Five years ago Rockstar Games attempted to become a registered trademark in Australia, but it only managed to enter the register yesterday, July 8. Why did it take so long?
Tim Lince, Australian journalist and trademark obsessive, has been following the story for a while and he reports that Mark Burnett, producer of shows like The Voice, The Apprentic and Survivor had been resisting through his production company JMBP, Inc. and only withdrew his opposition to the registration towards the end of June. It seems as though the dispute was, in part, to do with the show Rock Star, which was Executive produced by Burnett.
But recently Burnett withdrew his opposition, clearing the way for Rockstar to finally register its trademark here in Australia.
For more information on the story head to TM Watch.
After mighty battle, Rockstar Games enters Australian trade mark register [TM Watch]
Comments
13 responses to “Why It Took Rockstar Five Years To Become A Registered Trademark In Australia”
So… a British guy working as a TV producer in the US was trying to out-muscle a 15+ year game developer, prevent them from registering a trademark in Australia because of a two season reality TV series that went to air 8 years ago.
Gotta love bureaucracy.
Not bureaucracy, just Burnett “protecting” his trademark.
This is true, he’s not doing anything wrong but it is a ridiculous scenario.
Unless there is some law which prevents ruling on a contested trademark (which renders the concept of having any sort of governing body moot), I can only fault bureaucratic bumbling for it taking 5 years to resolve. Even then, it was down to Burnett’s production company dropping out.
When I saw the article I thought it was due to that Rockstar energy drink.
That would definitely make more sense.
Different domains. Food and beverage vs entertainment media.
Would make an awesome cross-promotion for the launch of GTA V though…
How about V?
Damn, that’s a conundrum. They’re both so appropriate.
Aussie trademarks are costed on a class (categorical) basis: you can pay a base amount to have your trademark extend as far as a single category, or you can pay multiples of it to cover multiple categories.
Checking ATMOSS, the Aussie trademark database, I can see that the Rockstar energy drinks’s marks are only filed under classes 32, which relates to beers and non-alcoholic beverages, and 33, which relates to other alcoholic beverages. So even though it’s a more popular brand than whatsisface obstructing Rockstar Games, it’s not applicable in this instance 🙂
Lol for some reason I thought they were affiliated. THIS IS WHY TM’s ARE IMPORTANT!
http://www.cinemablend.com/games/GTA-V-Gameplay-Video-Watch-It-Here-Tuesday-10AM-EST-57337.html
Stay tuned to this link! The video should be available at midnight in Australia.
:O
*gets his popcorn ready*
Thanks for posting this – will be watching!