Re: Infringement of Hasbro, Inc.’s RISK(R) Trademarks and Copyrights

[Mattias]

the “Turbo Risk” name and the RISK® game elements

So they want you to simply drop Turborisk entirely

 

Im not a lawyerm but i dont think they can force to do this
i think nathan is right, just play some hide and seek, and see what they are really going to do

 

id say, try turboriks or something like that ;-)

 

2010/10/14 N Scarbrough <n.scar...@comcast.net>

I read this in the wikipedia article:

In addition, there are many unofficial Risk clones, both for download and online play. Due to the history of the game's creation, there are no IP protections on the game, other than a US trademark on the word RISK when written in the distinctive red font

The problem is that there is no citation for this so it may or may not be accurate.

Notice in the letter that they say "Turbo Risk" when the name of your game is actually Turborisk. And every time they mention risk it is in all capitals.
And at the end it says "This letter does not purport to be a complete statement of

the facts or the law"

I think that they are threatening you in hopes that you will cave easily.

I don't think that we have to change any of our maps.  I'm not sure about the rules.

You could try just changing the name and see if they leave you alone after that.

I don't have the time right now to research their claims but it's definitely worth looking in to.
If they really are able to force you to remove this from your website then I would think that download.com and softpedia.com would have also been told to take it down, but it's still on those sites.

I can't think of a good alternate name right now but if I do, I'll let you know.

Nathan

On 10/13/2010 11:48 PM, Mario wrote:

I found the following in the mail this morning. Seems I'll have to
change the name of the game.
Not so sure about the map and the rules.

What do you think?

Mario

------------

Re:      Infringement of Hasbro, Inc.’s RISK® Trademarks and
Copyrights

Dear Mr. Ferrari:

We are counsel for Hasbro, Inc. (“Hasbro”), the owner of the
copyrights and trademarks for the famous RISK® strategy game.  We
write concerning the “Turbo Risk” game that you are making available
online at http://www.marioferrari.org/freeware/turborisk/turborisk.html.

While Hasbro appreciates your enthusiasm for its RISK® game, it cannot
condone such blatant infringement of its intellectual property.

The RISK® game, including the map and the game rules, is the
copyrighted property of Hasbro.  Moreover, “Risk” is not a generic
word for strategy games, it is a registered trademark for which Hasbro
owns the rights worldwide.  To the extent that your “Turbo Risk” game
uses copyrighted elements of the RISK® game, including maps and game
rules, it constitutes copyright infringement in violation of 17 U.S.C.
§ 501.  Your unauthorized use of the name “Turbo Risk” for a game
based on Hasbro’s RISK® game also violates the federal trademark laws,
including 15 U.S.C. §§ 1114(1) and 1125(a), by creating a likelihood
of confusion with respect to Hasbro’s authorization or sponsorship of
or association with your commercial activities.  Your unauthorized use
of the RISK mark, including your generic use of the mark to refer to
strategy games in general, is also likely to dilute its distinctive
quality and hamper its ability to function as source-identifying mark
in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1125(c) and numerous state anti-dilution
laws.

We therefore demand that you immediately cease and desist from any
further use of the “Turbo Risk” name and the RISK® game elements, and
remove these items from your website.

Please confirm to me in writing within ten (10) days your agreement to
the above.  This letter does not purport to be a complete statement of
the facts or the law and is without prejudice to Hasbro’s legal and
equitable rights.

Sincerely yours,

[letter signed]