Sexgen = trademark ?

I recieved this message:

[9:57] Corsi Mousehold: Due to the growing number of complaints that Sexgen as a copyright and trademark corporation have incurred from false advertising complaints revolving around MLP beds being marketed as Sexgen we have to enforce the copyrighted name and ask that stores and malls discontinue use of the name Sexgen in their searches and classified advertisements. We thank you greatly for your anticipated Cooperation.


Does anybody know if it is rigt that Sexgen ist now copyright ?
or does anybody know where i can check names, if they are copyrigt ?

um - Sexgen is the product of Stroker Serpentine.

Its not a public domain thing.

Still if you own a Sexgen bed - I dont see how they are allowed to tell you you cant tell people you have it.

There is no law that says I cant have a sign in my RL window that I have Diet Coke in my fridge - It just doesnt make sense to.

they are not saying you can not tell people you have it, you just can't sell your bed and call it a sexgen bed as well

Names can't be copyrighted but they can be trademarked.

However as far as I know, a trademark only bars you from using the name in a situation where it might "cause confusion" about the product.

If you are selling sexgen beds in your mall and use the word "sexgen" in advertising it, that isn't causing any confusion, so they probably wouldn't have much of a case.

On the other hand, if you are selling lots of different kinds of bed in your mall, of which some are sexgen and some are not, then using the word "sexgen" to describe your mall could arguably be a problem - someone might search for "sexgen", go to your mall, and then buy a bed not realising that the particular one they bought is one of the non-sexgen ones.

A single word can't be copyrighted. However, "SexGen" can be a registered trademark.

A quick search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office database returned no match for "SexGen". However, this doesn't mean that it is NOT a registered trademark...it only means that my cursory search didn't find it.

Even if they aren't registered, that doesn't mean that their mark is unprotected...especially since it's in a virtual world, and I have no idea what patent and trademark rules apply there.

In the general spirit of intellectual property protection, I would say that at the very least, SexGen has the moral authority on their side.

Well of course selling a prodect that isnt sexgen and call it sexgen is pretty scummy.

And if they have a trademark then its also actionable.

Instead someone with a competing product should market theirs as "Better than Sexgen"

Which might be true:
Sexgen is a great system but there are much better animations out there than the ones included with sexgen stuff.

I think Stroker only registered it for the trial which started very recently, so it's probably not registered/published yet.

I'm not really sure if it would stick though. As far as I know trademark owners have to show that they are actively protecting their mark from infringement to avoid letting it slip into the public domain, but Stroker has let everyone use it for years now without any challenge?

Stroker filed for trademark a few months ago.

The issue is that a lot of people are calling the crappy MLP beds they are making using frebie anims sexgen beds. Time for this to stop.

Call it a sex bed, call it a multi animation sex bed, but don't call them sexgen beds.

agreed

Its a registered Trademark - Hope this info is helpful.....

Word Mark -SEXGEN

Goods and Services - IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Scripted animation system utilizing a defined menu to actuate avatars within a virtual world accessed through a 3-dimensional virtual platform. FIRST USE: 20050101. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20050101
Standard Characters Claimed

Mark Drawing Code (4) - STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number - 77202601
Filing Date - June 11, 2007
Current Filing Basis - 1A
Original Filing Basis - 1A
Owner - (APPLICANT) EROS, LLC LTD LIAB CO FLORIDA (poster deleted address)
Type of Mark - TRADEMARK
Register - PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator - LIVE

the simple phrase ALL RIGHTS RESERVED satisfies that requirment.

well theres a difference between people using it and Linden Labs not doing anything about it - and Stroker not doing anything about it as well.

I have a SectsJenn bed.

But seriously, I think that message was badly written and their point was to tell people selling knock-offs to knock it off...not to tell everyone to not say "SexGen" under any circumstances.

It will be interesting to see how this case ends. If he loses, I bet you'll see a ton of SexGen beds. I just wish it was over something other than a sex item. This sure fights the perception of SL that it's all about sex and not much else!

