rights, and general idea or theme much like you cant write a book about R2-D2 living on Tatooine servicing a moisture farm. But you can now create and sell an “Earth and Beyond” mug.
Edit: Note: Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer. End Disclaimer.
[/quote]

You could not, however, leagally use the logo we all know - I think that would be covered by the copyright on all the game art. Previous to this if you made anything named "Earth and Beyond" you'd have been in trouble, now you can use that name on a product/service but not the logo.

[Daywolf]

[quote name='Ted Thompson' timestamp='1327588931' post='52366']
ote]

You could not, however, leagally use the logo we all know - I think that would be covered by the copyright on all the game art. Previous to this if you made anything named "Earth and Beyond" you'd have been in trouble, now you can use that name on a product/service but not the logo.
[/quote]
Yeah, I carefully added the word "create" as in not reuse Open your graphics app starting from blank and you should be ok.
[insert previous disclaimer here]


[quote name='shadowxsx' timestamp='1327580037' post='52362']Unlike what microsoft did with MW4 releasing it as freeware.and many other games companies have done either releasing the source code or the entire game outright. To bad they refuse to learn from others sucess (in MANY MANY WAYS).
[/quote]Yeah they tend to do that. They did something like that with trueSpace, a modelling app. Microsoft bought it and then released it for free, though they had to remove a few features due to third party licensing. Of course downside is that it's not being developed any longer as it was and they ended gameSpace2 development too which I think would have been epic. Edited January 26, 2012 by StarbuckJD

[Shaddex]

The Net7 site logo is a redo from scratch..

[Kyp [LDEV]]

Remember that in imagery, the image must be identical for the claim to stand in court or so uncannily similar as to confuse a brand that is still in operation and controls said copyright/trademark.

[Zathman]

I think this might be pertinent to the discussion of trademarks/copyrights:

This is from: [url="http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html"]http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html[/url]

[quote name="The US Copyright Office"][b]Games[/b]

Copyright does not protect the idea for a game, its name or title, or the method or methods for playing it. Nor does copyright protect any idea, system, method, device, or trademark material involved in developing, merchandising, or playing a game. Once a game has been made public, nothing in the copyright law prevents others from developing another game based on similar principles. Copyright protects only the particular manner of an author’s expression in literary, artistic, or musical form.

Material prepared in connection with a game may be subject to copyright if it contains a sufficient amount of literary or pictorial expression. For example, the text matter describing the rules of the game or the pictorial matter appearing on the gameboard or container may be registrable.

If your game includes any written element, such as instructions or directions, the Copyright Office recommends that you apply to register it as a literary work. Doing so will allow you to register all copyrightable parts of the game, including any pictorial elements. When the copyrightable elements of the game consist predominantly of pictorial matter, you should apply to register it as a work of the visual arts.
[/quote]

[Kyp [LDEV]]

That's sorta what I was referring to. This all was written during the golden age of gaming just after the feud between Atari & TenGen (for those old enough to remember).


Games can't be identical or super similar, but they can share a lot of systems and functionality and that's no problem.

[Zathman]

For the sake of completeness, here is the copyright information for "Earth & Beyond"

Type of Work: [color=#0000cd]Computer File[/color]
Registration Number / Date: [color=#0000cd]PA0001116677 / 2002-09-26[/color]
Title: [color=#0000cd]Earth & Beyond.[/color]
Imprint: [color=#0000cd][Redwood City, CA] : Electronic Arts, c2002.[/color]
Description: [color=#0000cd] 2 CD-ROMs.[/color]
Notes: [color=#0000cd]Includes printout (50 p.)[/color]
Copyright Claimant: [color=#0000cd]Electronic Arts, Inc.[/color]
Date of Creation: [color=#0000cd]2002[/color]
Date of Publication: [color=#0000cd]2002-09-24[/color]
Names: [color=#0000cd]Electronic Arts, Inc.[/color]

In case anyone makes it to Washington DC and wants to look up the information held within the Copyright Archives. Edited January 27, 2012 by Zathman

[Lucy]

You know, at one point, a startup company I was part of contacted EA to buy the rights to EnB. They only wanted like 150k for it, but they'd only sell to a company with either 3 AAA titles under their belt, 1 successful MMO, or a million dollars in profit in the previous fiscal period. We didn't meet any of those criteria. The company's since been dissolved. We never made any profit because we got too caught up trying to make ends meet that we couldn't actually get around to doing the games we formed to do in the first place. Banks wouldn't give us any venture capital because they viewed indies fresh out of college as too risky a venture.

