Hi!

In 1998 I started distributing a product called "Rob's Super BlackJack" (yes, I know that's lame!). About a year later I dropped the "Rob's" and just called it "Super BlackJack". GameHouse now has a game called "Super BlackJack" and there's a also a new website called www.superblackjack.com that's unrelated.

If you google "Super BlackJack" I still get all top listings but I'm wondering if I should consider changing the name the next time I do an new version. I want to avoid confusion for my customers but I don't want to lose 6 years of name recoginition I've built up.

Any thoughts?

The following assumes you are trading in the same territory as them.

Legally THEY should change their product name. "Super BlackJack" is a trademark relating to your game (even if you didn't register it) established through years of use. You could sue they for Trademark infingement or at the very least get a lawyer to send a cease and desist letter.

Having said that getting them to do so may cost money. If you get a lawyer to send a letter they may decide to change the name just to avoid any legal costs. Or they may decide not to. If they wont then you have to either give up or go to the expense of taking them to court. If you have not registered the trademark then you can only win if you prove that you have actually lost money or that customers have actually thought that their game was yours. If you had registered the trademark the law would simply force them to stop using the name as there is no requirement to prove that they have cause you any damage.

Before sending them a letter you should check to see if they have registered it as a trademark. If they have then you should lodge an objection. If they have not then you should register it. That you will have a much better chance of getting them to change the name as they will probably know that they can't fight a registered trademark.

Thanks Dan. It appears they haven't registered the trademark (in the US at least) so I'm going to look into that. I think it would be tough to prove I've lost any money at this point so it's really my only option.

Provided you have been activly using the name then you have a pretty cast iron case (depending on what the legal interpretation of "actively using" is). It might be an idea to post a question regarding that (without mentioning the game title) in the business and legal thread at the igda forums http://www.igda.org/Forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=64

Thomas Buscaglia (an experienced game IP lawyer) is moderator and post there. Gamedev.net also have a thread relating to a legal newsletter he is/will be doing for them at http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=257133