This also shows how not-into-fake-sex I am...I spent the longest time thinking SexGen described the beds like how people say "Poofer" or "AO". "Sex"-"Gen"? "Generates Sex"? Made sense to me!

I wonder how many of these knock-offs were under the same impression?

If it does, that's news to me.

Actively protecting it means taking action to prevent violations. If you published that phrase, but then allowed dozens of different people to sell things that they called 'sexgen', even though they had no relationship, that would be failure to protect. Asking them to stop and, if necessary, filing suit is actively protecting the mark.

Exactly!

The problem is that the term Sexgen" has become like "Kleenex" or "Q-Tips" ... the trademarked name has become the accepted descriptor.

Kleenex = facial tissue
Q-Tip = cotton tipped swab
Sexgen = multi animation sex bed

Conny, this message was not sent to you by someone who knows intellectual property law very well.



This makes no sense. What is a "copyright and trademark corporation"?



Names cannot be copyrighted. Even if they could, what does it mean to "enforce a copyrighted name"? What they mean to say is that they have to enforce their trademark rights in the term "Sexgen" as related to some class of goods (virtual sex beds?).



If you are legitimately selling X, then you are allowed to say that you are selling X. You are not allowed, however, to use X's name to sell something else.



This is irrelevant. You can't "check" this sort of thing. You can hire a trademark lawyer to advise you, however. Which is what you should do if they threaten legal action.



And it can also be an unregistered trademark. Just searching the PTO's database is not a good way of determining whether they have trademark rights in a term.



It's very unlikely that being in a virtual world makes any difference. They are using the term in commerce to identify the source of goods or services. That gives them trademark rights.



Again, the question is not "do they have a trademark?" The question is "are they using the term as a trademark?" and does Conny's use of the term create a likelihood of confusion as to the origin of goods or services?



Doesn't matter.



This would be interesting. How long have they been "allowing" competitors to use the term? You'd have to go to the expense to challenge their assertion of trademark rights in the term and prove that the term has become generic.



No, it doesn't.

If they know about infringing uses and they allow it to continue happening without taking some action (such as the message sent to Conny), it can become a generic term.



Whether Linden Labs has any obligation to do anything is a different question altogether.

That's so funny... just last night I was laughing about a commercial for Band-Aids. They were using their old jingle from the 70s, but added "brand" into it because they've had the same problem. Instead of "I am stuck on Band-Aid 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me", it is now "I am stuck on Band Aid Brand because they're stuck on me." Sort of ruins the flow...

More info about genericized trademarks:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genericized_trademark

SL products are RL digital assets, and as such are covered under RL laws such as the DMCA and similar laws in other countries. He has a right to insist that his trademark not be used by others who make sex beds, and he can enforce who has the right to sell and distribute SexGen (tm) beds. What is not so clear is what happens with service providers (such as room rentals) who want to use the name in their ads. For example, he can theoretically seek to charge service providers a royalty for the right to use the name in their ads, so this will be interesting to watch. Also, I don't know how long the term "SexGen" has been around, but if he hasn't enforced his trademark from the day he started selling these beds, then it is possible that a court would find that the name has passed into the public domain.

If someone has IP rights, it is the owner choice if, and when they decide to enforce their rights. this can occur ANYTIME.

You could sell my trademarked/copyrighted/patented item for years and year before i decide to sue you for the proceeds.

Current and recent examples. SCO vs IBM (and the world) - Blackberry/RIM vs NTP inc.

both plaitiffs waited YEARS before filing complaints.

why would a company file suit at the first chance when it can let the $$$ of the violations grow to the point were it is cost effective to file suit?

HOWEVER proprietary rights are founded in national laws, an item may be public domain in one jurisdiction but not another. For instance, some works of literature are public domain in the US but not in the EU and vice versa.

So this is one for the lawyers and courts to decide.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark

See here -- http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcopyright4.htm -- for a very good summary of U.S. trademark law.



However, both "Kleenex" and "Q-Tip" are still valid, enforceable trademarks. If competitors start using those terms, they will be liable for trademark infringement.



