Palladium's lawyers strike again

[Rerun941]

Kevin S. must keep an army of lawyers on retainer...

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/loadNews/16953/Palladium-Books-Sues-Trion-Worlds

I suppose I should stop referring to my post-apoc setting for d6 as a conversion/adaptation of Rifts. hehehe :D

[Jerry D. Grayson]

From the MMO website-

Rifts violently rip into reality across the land and release powerful forces that threaten the very existence of Telara.

The rifts have divided the people and endanger the world. Whether you fight to seal the rifts forever, or harness their power for your own, epic adventures lie ahead for those willing to fight for the future of Telara.

I don’t blame Kevin for suing it sounds a lot like a game he publishes.

[Whill]

From the MMO website-


Rifts violently rip into reality across the land and release powerful forces that threaten the very existence of (Telara).

The rifts have divided the people and endanger the world. Whether you fight to seal the rifts forever, or harness their power for your own, epic adventures lie ahead for those willing to fight for the future of (Telara).

I don’t blame Kevin for suing it sounds a lot like a game he publishes.

It's been 20 years since I played it, but that paragraph makes that game sounds a lot like TORG to me.

[Cryonic]

It's been 20 years since I played it, but that paragraph makes that game sounds a lot like TORG to me.

Not really. Both were put out in the same year, so just concurrent development. Rifts doesn't have any of the reality wars stuff of TORG. RIFTS was Palladium's way of allowing characters from their different settings to interact. So, it's really more of something invades Earth, but the fabric of reality isn't changed by the invasion (at least not any more than when one country invades another right now).

[Cryonic]

Kevin S. must keep an army of lawyers on retainer...

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/loadNews/16953/Palladium-Books-Sues-Trion-Worlds

I suppose I should stop referring to my post-apoc setting for d6 as a conversion/adaptation of Rifts. hehehe :D

Trademark Infringement... Trademark law REQUIRES them to sue since to protect their trademark. If they don't and then go sue someone else who finds out they didn't try and protect it in this case, then they can be forced to stop that lawsuit and go through this one first before proceeding. This is really no different than the big hullabalu of Intel suing a yoga place for using Yoga Inside. A big stink was made, but they are required to do so or lose their Trademark.

[Rerun941]

I'm all for protecting one's trademark and intellectual property. Kevin just has this reputation of being an A-hole about it. (deserved or not)

It's just like any real-life argument. A simple phone call from Kevin to the Trion team probably could have prevented the issue. "Hey, I hear you guys are making a video game called 'Rifts'? Well, you know I made a tabletop RPG with the same name and similar premise... can we chat?" (Assuming he didn't already try that method.)

PS - At least I got people talking on the forums again. Man, it's been sloooow around here lately.

[bblackmoor]

Having the word "Rift" in a title is not by itself a trademark infringement (and what the game is actually *about* has nothing whatsoever to do with trademark -- it could be a game about estranged couples, for all that it matters). It is only an infringement if it causes confusion in the minds of customers, and that must be proven.

Also, unless Palladium has a trademark for "Rifts" in the field of computer games, specifically, then there is no basis for a lawsuit. As it happens, there is one registered -- but there is also a registered trademark for "Rift: Planes of Telara". However, unless there is some risk of customers being confused between the "Rifts" computer game and the "Rift: Planes of Telara" computer game, there is no infringement.

Is there even a "Rifts" computer game? If there isn't, that registration is invalid, anyway. Trademarks and service marks must be used *in commerce* to remain valid.

In a just society, people who bring frivolous lawsuits just for the purposes of bullying and extortion would be severely penalized.

[bblackmoor]

"Trademark law REQUIRES them to sue since to protect their trademark."

No, it does not. Trademark law requires that the mark be protected against infringement. Suing someone is the last resort, after all other options have failed.

For example, let's say you have the trademark "Black Gate Publishing". And let's say that another publisher comes along with a "Black Gate Magazine". You might write to the publishers of that magazine, explain that you have a registered trademark on "Black Gate Publishing", and that customers might be confused. In such a case, the publishers of Black Gate Magazine might put a small disclaimer on their product saying, "Not affiliated with Black Gate Publishing," and vice versa. If everyone is a reasonable adult, they might even put hyperlinks to each other's web site on their own web pages, to help potential customers who found one when looking for the other. Heck, you might even forward an email occasionally to the other company, when someone types "blackgate.com" rather than "blackgate.net" in an email address.

