Quote:
Originally Posted by robeph
If Gieco owns the trademark of "Gecko" then we need to revisit our trademark laws. Geckos have nothing to do with Geico, it's all Geico simply choosing it as their mascot. I don't think it has anything to do with it. My name Rutabaga is greenlighted thank goodness, I'm happy I don't have to change my name from over 15 years of online gaming. Though for some reason it didn't give me the correct last name, which I'm still trying to figure out (Usually I use Rutabaga Nyquist, I had typed in a different name for another character (Chimpanga Leafadder) during a server outage when I tried to make one, and come back and made rutabaga nyquist and he became rutabaga leafadder...wonder if they'll fix it for me :-\
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Actually they do own the trademark of "Gecko" however that doesn't mean that trademark law needs to be revisited. More than likely there is a lack of education about trademark law in general. Trademarks only apply to the context it's given. The Geico's trademark of "Gecko" applies a to a very specific character they use to advertise their company. If I created a character in an MMPORPG named "Gecko" I could as my character has a totally different context than the one given by Geico. By the same standard I can use the name "Scotchtape" as fair use as an MMPROPG character is a totally diffferent product than an adhesive strip.