EVE General Discussion

Currently a dead trademark according to the USPTO, except as a translation for some tequilas. The dead trademark filed by 20th Century Fox in 1978 only applied to board game equipment.

The trademarks filed by Games Workshop in the United States only apply to games, toys, models, and paint.

As a long-term Warhammer 40.000 player, I still think GW is being very silly. I expected better of them.

Space marine just means a marine... in space, im sure folks will start calling marines that are based in space somewhere in the not to distant future will be called space marines, just maybe not in fancy 3-4cm thick power armor lol :-P

Yup.

It got so bad that the Tolkien estate tried to forbid them to us e the word 'ring'.

In TSR's Magazine (The Dragon) there was a comic strip about this showing TSR's office and people saying things like:

"Would somebody answe the phone...it's metallic circular banding"

"I just got engaged! Come see my engagement metallic circular band!"

This actually happened in late 70's/early 80's. TSR getting sue happy happened about when you said.

"Doctor says I have Tinitis...it's metallic circular banding in the ears"

You get the idea :)

Thanks for the correction. Glad I'm not the only one that remembers those dark days.

Well the Amarr Empire is basically Warhammer 40k's Imperium of Mankind. They even had an Emperor that was on a life support device similar to that of WH40Ks "The Golden Throne" which has been keeping the God Emperor in a state of barely living for 10,000 years.

Games Workshop's Warhammer 40k has inspired almost every sci-fi setting for the past 30 or so years now. Starcraft outright copied almost everything from WH40k. Other science fiction universe like Halo draw inspiration from them as well. You can't really blame GW for wanting to sue people because these franchises are getting very popular on ideas that are either identical to or the same as the ones GW came up with.

GW is only suing for similarities to Space Marines though because those are the Poster-boys of the franchise. The Adeptus Astartes or the Space Marines are easily the most recognizable figures in the WH40k universe.

Though I don't think this is the way GW should be protecting their interest. Suing everyone won't really accomplish much other than making them look like a ****. They will rarely have a case and when they do they won't make any significant gains. GW should just stay focused on their own franchise rather than what everyone else is doing. WH40k is very different than every other sci-fi universe out there right now. As long as it keeps it's own identity, WH40k will grow in popularity.

Really the only thing I can think of that GW could win a case in is if they sue blizzard for Starcraft's Terran Marines. If you look at a Terran Marine from Starcraft, and then at a Space Marine from WH40k it's very clear that blizzard copied the design. Really the only thing they changed was the helmet.

Also, I think DUST 514 shouldn't have any problems. None of the soldiers act or look anything like the iconic Space Marines.

As someone who actually READS science fiction, practically everything in Warhammer 40K strikes me as shallow and derivative of much better fiction, emperor included. For them to claim ownership over a term that originated in the 30s pulps and was substantially developed by Heinlein and others is ridiculous.

I don't have a problem with them pissing around their tiny little corner in the sandbox tabletop gaming and miniatures. But you don't get to improvise off of Herbert, Heinlein, Doc Smith, Moorcock, and Lovecraft and then play the schoolyard bullies when other people do the same.

3 pages because the OP read Mercenaries as Marines? Jeez