Doom developer, Id Software, has contacted musician Dustin Mitchell to reach an agreement over the trademark of ‘doomscroll’ for his progressive thrash metal band.
According to an investigative report by Wired, after attempting to register the trademark ‘doomscroll’ as a “band name” and “entertainment property”, lawyers from the Doom developer sent Mitchell an e-mail on October 13. This was the deadline for others to challenge the attempted trademark. The e-mail began:
“Dear Mr. Mitchell, My law firm represents Id Software LLC which owns the video game DOOM and related registered trademarks.” The e-mail continued asking Mitchell to agree to extend the deadline, so the two parties could find time to reach a resolution before any legal action.
This is, however, standard practice within the industry. While it is not clear whether Id Software will block Mitchell from using the name for his band, it still is required to challenge the trademark to make clear his intention.
Usually this move is noted as self-defence against infringement on their trademarks. For example, CD Projekt Red trademarked the term ‘cyberpunk’ in 2016 ahead of the release of Cyberpunk 2077. However, while the term is in common use in English, it seems the company has not yet exercised its right to challenge usage.
Trademarking common terms is not unheard of, as trademarks only cover specific uses. For example, Sony recently lost its trademark over ‘Vita’ for music and video playback, but retain the right over video games and consoles.
Id Software has challenged trademarks before, but seem reasonable in their requests. The trademark for the podcast Garden of Doom was accepted as long as the owner did not use the phrase in naming a movie or video game.
In other news, in a podcast, Metroid Prime 2, level designer Kynan Pearson spoke about the construction of the game’s levels.
The post ‘Doom’ creators challenge “doomscroll” trademark appeared first on NME.
