Current Events > So, pretty much every word in the English language is trademarked, right?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I was so excited to come up with a character nickname in a story I'm working on: Red Talon.

As it turns out, it's a paramilitary group in a video game I never played. Green Talon is a tractor company. Silver Talon makes knives. Blue Talon is a bar. I bet I could change the character name to Red Hoof and there'd be somebody who already uses that name.

Unless you misspell words, there's pretty much no way of finding a combination of two words that haven't been put together in some capacity. We have billions of people on this planet and the vast majority of them have had access to social media for a quarter of a century. Of the millions of possible combinations, somebody somewhere has already gotten to the one you're thinking of. Maybe I could have Redd Tallon and not get sued.

Or just not Talon.

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FortuneCookie posted...

Unless you misspell words, there's pretty much no way of finding a combination of two words that haven't been put together in some capacity.

i just googled "ubiquitous dodecahedron" and got 41 results v_v

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I wanted the character to be called King Kuda, but that's a musician I'm unfamiliar with. Then I wanted to call him Saber King. But that's an anime character I'm sure I've never heard of. Maybe I saw one or both names in passing at some point and remembered them subliminally, but damn.

King Kuda was meant to be King Barracuda. I just changed the C to a K. And that name is taken. Maybe I could call the character King DinkerDonkerWhizBang. Maybe that name's not taken. Then again, I'd probably still have to misspell Dinker.

i mean you don't need to avoid using any names that have ever been used ever >_>

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Try Nutter

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Names cannot be copyright and trademarks are more about marketing.

As long as you're not making the title of your book Red Talon you don't run into problems. Even if you are naming your book Red Talon it's very easy to avoid trademark infringement by making your title distinctively different visually and that you don't apply for a trademark yourself.

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Choco posted...

i mean you don't need to avoid using any names that have ever been used ever >_>

How does that work, anyway? Like, how is it that Mortal Kombat and Spider-Man both get away with having a character named Scorpion? I know that a scorpion is a common animal, but I figured once someone had a trademark on something that was it unless they lost their trademark.

29 years ago, I could see someone at Marvel casually raising an eyebrow at the fact that a video game character shares a name with one of their villains. And then they'd set that brow back down and go on about their business without so much as a casual shrug. If Mortal Kombat 1 were made today, I think the only question would be whether Disney or Sony sued over "Scorpion."

Tyranthraxus posted...

Names cannot be copyright and trademarks are more about marketing.

As long as you're not making the title of your book Red Talon you don't run into problems. Even if you are naming your book Red Talon it's very easy to avoid trademark infringement by making your title distinctively different visually and that you don't apply for a trademark yourself.

So what's to keep me from calling my Louisville Slugger wielding vigilante "Batman"? Or calling a plumber-turned-astronaut "Harry Potter"?

These aren't actual characters of mine. I'm just curious how that works.

FortuneCookie posted...

So what's to keep me from calling my Louisville Slugger wielding vigilante "Batman"? Or calling a plumber-turned-astronaut "Harry Potter"?

These aren't actual characters of mine. I'm just curious how that works.

"It depends"

You're far more likely to get in trouble over having a Billionaire playboy philanthropist named Bruce Dwayne whose parent's were killed outside of a Jazz Club so he inherited Dwayne Entrepreneur Ltd. And billions in fortune and uses it to go out at night dressed in black and beating up criminals along with his arch Nemesis the Jester.

Than you are to get in trouble over a guy who is basically Mumen Rider with a Bat and call him Batman colloquially.

But don't name the title of your book Batman.

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I guess I really should look into just how the whole naming thing works.

for what its worth, Kamen Rider actually has a villain named Bat Man >_>

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AlisLandale posted...

for what its worth, Kamen Rider actually has a villain named Bat Man >_>

And Ultraman had a villain named Bat Girl.

Japan doesn't give a shit about American copyrights. See JJBA

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I assume you are writing a novel or something. That would be a creative work and is considered the domain of copyright law.

Trademark is meant to protect consumers from being misled by brand with similar sounding names. For example, starting a coffee shop called StarHucks will likely get you into trouble.

Two different ideas.

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Irony posted...

Japan doesn't give a shit about American copyrights. See JJBA

Well funny thing is that the official English subs for Kamen Rider keep Bat Man.

Official English subs for Jojo frequently change the names of even generic references like Echoes and Sticky Fingers <_<

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I hear ya, someone is already using my GameFaqs name on Twitch.

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Geiki Ganger posted...

I assume you are writing a novel or something. That would be a creative work and is considered the domain of copyright law.

Trademark is meant to protect consumers from being misled by brand with similar sounding names. For example, starting a coffee shop called StarHucks will likely get you into trouble.

Two different ideas.

I'm going by things like, when you're looking at the cover of a piece of physical media and it states on the back, "X supporting character is a trademark of parent company," or "Y main character is registered trademark of parent company."



Character names and such may fall under copyright, but a lot of characters get trademarked.

Freddy being trademarked didnt stop the movie Freddy Got Fingered from getting made. >_>

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AlisLandale posted...

for what its worth, Kamen Rider actually has a villain named Bat Man >_>

Batman is also a city in Turkey.

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Okay, yeah. You can't trademark the name Freddy. But it's in obvious record to Freddy Krueger who is trademarked. (And it's a pity they couldn't have stopped Freddy Got Fingered from getting made.)

AlisLandale posted...

Well funny thing is that the official English subs for Kamen Rider keep Bat Man.

Official English subs for Jojo frequently change the names of even generic references like Echoes and Sticky Fingers <_<

Tbf they separate the Bat and Man

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You understand that none of those copyrights would apply to your character, right?

the only two names not yet trademarked are "Popplers" and "Zitzers"

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Not Testcicles?

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AlisLandale posted...

Well funny thing is that the official English subs for Kamen Rider keep Bat Man.

Official English subs for Jojo frequently change the names of even generic references like Echoes and Sticky Fingers <_<

I think technically there shouldn't be a viable lawsuit against JoJos but the localisers just don't want to deal with an overzealous lawsuit which, let's be real, would happen in America

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RadiantJoyrock posted...

You understand that none of those copyrights would apply to your character, right?

It's good information in the future. Just the same, I'm changing his name from Red Talon. The character isn't birdlike anyway.

FortuneCookie posted...

It's good information in the future. Just the same, I'm changing his name from Red Talon. The character isn't birdlike anyway.

Fair enough :)

I'm really annoyed about Saber King being taken. I was gonna name my character after a Sabertooth Cat. From what I understand, the anime Saber King is a gender-flipped King Arthur from another dimension.

Even if I could use that name without fear of legal repercussion, I'd never be able to convince anyone that I hadn't stolen the name.

FortuneCookie posted...

I'm really annoyed about Saber King being taken. I was gonna name my character after a Sabertooth Cat. From what I understand, the anime Saber King is a gender-flipped King Arthur from another dimension.

Even if I could use that name without fear of legal repercussion, I'd never be able to convince anyone that I hadn't stolen the name.

tbh just yolo it and do it anyway. Only weebs and degenerates even know what Fate is.

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