Copyright and/or Trademark Risk?

[bcap01]

What is the name of your state? MA

Hello, We are working on a software App that intends to look and function similar to the Game Show Jeopardy!. We will not use the word Jeopardy and intent use the site for specific educational purposes but do intend to resell. Is there risk of copyright/trademark infringement by doing something like this?

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state? MA

Hello, We are working on a software App that intends to look and function similar to the Game Show Jeopardy!. We will not use the word Jeopardy and intent use the site for specific educational purposes but do intend to resell. Is there risk of copyright/trademark infringement by doing something like this?

Probably not, if you don’t market your app using the Jeopardy trademarks and the software is not rights-protected.

Ideas are not able to be protected by copyrights or trademarks (and only sometimes can be protected under patent law) but the expression of an idea and names, slogans, logos, etc. that are used with the expressed idea are copyright and trademark protectable.

The specifics of your plans should be personally reviewed by an IP attorney in your area to best ensure you are not stepping on anyone’s intellectual property toes.

 

[zddoodah]

We will not use the word Jeopardy and intent use the site for specific educational purposes but do intend to resell.

Two things here. In the first sentence, you mentioned an app, but now you're referring to a site. Are you developing an app, or are you creating a website? Second, what do you mean you don't intend to resell? In other words, why did you use the word "resell," as opposed to "sell"?

Is there risk of copyright/trademark infringement by doing something like this?

Yes, absolutely. How much of a risk is obviously impossible to assess without details, and you should not provide details on a public message board. Please confer with a local intellectual property attorney.

 

[quincy]

Jeopardy Productions, Inc. has registered trademark rights to the name “Jeopardy!” and several additional “Jeopardy!” registrations that cover a whole host of goods, including computer game software.

You can do your own trademark search through the United States Patent and Trademark Office website: https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/search

Click on the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS), select your search option (“basic word mark search” could tell you what you need to know), then enter your search criteria (e.g., “live” marks, “Jeopardy” search term ...).

Again, ideas cannot be protected under either copyright or trademark laws. Anyone can take an idea and create their own original and creative work. You just have to avoid infringing on the rights of others.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Hello, We are working on a software App that intends to look and function similar to the Game Show Jeopardy!. We will not use the word Jeopardy and intent use the site for specific educational purposes but do intend to resell. Is there risk of copyright/trademark infringement by doing something like this?

Just based on the little bit you provided there is certainly a potential risk. How great a risk depends on the exact details of what you proposed to do. Even though you don't use the Jeopardy! trademark, if you copy show elements in your app/site (e.g. the look and layout of the Jeopardy board, game format, etc) you could end up with a copyright infringement problem. I agree with zddoodah that you should review this with an IP attorney.

 

[adjusterjack]

We are working on a software App that intends to look and function similar to the Game Show Jeopardy!

If your app generates revenue (or not) and you have participants responding to "answers" with "questions" you are probably going to be ripe for a lawsuit.

 

[quincy]

Designs can be covered by copyrights. The link to the US Copyright Office is: https://www.copyright.gov

 

[quincy]

If your app generates revenue (or not) and you have participants responding to "answers" with "questions" you are probably going to be ripe for a lawsuit.

No. Not necessarily. Processes and game mechanics cannot be copyrighted. Only the expressions are protectable.

Jeopardy! in fact was patterned after an Answer-Question television show that aired in the 1940s (CBS Television Quiz).

But the specifics of bcap01’s game should be personally reviewed by an IP professional to determine if his particular game infringes on anyone’s rights.

Here is a link to a good overview of what in a game can be protected:

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/...around-board-games-intellectual-property-law/

 

[LegalUtopia]

Mechanics and ideas for a app are not classed as copyright, unless these have somehow been patented. However if you use a lot of similar assets and basically carbon copy to the original Jeopardy! you are potentially at risk. So try to make your own stuff and avoid using any of the trademark. If you need more help, we suggest going to a intellectual property attorney.

*This is a forum, therefore can not offer legal advice, but guide you where you can find it*

 

[quincy]

Mechanics and ideas for a app are not classed as copyright, unless these have somehow been patented. However if you use a lot of similar assets and basically carbon copy to the original Jeopardy! you are potentially at risk. So try to make your own stuff and avoid using any of the trademark. If you need more help, we suggest going to a intellectual property attorney.

*This is a forum, therefore can not offer legal advice, but guide you where you can find it*

LegalUtopia, this thread is from July 9 and the original poster has not returned to the forum since that time.

And, what you wrote in your addition to this older thread is not quite accurate. Your first sentence about apps being “classed” as copyright if they have been patented is nonsense.

The only thing worth writing was that legal advice should be sought from an intellectual property attorney in one’s area for a personal review.

Your post was reported for moderator review.