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This may seem a little off topic and I apologize, but this is the closest SE site I can think to post on regarding my issue.

I live in the state of Illinois. I have an app in the Apple iPhone AppStore called "The Dirty Mind Test". The other day, I got a letter from the lawyers of a company called TDC Games. They claimed they own the right to the trademark "Dirty Minds", and that my app is clearly infringing on their copyright. They said we must take our app down by the 1st of February to avoid legal action.

I dont see how they can own a trademark or copyright on a totally generic term. They claim they own "Dirty Minds", but my app is called "The Dirty Mind Test". Do they have a case? What should I do?

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3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

TDC Games has a pretty good case.

  • They makes a (board) game called Dirty Minds.
  • You make a (phone) game called The Dirty Mind Test.

Since they're both games, it creates confusion in the marketplace. Especially if someone's browsing the app store and thinks "oh, I love Dirty Minds, I'll totally download their app". At least, that's what they're thinking. I'm not that convinced that this is true, but it's their opinion that matters.

Your best bet is to bend over and rename your app ("The Filthy Mind Test" or whatever). You could try to be nice (Tim's suggestion is good), but remember that lawyers can be complete assholes, and you will have to defend a federal lawsuit (likely, in their jurisdiction) if they decide to sue you. That won't be fun, and it certainly won't be worth the hassle... especially for you, since you clearly don't have a lawyer you've asked about this already.

Remember, Hasbro felt pretty serious about this with Scrabulous, and put a whole bunch of effort into shutting it down. They eventually won their case in India (well, partially won), and Scrabulous is now called Lexulous.

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they did not get a trademark for "dirty minds" rather "DIRTY MINDS THE GAME OF NAUGHTY CLUES" - I'd call their case tenuous. But I am not familiar enough with TM case law and precedents to know if they are just blowing hot air or actually have a chance to win. I don't see how there is confusion. They are pretty distinct. – TimJ♦ Jan 26 '11 at 15:15
@Tim I guess a lot of variables go into trademark cases - it's not cut and dry like copyright can be. The key metric seems to be "marketplace confusion" - I know, for example, if someone created a product called "MasterBuilder" or "BuildMeister" it would definitely confuse people who have a hard enough time remembering "BuildMaster", and we'd almost certainly be victorious in a trademark dispute. But, no one's going to name their product that since they don't want to create confusion either. – Alex Papadimoulis Jan 26 '11 at 19:23
I really have no idea. – TimJ♦ Jan 26 '11 at 19:43
up vote 2 down vote

  1. Do not reply to them.

  2. Contact a trademark attorney right away.

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Do you think they have a valid case though? I'd really rather not deal with attorneys.. – maq Jan 26 '11 at 4:37
It doesn't matter what we think about whether their case is valid. If these folks sue you, only the court's opinion will matter. You really only have four choices. (1) Comply with their demand. (2) See an attorney who's competent to advise you. (3) Ignore them and hope they don't follow through with their threats. (4) Engage in some kind of discussion with their lawyer without you having a lawyer; that's not likely to end well. – Bob Murphy Jan 26 '11 at 5:44
I agree with this, I received a similar letter few months ago for one of the trademark I own, and with my lawyer we were able to keep our product name. The mark was pretty strong and correctly registered, but that's not that simple. Trademark laws are very special, especially in US (where I own the TM) – user3997 Jan 26 '11 at 13:01
It doesn't matter whether or not they have a valid case. They have an attorney. You do not. You don't know the law. They do. Anything you say will be used against you. You are poor, and they already have a lawyer! You could be completely right, but they will sue you and you will loose because you can't afford to fight them. – Gary E♦ Jan 26 '11 at 16:18
So lets say I just decide to change the name. They said I have till Feb 1st to reply. Do I call them or send them a letter? – maq Jan 27 '11 at 5:50
up vote 1 down vote

If it were me I'd respond and ask them how they can claim that when it should be pretty clear that you:

  1. Did not take any copyrighted material
  2. Are not using their trademarks - just the "dirty mind" is common but since yours is not a board game I see no issue. (I'm not a lawyer, but this seems like them just searching for "dirty minds" and sending letters to everyone.

I'd politely assert that you are not trying to confuse the public and that if they can show proof that you are or are hurting their company then offer to stop, but I see no reason for it.

Here is their trademark

Note that the trademark is for "DIRTY MINDS THE GAME OF NAUGHTY CLUES" not "DIRTY MINDS". (as well as other things)

Go see for yourself and then make a decision. maybe you do want to avoid it - but I'd talk to them - no need right now to get a lawyer involved.

DIRTY MINDS THE GAME OF NAUGHTY CLUES Goods and Services IC 028. US 022 023 038 050. G & S: Board games. FIRST USE: 19900201. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19900601 Mark Drawing Code (3) DESIGN PLUS WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS Design Search Code 02.01.02 - Men depicted as shadows or silhouettes of men; Silhouettes of men 02.01.37 - Busts of men in profile; Heads of men in profile; Men - heads, portraiture, or busts in profile; Portraiture of men in profile 02.11.25 - Blood vessels, human; Brain, human; Buttocks, human; Human, other parts of the body; Intestines, human; Lungs, human; Nerves, human; Nose, human; Spine, human; Tongue, human 26.03.02 - Ovals, plain single line; Plain single line ovals 26.11.02 - Plain single line rectangles; Rectangles (single line) 26.17.13 - Letters or words underlined and/or overlined by one or more strokes or lines; Overlined words or letters; Underlined words or letters Trademark Search Facility Classification Code HUM Accurate representation of a human form, or any portion of a human form SHAPES-GEOMETRIC Geometric figures and solids including squares, rectangles, quadrilaterals and polygons SHAPES-OVALS Oval figures or designs including incomplete ovals and one or more ovals Serial Number 77440549 Filing Date April 4, 2008 Current Filing Basis 1A Original Filing Basis 1A Published for Opposition September 9, 2008 Registration Number 3536564 Registration Date November 25, 2008 Owner (REGISTRANT) Trivial Development Corporation DBA TDC Games, Inc. CORPORATION ILLINOIS 1456 Norwood Ave Itasca ILLINOIS 60143 Description of Mark Color is not claimed as a feature of the mark. The mark consists of stylized type and graphics. Type of Mark TRADEMARK Register PRINCIPAL Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

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