Copyright - Star Wars

[kingcook]

Is it against copyright/whatever law to use Star Wars terminology as a business name?

e.g. Take the fictional planet in Star Wars, called Tatooine. Would it be safe to call a business Tatooine Computers Ltd?

[eek]

Is it against copyright/whatever law to use Star Wars terminology as a business name?

e.g. Take the fictional planet in Star Wars, called Tatooine. Would it be safe to call a business Tatooine Computers Ltd?

There is only one way to be absolutely sure but it may cost you a large solicitors bill.

[AtW]

Would it be safe to call a business Tatooine Computers Ltd?

IANAL, but it could be risky because even though it MIGHT be legal, owners of Star Wars are known to be very protective of their IP rights.

Ask a solicitor - there might be some established precedents on this matter in the UK.

[proggy]

Death Star Ltd is my companies name. not been sued yet.

[AtW]

Death Star Ltd is my companies name. not been sued yet.

They could be going for "Force-choke him to death" route in this case

[kingcook]

Death Star Ltd is my companies name. not been sued yet.

And your real name is Lord Vadar, right?

[Clare@InTouch]

I've seen companies with names from books before, and there was no objection (but they may simply not have noticed). There was a pub recently that had to change it's name due to some Lord of Rings legal issue I believe.

However I've also seen company names vaguely similar to the name Java who were jumped on within a week and forced to change their name due to potential breach of copyright/confusion. I suspect Java have a legitimate business interest to protect though so pretending to be affiliated to them is likely to raise objections.

[northernladuk]

Brown Star Ltd is my companies name. not been sued yet.

Based on your posts I have fixed your company name to suit.

[eek]

Tulip Star Ltd is my companies name. not been sued yet.

Based on your posts I have fixed your company name to suit.

Based on his posts I don't think you were direct enough.

[Maslins]

I've seen companies with names from books before, and there was no objection (but they may simply not have noticed). There was a pub recently that had to change it's name due to some Lord of Rings legal issue I believe.

"The Hobbit" in Southampton, used to be one of my regular haunts in uni days, with cocktails imaginatively named Legolas, Gollum, Aragorn etc

It made the local rag a while ago, I believe they were sued but don't know the details...looking at their website it doesn't look like they changed their name.