Alright, I've been asked to signal boost this situation, so I'm going to do what I can... #ttrpg
There is a C&D that was sent to the legal rep of a Chinese dice maker on behalf of Hasbro/WotC. I've seen the letter, but don't want to put myself at risk sharing it. [1/x]
There is a C&D that was sent to the legal rep of a Chinese dice maker on behalf of Hasbro/WotC. I've seen the letter, but don't want to put myself at risk sharing it. [1/x]
As you can tell, this group is using the words "Mind Flayer" to describe these dice, which we have operated under the assumption is something WotC has the total legal ownership of and we can't touch in any way except under certain licenses.
[3/x]
[3/x]
However... it turns out Mind Flayer isn't something that was trademarked. So when this manufacturer went to check this out, they saw it was available TO trademark. So... (see Image)
[4/x]
[4/x]
Fast forward to February of this year. The OGL controversy is winding down after WotC drops the SRD into CC. During this time, the words "mind flayer" appear in the context of mechanical game text, and rumors start going around that this may mean the Mind Flayer is now CC.
[5/x]
[5/x]
It would appear that around this same time, WotC starts looking at protecting some parts of their IP. They're not in the wrong for doing so, I absolutely agree. If anything, they should have had this on lock for a hot second.
[6/x]
[6/x]
Then they discover the trademark for "Mind Flayer" registered as a Class 28 belongs to THIS company.
Now we've got some conflict.
To be clear; I think WotC essentially HAS to challenge this in court to keep a legal claim on Mind Flayer as part of their IP as a Class 28.
[7/x]
Now we've got some conflict.
To be clear; I think WotC essentially HAS to challenge this in court to keep a legal claim on Mind Flayer as part of their IP as a Class 28.
[7/x]
So a C&D was issued to the current trademark holder on what shows as Feb 14th, 2023, telling them to turn the trademark over.
It seems WotC's legal team is trying to correct some legal errors with how they were using their IP in the past, but this feels kinda SLAPP-y?
[8/x]
It seems WotC's legal team is trying to correct some legal errors with how they were using their IP in the past, but this feels kinda SLAPP-y?
[8/x]
Again: I AM NOT A LAWYER, nor am I an affected party here, but an affected party asked me to put attention on this.
It's a hot mess, and I actually understand in part why WotC would do this. But I also think it might be in WotC's interest to just let the mind flayer go?
[9/x]
It's a hot mess, and I actually understand in part why WotC would do this. But I also think it might be in WotC's interest to just let the mind flayer go?
[9/x]
Like, at this point if there was a legal screw up in the past and you dropped the ball on a trademark registration; is it better to bleed this manufacturer dry in court, or to just let this one monster go? Idk how much damage this realistically does to D&D?
[10/x]
[10/x]
So that's really all on this one. It's not the kind of thing I think is an industry-rocker like the OGL situation. Personal thought on this; it does feel like there's a better way to fix a past mistake like this than to take legal action, but yeah idk, it feels bad man.
[11/x]
[11/x]
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
