Trademork brought back some memories with his post last Saturday (link here) regarding recently filed applications for the mark INFOCOM by two separate companies.
The first intent-to-use application for INFOCOM, filed on July 2, 2007, by a German man named Oliver Klaeffling, covers game software. However, the second application, filed on October 3, 2007, by a company named Omni Consumer Products LLC, is a use-in-commerce application for the mark INFOCOM for a similar class of goods claiming first use in March 2006. Given the fact that the German INFOCOM application already has been approved for publication, one would suspect Omni Consumer Products to file an opposition.
As most 80s computer gamers surely remember, INFOCOM was the software company that published several text-based adventure games in the 80s, such as the Zork series, Infidel, Cutthroats, The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Leather Goddesses of Phobos. The company was bought by Activision in 1986, but eventually was shut down by the publisher in 1989 even though some games were released in the 1990s under the Zork brand (e.g., Return to Zork).
For those of us with fond memories of playing adventure and fantasy role playing games on their Apple II computers, here are a few trademark registrations that I hope will bring back some memories:
- Ultima
- Wizardry (which has its own interesting legal history involving creator Andrew Greenberg and Sir-Tech, click here and here for court decisions)
- King’s Quest
- The Bard’s Tale
- Might & Magic
- And of course Zork (the one registration of all the ones listed that is actually Dead)
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