Comments on: ‘Aimee Weber’ (TM) Gets USPTO Stamp of Approval for Pigtails, Tutu, Wings, Tights, and Stompy Boots

By: air

air — Thu, 27 May 2010 07:37:36 +0000

ckquote> etc.) but know that VB’s spam blocker holds posts with five or more links. VB supports gravatar

By: Do You Own Your Image? That Of Your Firm? « The Beacon Bulletin

Do You Own Your Image? That Of Your Firm? « The Beacon Bulletin — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 14:53:35 +0000

[...] ‘Aimee Weber’ (TM) Gets USPTO Stamp of Approval for Pigtails, Tutu, Wings, Tights, and Stompy Bo… [...]

By: The trademarking of an avatar : The Metaverse Journal - Australia’s Virtual World News Service

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:27:41 +0000

[...] Benjamin Duranske, a respected commentator on law as it applies to virtual environments, said of the filing that, “McDonald’s trademarked Ronald, so there is no reason an avatar — for many users, a computer generated representation of their brand — could not also be trademarked. The rather distinct appearance of avatar ‘Aimee Weber’ is indisputably identified with the brand. And ‘Aimee Weber’ is as much a Second Life icon as she is a person you chat with at a virtual coffee shop or hire for design work; the little “TM” just makes that official.” [...]

By: Virtual Worlds 2008 « technola

Virtual Worlds 2008 « technola — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:45:42 +0000

[...] different sessions, ranging from an interesting discussion on intellectual property issues (yes, you can trademark your avatar, complete with “TM” bling) to a panel on bringing your organization into virtual [...]

By: Brigid Yoshikawa

Brigid Yoshikawa — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 22:27:20 +0000

Actually I find this a bit disturbing. As the owner, creator, and operator of Brythony an isle for the mythic arts in SL – I can’t help but notice that Aimee’s avatar’s look is heavily influenced by the artwork of internationally renown fantasy artist Amy Brown. Amy Brown has an SL presence on our isle – along with many other world famous and up and coming artists. That whole striped stocking big boot wearing fairy thing is a trademark of Amy Brown’s work. Sooooo if Amy decides to make her avatar look much more like one of her paintings – and uses her avatar to promote her work in SL – will she be infringing? Her rights to that “look” certainly predate Aimee Webers. Although I dare say all of those in high school in the 80′s-90′s that listened to Siouxsie are prone to have a fondness for striped stockings.

Just for clarity’s sake I don’t think Aimee would have a problem with Amy – as the former seems a reasoned and tolerant person trying to protect specific assets – but the whole situation here is interesting. It would be astonishing indeed to have an established brand in the real world – and to enter the virtual one only to find that that brand is not only associated with something else but that your RL rights don’t transfer.

Weirdness.

By: Aimee Weber™ « Soylent Gray Goo is People

Aimee Weber™ « Soylent Gray Goo is People — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 01:59:15 +0000

[...] [Virtually Blind article] [...]

By: Taran Rampersad

Taran Rampersad — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 22:10:18 +0000

@13: In Second Life, defining what a commercial use is would be really quite odd because that would require evidence that the Linden dollar is real.

This is not too dissimilar than Eros LLC’s claim, actually. Lest we forget, that was the first recorded trademark in process, not this one. What makes this different?

Combining the two paragraphs: If Eros LLC can collect damages because of commercial interests within Second Life, then it stands to reason that commerce within Second Life is seen as *real*, which then would mean that anyone trading with a similar looking avatar to one trademarked (as in Aimee’s application in process) and can produce evidence to support their claim…

Just another headache, isn’t it? Over what? Something that could have been made into a logo to differentiate it from a virtual world avatar.

So here’s another question: Will Aimee be required by law to have a little ‘TM’ following her avatar around? ;-)

By: Second Life News for September 26, 2007 « The Grid Live

Second Life News for September 26, 2007 « The Grid Live — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 04:47:09 +0000

[...] ‘Aimee Weber’ ™ Gets USPTO Stamp of Approval for Pigtails, Tutu, Wings, Tights, and Stompy Boots Second Life’s ‘Aimee Weber’ (Alyssa LaRoche) recently became the first avatar with a registered trademark. The application for the registered mark was filed February 18, 2007 approved for publication July 7, and published for opposition August 14. According to ‘Weber,’ no opposition was filed, and she plans to immediately begin using the mark. In a sea of often silly metaverse firsts, this one could well signal a trend. ‘Weber’ runs a respected design studio in-world, has one of the most recognizable avatars in Second Life, and literally wrote the book on Second Life content creation. And now she gets to wear “TM” bling too. [...]

By: Benjamin Duranske

Benjamin Duranske — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 01:28:38 +0000

@12 – For the purpose of evaluating the application, the comparison the examiner did would just be with other trademarks, not with everything in the (real or virtual) world. If there had been a real company selling clothes that used a similar character to sell their stuff, Aimee’s application theoretically wouldn’t have made it through.

Your last point raises an interesting argument (maybe against TM law generally) though I think that in this case, it all comes back to the purpose of trademark law — which is spelled out explicitly as avoiding consumer confusion (this is Jessica’s point above, I think). If somebody creates a similar look for their avatar, but is not using that to sell clothing or run a design studio, they’ll be fine. It’s only where the use becomes a commercial use that trademark law would even apply.

By: Taran Rampersad

Taran Rampersad — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 00:29:50 +0000

@6: How can the trademark be established as distinctive without a comparison with other avatars? While the established Laws apply to logos and other things – such as the Nabisco triangle you offered as an example – if every person has a common law trademark on their own avatar, then it does seem like a very slippery slope for the USPTO.

I could understand a logo which incorporates the avatar – thus distinguishing it from simply being an avatar which could quite possibly look like anyone else, thus opening up all sorts of trademark issues for the USPTO in the future. Toss a frame around it, and I would see no problem.

This is not just about established trademark law in my eyes – it is about problems with trademarking something which could accidentally be created and used in good faith… and which can be associated with someone’s identity in a virtual world. People don’t wander around virtual worlds as red triangles, if you see my point.