Can You Trademark Someone's Island Name And Then Shut Them Down?

Sadly, OWK Island will be no more. There has been some sort of Hostile takeover by one of it's officers. OWK is a European Island. A American trademarked the Island Name and told the UK OWK Island owner he had to shut down or she would tell Linden Lab he was using her trademark.

The poor guy took this as a serious threat and announced to his 1780 group members that he was deleting the island tommorow.

He said to us:
"Reason is that a officer of the group registered OWK as a trade mark in USA for herself. And because Lindens Lab respect USA laws, she now want to be owner of OWK in SL group or will do towards me legal actions for infringement of Digital Millenium Copyright Act.
So – I will made her owner of group and tommorow destroy all my buildings on island and return all your objects (if some are here). After this will sold both our islands."

Is her threat real? Can anyone just trademark your SL project name and tell you to close down?

They can tell you, but unless you are actually infringing on their trademark, they probably have no legal grounds to actually carry out the threat.

DMCA = Digital Millenium Copyright Act, not Trademark act.

I think the worse that can happen is Linden Lab will be forced to take down the aoffending content, and possibly have the island renamed. if you think there is a problem with the island name, contact Linden Lab and have the name changed (I think they charge 100usd)

Issuing a DMCA is a first line of fire, if you comply with it then I belive there is no real legal threat. Unless it was a blantent attempt at infringement.


Peace, and best of luck!

He has had the OWK Island for a year. She just trademarked the name in the United States. Can anyone really trademark any island the see is successful and then take it over?

maybe contact ll and ask them, or have your friend contact a lawyer that deals with this stuff

good luck

Wow. Could this be a new form of griefing in SL? That is really crappy.

Wow.... he shouldn't have made her owner of the group or acted so fast without contacting LL first. Unbelievable.

So, a female has taken advantage of weakness and usurped a mere male to take control of a female supremacy environment?

Pep (Unironic)

I wouldn't think the trademark process could occur that quickly.

He should stand his ground and call her bluff.

yeah if it is really important to him, he should consult an attorney. His copyright could supercede it. Reading about trademarks, it sounds like registered trademarks are for businesses. I think SL created content would fall under copyright which also applies to web created content. So yeah, a lawyer is needed.

I searched the Trademark office of USA and came up with this


Word Mark OWK
Goods and Services IC 035. US 100 101 102. G & S: Managing and operating resort hotels and business conference centers of others. FIRST USE: 20080301. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20080501
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4)
STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 77614614
Filing Date November 14, 2008
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Owner (APPLICANT) Name not disclosed due to Sl TOS SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP CALIFORNIA Black Mountain Road San Diego CALIFORNIA
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL Live/Dead Indicator LIVE


If it were me i would have just changed the island name to OWK-SL
No one has to close the island Just change the name .

It was recently registered also November 14th

Did you know that there can be more than one trademark for the same name? He can also trademark the OWK name and keep it . Making sure that the commerce type is different than the one registerd.. If they do hotel management then he/she could register it as a online game service commerce or club or what ever it is

AND NO ONE HAS TO SHUT ANYTHING DOWN JUST CHANGE NAME AND DO NOT AD THIS PERSON TO GROUP AS OWNER

The Lindens are easily capable of changing the names of islands.
He could put in a request to have the island name changed due to copyright problems.

Under no circumstances should he actually give the island to the person.
In a dispute between a group and the true land owner of the island, LL ALWAYS sides with the true land owner (the person who bought it from them and who pays them directly the tier) and doesn't even acknowledge the others to have any claim on it

I advise the owner of the island to ban the people trying to steal his land, AR them for harassment and mute them if needed.
Also ban them from the group and send out a group message informing everyone what a bunch of low life criminals they are to try to copyright the name years after its use in an attempt to steal it.
If anyone supports them too much, issue a warning that SL isnt a democracy, and they could also be banned from the island if they continue.

Then contact the office where they have filed the claim for copyright, and inform them that the name is already in use in your country and on the internet and in second life. This should make it very difficult for the claim to be acknowledged by the office especially once they know its an attempt to steal something in SL.

WRONG Copyright and Trademarks are different. For someone to issue a DMCA there has to be a COPYRIGHT infringement. A registered trademark is covered by a different act.

Either way, the correct course of action is a rebrand of the island as previously suggested.

I think this would only make it worse - it implies you know there is a real world OWK and you are using it in SL. Just change it to something else entirely.

In a word, maybe - but based on what we've read here, unlikely. The island owner should consult an attorney, and also challenge the supposed trademark.

Trademarks are based on usage in commerce, not first to file. If the owner of the island is the first to use the brand in commerce, and can prove it, they should have the right to use it and this case is bogus. Unless there are more facts (and there usually are), the owner should not be cowed by this and should consult an attorney.

Is the person trademarking OWK anything to do with the RL OWK?

Matthew

Well, after they decide whether it is worth it. Around here (Baltimore, MD - Washington, DC), a skilled patent attorney is not cheap. No doubt they can inform you of the situation in 5 minutes, bill you for 15 plus 5 minutes for the one minute the staff took to answer your initial call, so it would only cost you a bit over $ 100. To actually do anything would run the cost of an island in a lot of cases. Is it worth that? Just wondering...

Don't know - just suggesting that getting away from it altogether would be the easiest way to get out of the combat arena. OWK-SL IMO suggests knowledge of a RL OWK. In this case, of course, they DO have knowledge.

Again, just IMO, but it would appear that simply moving to a new moniker altogether in SL is simpler, easier and much cheaper than any form of challenge. My first (and unsubstantiated) reaction was that the person was looking for a reason to let go and got it from this trademark notice. There were too many easy, less drastic available alternatives to the notice as I read it in the OP. Only details I know are what I read here, though.

A simple reciept from the Island's purchase is enough to show prior useage. File a ticket with LL, be sure to include any and all relavent conversations and notecards and tell the usurper to go ---- well, you get the idea.

The actions taken by the owner were probably the worst things they could have done.

Yep, agree with Yosef.

Adding her as an owner to the group was a huge mistake. No way should she be added to the any land controls, which would compound the problem.

Well I believe the owner of OWK became aware of his rights (perhaps after reading here). He posted the following:

It seems as if the real OWK in Europe is backing him up.

i hope the land doesnt belong to the group that he made the person owner of.. or i hope that he is estate owner..

1. Boot her as an owner and a group member.
2. Tell her to file and be damned.

From what you've described, she has no grounds. As others have said, you can easily prove first use. Simply filing for a trademark does not let her trump that. Also, as others have said, DMCA does not apply to trademarks anyway.

She can *FILE* a DMCA takedown notice, and your content may be removed by LL. In this case, you must file an objection. See the procedure for that. Although it's a huge pain, I'm pretty sure that it would be resolved in your favor, for the two reasons stated above.

Now, there appears to be a RL "OWK". This may be another matter entirely. Do you mimic their operation or service in SL? If so, you might be liable to a trademark infringement claim from THEM. If your name is simply a coincidence (for example, they make, say, potato chips and you sell poseballs), I would not worry about it.

Sadly, this is always the choice.

Not to nitpick, but a Patent attorney is not the same. Patents are distinct from trademarks, and both are distinct from copyright. They are not the same thing, and while they are often related in the realm of intellectual property, it is not the same.