Indie-Resource.com

http://icv2.com/articles/news/17509.html

some MMO got a little to close to Palladium's Rifts universe.

WOW

I will rarely be caught saying this on topics of IP especially within the Gaming Industry because sometimes they just seem to frivolous:
But this seems fairly justified.

I am the same way Noc, and I agree..

Ouch...

I am typically one of those people who warns any user creating a game that seems close to existing IP, or in the case of fan games, blatantly uses another's IP. And this and the Chrono Trigger case are some of the reasons why. Creating a game takes so much work, dedication and hardship, and it just seems counter-productive to me to leave yourself open to having all that work erased due to IP infringement. Luckily it appears that this game will still be able to be released since it appears from that article it was mostly a trademark issue, and not a content IP issue (which would have likely killed the game since re-deving it would have been out of he question). Surely their community size is going to be hurt by this, though, since the game now has to change names and pay some painful fees.

I was going to say palladium is pretty rabid about IP, ever since the maker of the spawn comic sued THEM for their 'night spawn' RPG - which they latter, in an ironic turn of renaming to dodge IP, renamed to 'night bane'. Now they seem hell bent on biting everyone else. They even stick a TM on the word 'leyline' in their books, as if they invented the word. Phools.

Yet I'd grant here it's pretty clear cut. Though I don't particularly agree with intellectual turf laws/wars.

I like the setting of rifts and the challenges it presents. I was going to make my own post apocalypse with magic setting as well (that overall idea is not copywritable, so as long as I use none of their trademarked words, it's cool. Though I was thinking of using the title 'Drifts', but wonder if 'it kinda sounds the same' is actually taken seriously, legally).

The issue is that using the same word can confuse people.

Two games named Super platformer makes it hard to determine whats what, and when people put mils into advertising for one name they don't want it to be confused.

Now one I was against
EDGE
vs
Mirrors Edge, EDGE magazine, etc etc.

Hard to mistake those for one that was registered and not capitialized, also he did some underhanded stuff with those one indies registering the trademark they told him they would change to.


But when its
Rift: Blahh
vs
Rifts: Blaah


I can see it.

Edge should not be able to be trademarked, copyrighted whatever....too basic of a word. Edge a game about throwing rocks off the edge of a cliff could be but if someone comes along and builds a game called edge that is about a bunny named edge then I don't see the issue.

Kinda like Trump patenting Your Fired! Gimme a break!!! Billions have said it before him. He may have capitalized on it but did not invent it.