[Zathman]

[quote name='Mouse' timestamp='1327659295' post='52479']
You know, at one point, a startup company I was part of contacted EA to buy the rights to EnB. They only wanted like 150k for it, but they'd only sell to a company with either 3 AAA titles under their belt, 1 successful MMO, or a million dollars in profit in the previous fiscal period. We didn't meet any of those criteria. The company's since been dissolved. We never made any profit because we got too caught up trying to make ends meet that we couldn't actually get around to doing the games we formed to do in the first place. Banks wouldn't give us any venture capital because they viewed indies fresh out of college as too risky a venture.
[/quote]

How long ago was this? Maybe the price has gone down Also, it's a shame that the banks saw a startup out of college as a risky investment when they so often prove to be quality investments... Sometimes. ;-) Edited January 27, 2012 by Zathman

[Daywolf]

[quote name='Mouse' timestamp='1327659295' post='52479']
They only wanted like 150k for it
[/quote]Really?? That would be a major deal, would think it would have already been grabbed up by someone. Even SOE couldn't fail at that, where games go to die. Or some Korean game company. That's like a fraction of the cost compared to most other game engines, and not even beyond the development platform where as this is polished content with all the licensing tape sticky to it's underside which would inflate the fees and cost one would think. That's like nothing, salary for a couple programmers for a year, and for a stable system.

[C Del[IS]]

[quote name='StarbuckJD' timestamp='1327694160' post='52526']
Really?? That would be a major deal, would think it would have already been grabbed up by someone. Even SOE couldn't fail at that, where games go to die. Or some Korean game company. That's like a fraction of the cost compared to most other game engines, and not even beyond the development platform where as this is polished content with all the licensing tape sticky to it's underside which would inflate the fees and cost one would think. That's like nothing, salary for a couple programmers for a year, and for a stable system.
[/quote]
True, but I don't think this game has any real earning potential anymore, not without a new client and completely re-done content. As much as I love EnB, I would have a hard time investing in it myself.

[Zathman]

Someone want to help me win the Powerball? I'd totally put money towards the rights and so forth.

[Daywolf]

[quote name='C Del' timestamp='1327697139' post='52532']
True, but I don't think this game has any real earning potential anymore, not without a new client and completely re-done content. As much as I love EnB, I would have a hard time investing in it myself.
[/quote]Sure, it needs DX9 and such, but no less viable than as for EQ1 running today, though of course that has over a decade of polish and awards for the work they did on the system. EnB didn't shut down because it bombed, but because EA bombed, and then turned their funding to EA Land... which they bombed at. Now of course years have passed, would take some investment to iron out the system, but still a closed source AAA game complete with content, 150k is a giveaway considering. Some of these companies want 500k just to look at their system, with no content, just engine and tool sets. It's only the past couple years that us indies started to get a little luv from them, some price breaks for special licenses that you couldn't even get a quote on before unless you sent them your companies earnings statement for an appointment where they figure out how much they can get out of you. I wouldn’t see Blizzard grabbing it lol, nor small startup indies, but in the middle seems to be a good investment for some company if just 150k.

edit:Anyway it just caught me as odd, talking price I usually hear about doesn’t usually happen until they assess that you are eligible to purchase or license and then it comes to negotiations along with investors and lawyers all with their panties in a jumble. At least that’s how it used to work with negotiating purchases in the game industry apart from the now indie focused companies that are far more informal. EA though… some hardball there. Ever catch some of the public transcripts on video game negotiations/hearings covering their disputes (e.g. such as with Bethesda), it’s enough to make ones head spin. These big companies play for keeps hehe Edited January 28, 2012 by StarbuckJD