Gears of War Munny under siege, sued for trademark infringement
This one’s an update to the Gears of War Munny that web comic artist Emilio Lopez created as a Christmas present for a cousin, but it’s the sort of update neither he nor we would expect. A couple of weeks ago, he got a cease-and-desist letter from the law firm representing Epic Games. Begin quote:
This letter serves to place you on notice that your unauthorized use of Epic’s trademarks on your website, the doll, and the packaging for the doll constitutes actionable violations of both federal and state laws and further serves to place you on notice that Epic will move aggressively to protect its rights in its intellectual property.
Your unauthorized use of the Gears of War trademarks falsely suggests sponsorship or affiliation between Epic and you and constitutes an attempt by you to trade off the goodwill of the Gears of War trademark…
What’s really confusing about the application of trademark law in this case is that it’s being applied to a DIY Christmas present, not a for-profit product (unless Lopez’s actual site which had, until the letter’s arrival, posted the images of the Munny Marcus, was for profit or supported by ads, which could be argued by a lawyer as attempting to milk off trademarks, but we really don’t know).
On its own, we’d give this story short shrift, make a PSA about being very, very careful from now on with fan-created GoW stuff that hits teh intarwebs, and end it here. Someone here brought up the HaloGen fan-created Halo-themed mod to Command & Conquer: Generals, though.
Remember that? A bunch of Halo fans tried to create a Halo-themed mod to the EALA RTS, until they got a cease-and-desist from Bungie. That was before Bungie, Microsoft, and Ensemble Studios announced the Halo Wars RTS. That brings one possibility to mind: is there going to be an officially-licensed GoW action figure or collectibles line coming? Or is Epic just being protective?
This one’s an update to the Gears of War Munny that web comic artist Emilio Lopez created as a Christmas present for a cousin, but it’s the sort of update neither he nor we would expect. A couple of weeks ago, he got a cease-and-desist letter from the law firm representing Epic Games. Begin quote:
This letter serves to place you on notice that your unauthorized use of Epic’s trademarks on your website, the doll, and the packaging for the doll constitutes actionable violations of both federal and state laws and further serves to place you on notice that Epic will move aggressively to protect its rights in its intellectual property.
Your unauthorized use of the Gears of War trademarks falsely suggests sponsorship or affiliation between Epic and you and constitutes an attempt by you to trade off the goodwill of the Gears of War trademark…
What’s really confusing about the application of trademark law in this case is that it’s being applied to a DIY Christmas present, not a for-profit product (unless Lopez’s actual site which had, until the letter’s arrival, posted the images of the Munny Marcus, was for profit or supported by ads, which could be argued by a lawyer as attempting to milk off trademarks, but we really don’t know).
On its own, we’d give this story short shrift, make a PSA about being very, very careful from now on with fan-created GoW stuff that hits teh intarwebs, and end it here. Someone here brought up the HaloGen fan-created Halo-themed mod to Command & Conquer: Generals, though.
Remember that? A bunch of Halo fans tried to create a Halo-themed mod to the EALA RTS, until they got a cease-and-desist from Bungie. That was before Bungie, Microsoft, and Ensemble Studios announced the Halo Wars RTS. That brings one possibility to mind: is there going to be an officially-licensed GoW action figure or collectibles line coming? Or is Epic just being protective?
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