Someone Not Named ZUN Trademarked "Tohou Project"

Yes, seriously. Apparently, the creator of Tohou wasn't smart enough to legally protect the name.

Although he tried to object in court, he was apparently shot down.

At least, that's what this Kotaku Japan article claims. Let this be a lesson to game developers everywhere. X_x

Didn't put this in the Tohou thread because it has larger ramifications than that.

edited 3rd Jul '12 6:38:13 AM by burnpsy

...whoops.

so...does this mean zun has the change the name of the series or something?

He can be sued if he doesn't do that or buy the trademark.

I find it rather admirable that nobody tried to be jerk enough to do trademarking it before

so what do the people who trademarked it need with it?

it cant be just out of spite, there has to be some reason afterall.

To get lots of money through a lawsuit?

It does happen, believe it or not. I believe the current mainstream term is "patent troll". We currently have no reason to think otherwise.

The person may also be trying to use the name to push their own game ideas by "cheating".

edited 3rd Jul '12 7:01:14 AM by burnpsy

Someone's gonna get lynched. And that someone is not ZUN

Well, fuck. :| Way to ruin someone's hobby.

I wonder if the Touhou fanbase is going to pull an Anonymous on that...

So does this mean there can't be anymore Touhou games or is Japanese law different?

I'm pretty sure that stuff like trademarks and copyright law are kept consistent between countries outside of odd-ones-out like China, which tend to be singled out specifically because they're going against the usual rules.

edited 3rd Jul '12 7:22:47 AM by burnpsy

I wouldn't be surprised if Chanology-level hatred is the result of this... event.

If you claim a trademark, don't you have to prove that it's not already in use by others in the same region and category?

ZUN's objection was that he was already using that name, and that it's well-known.

The judge shot that down, as I said in the OP.

Similarly, in the US, that establishes it but does not allow you to go to court about it unless registered, which makes me question the point of saying that it establishes it.

edited 3rd Jul '12 7:29:45 AM by burnpsy

Well, OP didn't specify what the objection was, which is why I asked.

ZUN has tweeted about it. This won't affect the Touhou franchise, but his mood is affected. He's now negotiating with the trademark troll.

This trademark is of the name 東方プロジェクト (Touhou Project, with "project" spelt in katakana), while the franchise mostly use 東方Project, that's why ZUN wouldn't be actually affected, for now.

The troll actually attempted to trademark 3 names: 東方プロジェクト, 東方Project and 上海アリス幻樂団 (Shanghai Alice Gengakudan), and only the first got passed.

Hooray for Gratuitous English being a good thing!

Saved by the intricacies of the Japanese language, I see.

...

Excuse me while I call a mod to change the title to something more fitting.

Good thing I was scared for a second...

I suppose he has to trademark it so other troll doesn't do correct one

Added Off on a Technicality to the Touhou page. Feel free to alter it.

That would be wise.

edited 3rd Jul '12 8:27:15 AM by burnpsy

'whew' Close one.