Amazon employee Dustin Mitchell is also a metal guitarist in Texas who decided to name his band “Doomscroll,” reports Kotaku — and in February Mitchell tried trademarking Doomscroll with America’s Patent and Trademark Office.
But then on October 13th, the last day of the trademark’s 30-day public comment period, “he got an email from a lawyer who represented Id Software.”
The lawyer asked Mitchell to extend the 30-day USPTO trademark deadline in order to avoid any legal action.
Mitchell felt weird after getting the email, telling Wired that he was a big fan of the old Doom games as a kid and now he was facing off against the devs over his band name. “They’re trying to take something away from me that is completely unrelated to them,” said Mitchell. A trademark lawyer told Wired that while it might seem odd, Mitchell most likely had every right to trademark the word doomscroll because within the context of music it “is not generic or descriptive of music, musical performances, or musical services.”
But Id’s lawyers are most likely “scooting” in to try to protect the brand name and franchise from any confusion. According to the Wired report, Id has similarly stepped in to stop other folks from trademarking or registering brand names that use the word doom, including a rock metal event named the “Maryland Doom Fest” and a podcast titled “Garden of Doom.” For now, the future of Doomscroll (The band) is up to lawyers at Id Software.
In October, Mitchell received a lengthy trial schedule that goes all the way until 2023. So this most likely won’t be settled anytime soon, unless the guitarist gives up the fight.
of this story at Slashdot.
Source:: Slashdot