I Had Either a Stupid or Engenius Idea.

[hathorcat]

They did a DVD release - it was sometime between 04 and 06 I cant for the life of me remember when exactly  - whether it was a success or not I honestly dont know but they still turn up in random places for sale. Yes, I believe the Sunbow buy out when Sunbow was being amalgamated into Sony did leave HB to claim they had the rights back to anything inspired by their line...but that doesnt mean licenses for distribution were not still in place - so HB could have all the rights to the product and the show but a licensing/distribution contract may have simply transferred along with it. There must be a reason why they have not added it to the Netflix line up - or maybe Netflix just didnt want to buy it and felt their target market was more suited to Transformers/GI Joe earlier options.

No - the 2 sets of retro are all we have had.

[Al-1701]

This is one of the reasons I want to get into Hasbro.  I want to know these things.  If nothing else, it would be absolution.

[LadyMoondancer]

Yes, they released the first season of G1 as a boxed set around 2004, then gradually produced all of season 2 on several individual DVDs.  (They did cover all the episodes, though.)  They also produced the movie on DVD a couple times.

[gabumon]

If you look at G1 back cards, none of the names, like "Gusty" or "Moondancer" or "Firefly" have Registered Trademarks. A registered trademark is an "R" with a circle around it.  They only have "TM", which means they are unofficially claiming it until contested. 

My theory is that Hasbro NEVER DID have registered trademarks for their pony names in G1!!!!!   So as other companies came along, they registered these names for their own non pony stuff.

[xkappax]

I would give that trademark to Hasbro for free if it meant seeing a real G4 Gusty

Yes!!!!!! ME TOO!  But... she might have those horrible unicorn eyes. :O

[Dragonflitter]

If you look at G1 back cards, none of the names, like "Gusty" or "Moondancer" or "Firefly" have Registered Trademarks. A registered trademark is an "R" with a circle around it.  They only have "TM", which means they are unofficially claiming it until contested. 

My theory is that Hasbro NEVER DID have registered trademarks for their pony names in G1!!!!!   So as other companies came along, they registered these names for their own non pony stuff.

Hmm, that's interesting, I never knew the difference between (R) and (tm)! But... I just looked at my Rainbow Dash toy backcard and it says Rainbow Dash(tm). o.0

[gabumon]

Ya! weird.  This site:
http://www.trademarkia.com/rainbow-dash-76448437.html

(which is eaiser to use than that govs) says they have a registration for Rainbow Dash?

[hathorcat]

Yes gabumon is right...essentially a TM mark means nothing. It has no legal standing and is merely an indication that the company using it considers the service/company/product/item/image it is beside as something unique enough that it should be distinguished them from similar products.

The (R) symbol indicates that the mark is registered.

Basically you can add TM to whatever you like without having to register it - almost as a warding off and a warning. Whereas you cannot use (R) unless you have registered but you can, even if you do have (R) trademark, simply continue to use the TM.

Therefore RD has a (R) but clearly HB continue to use the TM mark.

Many trademark owners still choose to use the TM despite having a (R) registered mark. This is usually for one main reason - perception amongst the average consumer is that the TM symbol means a registered trademark and therefore it holds more weight than a (R) the meaning of which is far less known. Silly but true!

A good example people give is the telecommunications company Orange in the UK - type "Orange logo" into Google image search and you ll see their logo with the TM symbol...however this is in fact a (R) trademark...Orange once claimed the reason for the difference was that TM "looks" better with their logo than (R).

[Al-1701]

Then that would suggest my initial theory is right.  In order to use G1's, they would have to start the trademarking process from scratch.  They would have to apply for registration, make sure their trademark was distinct from other uses of the terms (this would be as simple as adding "My Little  Pony" to the beginning like they in the 80's, but still rather expensive because of all the legal maneuvering.)  It's more expensive than mutating their registered trademarks.

However, if the t-shirts are any indications, they might be slowly registering their G1 names.

[gabumon]

But the other part of your idea, registration by fans, would probably not hold up in court because the fans aren't producing toys ..i.e. "using" the names in the marketplace, but maybe the companies that *do* have those names registered *are* producing things in the market place with those names.

(I think it works differently than, say, for example domain names.)

[hathorcat]

Personally I still dont believe they have "lost the trademarks" - we are probably just using the wrong terms to discuss this. 

If they don't/didn't have a registered trademark for the name, it doesnt mean they wouldnt be able to defend their right to the name...yes, legally the automatic right comes from the name having been in continual commercial use...but it would be possible for a giant corporation to claim their sovreinty to the trademark if it is a product/name which historically is associated with them in some way.

[gallifreyan_pony]

I have to admit, the more I read about this trademark business the less sense I can make of it! Just looking at a few bits and pieces of merchandise and the H&M retro hairclips say this: "HASBRO and its logo, MY LITTLE PONY and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro and are used with permission", which seems a tad vague, and I couldn't see a trademark notice at all on the dollymix packs, just the copyright and 'used with permission' notice.

Anyway, I think we have to believe that whatever Hasbro owns or doesn't they'll have a legal team all over it making sure they aren't losing any money.

[hathorcat]

Anyway, I think we have to believe that whatever Hasbro owns or doesn't they'll have a legal team all over it making sure they aren't losing any money.

So true! Lol - guess they are not a multinational company for nothing?!

[Al-1701]

But the other part of your idea, registration by fans, would probably not hold up in court because the fans aren't producing toys ..i.e. "using" the names in the marketplace, but maybe the companies that *do* have those names registered *are* producing things in the market place with those names.

(I think it works differently than, say, for example domain names.)

We just have to prove we intend to use the trademarks for a commercial purpose within six months (e.g. sell them) and prove their suitable distinct from other trademarks.  Because these are generic use terms, simply slapping their pony species to it would be enough.  I've actually been studying this in business law.  Unfortunately, the former means we couldn't just give Hasbro the names.  They would have to buy them, even if it's just for a penny.

But, that's all assuming Hasbro doesn't already own the trademark.

[LadyMoondancer]

I just don't see how they could've produced the retro Collector pony and Rainbow pony sets if they didn't still own the full rights to those characters.

And if they own the rights to those characters, I have to believe they would own the rights to all the other G1 characters--because the Collector ponies were their oldest MLP characters, so otherwise the copyright or trademark or whatever should have run out on them first.

Could someone who owns the retro Collector pony / Rainbow pony sets take a look at the back of the box?  I'm squinting at online images, but I THINK it says "All rights reserved" in the lower corner.

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