Use of real-world trademark - suspended three days

So, in short - LL is doing what they need to, to avoid being sued. Chances are, this was a repeat offender, or someone who refused to take trademarks off their products.

I thought so too. It seemed a harsh punishment to dole out to someone that had not been warned.

How does one know the malefactor has not been warned?

I don't recall ever seeing anything about trademarks in the police blotter. But this may be a old-timer offender.

The blotter doesn't give enough info to make good judgements about the equity of a decison based solely on the blotters contents.

Well then, I shall search for LL's written rule about using trademarks. If anyone finds it first please post a link here. Thanks.

(original quote by Robin Linden)Our goal is to be as consistent as possible in carrying out our policies. With respect to trademarks, we will ask creators to remove them (unless they are the trademark holder) or we will remove them if necessary. I've reminded the liaisons of this policy, and we'll do our best to make sure it's implemented evenly

Copyright violation
If someone feels their idea or creation has been copied by someone else they are free, under the DMCA rules, to petition LL to remove the copy while they pursue legal action. The someone in this case can be a RL corporation or a SL resident. This process is spelled out in our Terms of Service (paragraph 12).

12. DMCA INFORMATION.

Our policy is to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA". Copyright infringing materials found within the world of Second Life can be identified and removed via Linden Lab's DMCA compliance process listed at http://www.secondlife.com/corporate/dmca.php, and you agree to comply with such process in the event you are involved in any claim of copyright infringement to which the DMCA may be applicable.

Prior warnings would not need to be about the same offense.

In the absence of any evidence of a person's rap sheet there isn't much to say about the propriety of the severity of punishment relative to the magnitude of offense.

There might be different degrees of offense. If someone sells a T-Shirt with a Playboy bunny symbol on it that might not be as blatent as creating a Playboy club with waitresses in bunny outfits and copies of the magazine covers, etc, on it.

The blotter doesn't give enough info to make good judgements about the equity of a decison based solely on the blotters contents.

So no mention of suspension as a punishment for copyright infringement - even for repeat offenders.

5.1 Participant Conduct. In addition to abiding at all times by the Community Standards, you agree that you shall not: (i) take any action or upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit Content that infringes or violates any third party rights; (ii) impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, a Linden employee, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;

you are solely responsible for understanding all copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret and other intellectual property or other laws that may apply to your Content

Thanks Suezanne. here are the results of that;

All of the scenarios posted so far suggest that LL would not suspend someone on a first offense when it comes to using trademarks. So we all agree that a three day suspesion for JUST using a trademark in SL seems to be excessive.

All of the scenarios posted so far suggest that LL would not suspend someone on a first offense when it comes to using trademarks. So we all agree that a three day suspesion for JUST using a trademark in SL seems to be excessive.

All of the scenarios posted so far suggest that LL would not suspend someone on a first offense when it comes to using trademarks. So we all agree that a three day suspesion for JUST using a trademark in SL seems to be excessive.

Is LL going to 'consistantly' enforce this or is this another instance of 'yard sale' selective policing and punishment?

In Second Life, we all encourage creators to use their imagination to create content. Some create things that are inspired by real life objects, like cars or jewelry. Now that Second Life is getting larger and residents are exercising their intellectual property (IP) rights, usage of copyrighted/trademarked material has become more of an issue in Second Life.

In general, the use of tradmarked/copyrighted material is frowned upon in Second Life, unless of course you own the rights to the material. To better understand your intellectual property rights, visit the Second Life website and look up our information regarding TOS and DMCA information (http://secondlife.com/corporate/dmca.php). Keep in mind that the Digital Millenium Copyright Act is a federal law and companies/entities can take actual legal action against a SL resident directly. Linden Lab is merely obligated to "cease & desist", meaning we will warn a resident and take the appropriate action, pending on the nature of the violation. Here are some general guidelines:

TRADEMARKED MATERIAL

All Lindens are required to remove all content utlizing trademarked materials, with or without notice. This includes all RL corporate logos and name brands. Understand that certain objects to look like a RL item is not the same and utilizing trademarked names or logos. So one can create a car in SL, make it look like a Mercedes Benz SL, but cannot use the name "Mercedes Benz SL" in it's description or textures, nor can one use their trademarked emblems or logos. The mere shape of the car that was created is NOT trademarked (but making shapes to replicate actual trademarked logos is NOT acceptable). Use of designer logos like those of Gucci, Nike, Louis Vuiton...etc. are also not acceptable. Any resident may file an abuse report if they see any other resident violating trademarked material usage on in-world content in SL.

US Patent & Trademark Homepage: http://www.uspto.gov/index.html

***Use the Search tool under Trademarks on the left navigation when you go to US Patent & Trademark Homepage.
- Use the "New User Form Search (Basic)"
- Under View Search History, select "Plural & Singular " & "Live" radio bottons
- Enter the name of the business in question (ie. Nike)
- Press "Submit Query"

COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL

Using copyrighted materials, like trademarked materials, is also discouraged. Lindens will not remove copyrighted material upon seeing the items in-world unless the owner of the copyrighted material notifies Linden Lab per the DMCA protocols noted on our website. If the material is proved to be copyrighted, Linden Lab can and will remove the violating materials in-world and the concerned residents will be notified.

Repeated violations by a resident can result in one's account being placed on probation or permanently banned.

Bottomline, we encourage all our residents to be as original as possible when creating their content. If you want to exercise your IP rights, it's a conflict of interest if you're utilizing materials (textures in particular) that you don't own the rights to. You CAN create parodies, like instead of "Gucci purses", you can make "PUCCI" purses...but it would be best that you use your own branding and design your own logos. So help us protect your rights by also respecting the rights of the rightful owners of copyrighted/trademarked materials =)

Other sites of interest:
http://www.hasbro.com/home/copyright.html

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The mere shape of the car that was created is NOT trademarked (but making shapes to replicate actual trademarked logos is NOT acceptable).

This "bottle-shaped concept" was patented in Alexander Samuelson’s name on November 16, 1915. The bottle was one of the first glass containers to be patented solely on its distinctive shape. When it expired, a successor patent was issued to the Root Company in 1923 and under this license the company received a 5 cents per gross royalty until 1937 when Coca-Cola acquired the rights.

Finally, in an effort to safeguard the contour bottle design indefinitely, The Coca-Cola Company requested that the US Patent Office grant a trademark on the bottle. The Company argued that the bottle had become so well known that it had taken on trademark status. On April 12, 1960, the trademark was granted, indefinitely, protecting the unique design.

Under some circumstances, trademark protection can extend beyond words, symbols, and phrases to include other aspects of a product, such as its color or its packaging. For example, the pink color of Owens-Corning fiberglass insulation or the unique shape of a Coca-Cola bottle might serve as identifying features. Such features fall generally under the term "trade dress," and may be protected if consumers associate that feature with a particular manufacturer rather than the product in general.

People who knowingly break the law deserve to b punished. This is not excessive.