This, of course, would all require that the people involved are rational adults -- a trait which appears to be lacking in the case of Palladium Books.

[Rosencrantz]

There was a Rifts game for a Nokia game/phone thing once upon a time. Just saying.

(I'm not a fan of the company, the man, the system, or the setting.)

I doubt this ends up in court, someone will balk or settle.

[Rerun941]

There was a Rifts game for a Nokia game/phone thing once upon a time. Just saying.

(I'm not a fan of the company, the man, the system, or the setting.)

I doubt this ends up in court, someone will balk or settle.

It was called "Rifts: Promise of Power" for the N-Gage.

[harmyn]

There was also talk of a Rifts computer game and MMORPG at various points in the past and Kevin may have been staking his claim then but that was long ago and much water has passed under that bridge since then. And while it is something different I can see where based on that blurb description there could be some potential confusion. Think if you found a game called "Torga: The Game of World Shattering Alternate Romes." It could cause some confusion with Torg. Of course in my game Torga is actually a female dwarf with fists that can shatter stone but that is a different story.


All I can say is if we get a Rifts game going as a result of this I am going to play the Vagabond Class!!

[Jerry D. Grayson]

All I can say is if we get a Rifts game going as a result of this I am going to play the Vagabond Class!!

I’ll be your Wilderness Scout sidekick :p

[Rerun941]

I’ll be your Wilderness Scout sidekick :p

And I'll be your City Rat cousin from the 'Burbs. ;)

[Jerry D. Grayson]

And I'll be your City Rat cousin from the 'Burbs

Lol


Hey wait; does that make me the bumpkin cousin from the backwoods?


Man I would so play that game warts and all

[harmyn]

Lol


Hey wait; does that make me the bumpkin cousin from the backwoods?


Man I would so play that game warts and all

I think if this game were seen at a convention all the Rifts fanboys would stop and say to us, "You're doing it wrong." :D

[Rerun941]

I think if this game were seen at a convention all the Rifts fanboys would stop and say to us, "You're doing it wrong." :D

I have no doubt about that. They'd be all "hey, you should play (insert most powerful OCC/RCC here)!"

I'm tempted to page through my Rifts books and find the weakest/lowliest character concepts I can find. (Though, I think we've covered the top 3!) LOL

[Will]

There was a Rifts game for a Nokia game/phone thing once upon a time. Just saying.

(I'm not a fan of the company, the man, the system, or the setting.)

I doubt this ends up in court, someone will balk or settle.

Or, maybe tell Siembieada to go **** himself and send hordes of foaming at the mouth Palladium fanboys raining down on their heads.

Trust me, the PB fanboys are worse than KS, just check the Wikipedia talk pages on the Palladium Books article.

[Will]

It was called "Rifts: Promise of Power" for the N-Gage.

It was a failure too, as I recall.

[hellsreach]

I have to say that, while Kevin has been know to be a bit over-aggressive in his protection of his IP's, I feel that this violation warrants this action 100%.

[pming]

Hiya.

As much as it pains me to say it, I'm going to also have to back up Palladium on this. o_O

The name is fine, as far as I'm concerned. However, that name, coupled with the description of the game setting where "rifts" open up between alternate dimensions and a potpouri of zany characters pour in...that sounds *exactly* like Rifts (with a heafty dose of Torg, as someone mentioned, thrown in). As far as I know, Palladium may very well have been the first company to use the term/idea of a "rift in dimentions" as the basis for a game.

Anyway, that MMO company should have just renamed their game to something else in place of "Rift".

^_^

Paul L. Ming

[skeloric]

Random conversation happening upon a city street: "Michael and I just don't talk anymore. Its like there is a rift --" Kevin leaps out of the alley: "I'LL SEE YOU IN COURT! THAT WORD IS MINE!!!!"
"Palladium sues some random person on the street," hits the next days headline.