Nope. And you can't talk about "IP rights" so generally. Each kind of intellectual property comes with very different rights. The kinds of rights you get in copyrighted works, trademarks, patented inventions, trade secrets, etc., are very very different.



At issue in that case were claims of breach of contract, interference with contract, interference with business relations, copyright infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, and other claims. It was not a trademark infringement case.



This is a patent case. Patents are very different from trademarks. You don't have to "defend" patent rights. You have them until your patent expires. You do have to earn and defend trademark rights.



Because of the doctrine of laches, statute of limitations, and other legal restrictions that require you to act to defend your rights without delay.

See the referenced Wikipedia article section "Maintaining trademark rights — abandonment and genericide" for why trademark holders must actively protect their marks or risk losing the ability to enforce them.

Well this is what I meant earlier - It could be that Stroker has tried to get the Lindens to act on his product line name Sexgen, and they simply haven't.

People need to remember that the normal Ar/Contact Lindens/etc virtual world stuff applies also.

It is only now after (evidently) seeking a trademark and filing a suit people are saying Stroker did not attempt to enforce his product's name. But we dont know that. We have no idea how many times he tried to get the Lindens to shut down imitators that croped up.

-----------------------------------------
Unlike many posters here - I DO remember when Sexgen started.

It was summer 2005...

Basically we all had bubblegum machine sex beds- Beds with 4-8 ish sex animations built in poseballs. You'd get up and use another set when you wanted to change position.

Then Hiro invented Posability - Originally claimed hed release it full perms after an initial rollout (he never did so) - He had a deal with one of the big sex animation/bed makers to make multi pose versions of their beds.

Of course competitors worked to get a competitive system out there - Sexgen was the first really user friendly one. Actually much easier to use once set up than posability with the added advantage that you could easily move the bed around, etc.

So it was mid/late summer 2005 sexgen came about, and it didnt have all these imatators for some time.

I beleive also there are Authorized resellers that use SexGen such as Briggi ... which further complicates things, Since people seem confused becuase "created by" will only give one name after all.

As to all these Johnny come lately immatators using the name - again I do not know how long Stroker has been fighting to maintain his product brand distinction. But it helps to consider he probably went through Linden Labs first, and also that the imatators didnt start calling their stuff SexGen till (fairly) recently.

Wow looks like they got the description "Customized" to fit SL. Very interesting to finally see a TM geared towards things going on in SL.

Btw- the claimed message sent out does not even make sense. lol You cant "copyright" a name for one, and there are a few other things. If this was sent out by one of Stroker`s employees he should make sure they know what they`re talking about first.

Has that actually been determined yet, though? I find it hard to believe I could claim anything I own/made in SL as an RL asset for the simple fact that it only exists in the confines of one company's server system.

If my SL products were RL assets then I would be able to seek damages for inventory loss. Unfortunately this isn't the case.

Either way this keeps getting looked at in the wrong context. It's not a matter of the product but the use of a brand name being used on a similar product as the actual brand.

The only thing that makes it relevant to SL is the fact that he's suing an avatar and not the person that controls it. He sent subpoenas (sp?) to LL to get this person's RL identity. Will LL give up that info or stick to their privacy guns? THAT aspect is the only thing that actually has any effect on SL specifically. This trademark issue is something that could have (and most likely has) happened anywhere.

Would a sex bed by any other name smell as...uh...wierd?

And he IS actively using this trademark and currently defending it, time limits vary by jurisdiction. I should have stated "ANYTIME within their jurisdictional limits"

He also may file for a patent, on the operation of the bed, as it applies in a virtual word.
Scripts and software can also be copyrighted or patented.

Either way he does retain full IP rights (trademarks inclusive, if you want to nit pik) to the sexgen bed and is well within his rights to request those rights be respected.
The notice the OP received was most likely not written by a legal professional, it was more a request to cease and desist as a courtesy prior to filing a full fledged complaint.

Does anyone really believe he does not have sufficient ground to file a DCMA claim or to pursue at least trademark infringement, as it may apply????????