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this is the designation of a city ordinance in Griann, on the planet Teyr. this is a model of Krail Armory personal battle armor. It is similar
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I am hoping to start a personal "company" as a name to put on my
designs and programs; I want to call myself StarForge Industries.
Recently, in the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the
"Star Forge" was a significant object in the storyline.
Does LucasArts automatically have a on all such items in
their games? Would I be in violation to use the words "StarForge"? If
they do not automatically have a , have they independantly
ed this thing, as I'm sure they have with the word jedi and
who knows what else?
Thank you very much! While a "yes" or "no" would of course been nice,
I understand how NOTHING in the legal arena generally gets that
answer, and junk in particular. :)
This was exactly the sort of answer I was hoping for; I'm most likely
fine unless I step too much on LucasArts' toes. :)
Thanks again!
moondragoness-ga,
Thanks so much for your generosity...it's much appreciated.
Here's wishing you all the best (and no infringment complaints) in your endeavors.
pafalafa-ga
It figures; all I want is a yes or a no. :)
Yes, I would greatly appreciate your advice in the matter. If it was
just a personal website I'd just do it and be done with it; but I'd
like to have a name I can use in the future if I ever get big and
famous and start having my "studio" work on games professionally.
Hello moondragoness-ga,
I've done a number of /trademark type questions here at
Google Answers, and I feel I know the territory pretty well. You can
see some of my prior answers on this topic here:
http://answers.google.com/answers/search?q=%22answered+by+pafalafa%22+%28%22public+domain%22+OR+intellectual+OR+trademark%29
I'd be happy to answer your question as well, BUT...(there's always a
"but", isn't there?), I cannot give you a clearcut "Yes you can use
it" or "No you can't" type of answer.
The rules of the road are just too convoluted and murky for anyone to
offer a simple response to your question. I can certainly let you
know the current status of "Starforge", and offer some guidance as to
your best course of action.
If that sounds OK, let me know, and I'll get right to work. If not,
then please clarify for us how you would like your question to be
answered.
Thanks a lot.
pafalafa-ga
Hello moondragoness-ga,
Thanks for getting back to me.
I appreciate (really!) the frustration at not getting a simple Yes or
No answer. But this whole area of law -- which has never been what
you might call "simple" -- has become so convoluted in the past decade
or so that even the legal professionals sometimes throw up their
hands.
Bottom line: You probably can use the term StarForge without much
risk, as long as your product bears no resemblance to other common
uses. But if you're heading down the path of designing computer games
(as your comment seems to suggest) then I would urge caution.
My answer below does three things:
--gives the standard, but important, caveat
--provides a short overview
--looks at the specifics of StarForge
Before rating the answer, please let me know if anything about it is
unclear, or if you need any additional information. Just post a
Request for Clarification to let me know how I can help, and I am at
your service.
All the best with your endeavors,
pafalafa-ga
==========
CAVEAT: I'm not a legal professional. Although I'm confident in the
information provided here, you should take careful note of the
disclaimer at the bottom of the page: "Answers and comments provided
on Google Answers are general information, and are not intended to
substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric,
psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other
professional advice...".
SHORT OVERVIEW: You are asking about an area of law known as
"intellectual property" or IP, which refers to s, trademarks,
patents, and other forms of legal protection for creative materials.
s generally protect entire works, such as a book or movie,
while a trademark and related 'marks' can be registered to protect an
individual brand or product name such as "Nestle's Crunch". A good
link to some reading material comparing trademarks to other forms of
IP protection (in case you want more background) is here:
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Trademark
In general, it is harder to get protection for a common word or phrase
than it is for new-found words. In other words, "Apple" a
common-word, has less IP protection than "Kodak" an invented word.
Also, the more independent are the meanings and use of a term, the
less likely there will be any confusion in the minds of consumers, and
the less likely there will be any IP conflict. Fro example, AAA is a
well-known mark of the Automobile Association of America, and if you
use the letters AAA for any type of enterprise involving cars,
driving, etc., you're likely to hear from their lawyers. However, if
you call your painting business "AAA Painting", there's little
likelihood of confusion, and it's much less likely that AAA would try
to take action, and if they did, less likely the courts would find in
their favor. (Look in your local phonebook under AAA and you'll see
what I mean).
==========
Now, on to STARFORGE...
A Google search on [ Starforge OR "Star Forge" ] produces about 6,000
results...a respectable, but not a huge, number. The term is
obviously "out there" and in use. How is it used...? Here are a few
examples:
http://www.scindex.com/downloads/?fileid=161
as the name of a map editor for the game, StarCraft
http://starforge.deviantart.com/scraps/
as an online gallery of "deviant art"
http://www.starforge.co.uk/
as a company name in the UK
http://www.fact-index.com/s/st/star_forge.html
as a dictionary entry for the term as used in Star Wars games
http://www.kotorfanfic.com/christine/kotor11.html
as the title of a chapter in an online story
etc, etc. Lots of uses, but the Star Wars/Knights of the Old
Republic use seems to dominate.
==========
A check at the US office indicates there is no for
either Starforge or "Star Forge:
http://www..gov/records/cohm.html
This is not surprising, as I would not expect a character or subplot
within a story to be ed (rather, it would trademarked).
However, the absence of a registered does not mean that
there are no works titled "Starforge" that are not ed -- a
work does not have to be registered in order to receive
protection.
A similar check on trademarks shows, also, that Starforge (as one or
two words) is not a registered trademark:
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=v4pqgu.1.1
In fact, the only result that pops up is a trademark for
"Forgestar"--a brand of tools.
In comparison, a search on "Jedi" reveals 8 live trademarks, including:
JEDI POWER BATTLES
JEDI KNIGHT
JEDI
JEDI'S GARDEN
So you can see that Mr. Lucas and company seem much more concerned
with protecting the Jedi term, than they are with Starforge.
==========
What does all this mean...?
My best guess would be that you can probably use the term Starforge
(or Star Forge) for a product without running afoul of IP laws.
However, if you use it for a product that closely resembles some
existing product or concept that also goes by the name Starforge, then
you might run into a problem. Even if the owner of the other
Starforge product felt that they might not win a court case, they
still might be tempted to file an infringement complaint just to try
to get you to back off of what they consider "their territory".
The AAA example I gave above is a good one to keep in mind. If you're
going to open up business as "Starforge Painting", there's not likely
to be any problems. But if you create a computer game like
"Starforge: Republican Knights" then you might be headed for a
confrontation.
Wish I could have offered you a simple Yes or No, but < Zarg music::
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Copyright Law: is "StarForge" taken? 
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