Lots of times, people never ask me “Mr. Not-At-All-A-Lawyerman, how can the US Patent and Trademark Office’s filing system and database benefit ME, a humble urchin-child with a cockney accent and sooty cheeks?”
After pretending to check the time on a jewel-encrusted golden pocket watch (which doesn’t work because it’s plastic), I tuck the fob back into my waistcoat and playfully tussle the child’s wool cap and say “Well, Xavierathon, you like Teemo, don’t you?”
“He’s my favorite,” always comes the excited reply.
“Well, let’s go on a magical adventure into the Trademark Electronic Search System, and see if we can learn about Teemo.”
“But what can we learn about Teemo from a database of registered trademarks?”
Trademarks are very much about business. When business people want to protect their ideas, they can use copyrights or trademarks (or some other things that won’t help Teemo). Since Teemo has become such a mascot for Riot and League of Legends, the business people at Riot Games, Inc. decided to protect the connection between Teemo and their business. The way they decided to protect that connection was through a federal trademark registration:
The only thing I find surprising about this is that they didn’t file the registration until December of 2014. I suppose they wanted to wait until the world championship was all wrapped up. But this is only one of two registrations Riot has for Teemo, and the second one is tantalizing:
The tantalization is a two-parter: the filing basis and the goods description. The first registration was filed on the basis of “1A,” meaning the product (the video game) was already out in the market and Teemo was all over it. This second registration, however, is filed on the basis of “1B.” That is the filing basis of “Intent to Use,” and the company registering the mark promises that they plan to use this mark in commerce in the next 6 months.
A trademark is always used in connection with some good or service. For the first Teemo registration, the good is the game and the service is the ongoing support of the game. For the second Teemo registration, the goods include a lot of clothing items and… “toy action figures.”
What important lesson do we learn from the trademark database?
Action. Figure. Teemo.
Just to be clear: This is all public information. You don’t need a special password to use TESS or read applications for trademarks before the USPTO. You don’t have to sneak into Riot Offices to find out about this. Trademarks are one way that you can read signals of a business strategy. As businesses depend more and more on brand recognition and good will, trademarks become another language of business, like finance or marketing.
The sad, hidden snag about this is that a 1B application isn’t a promise to actually make the product(s) described on the application; it is a promise that there is currently a plan to make the product(s). So this application is not exactly a promissory note for a Teemo Action Figure. It is more like a promise that Riot has seriously thought about it.
But that’s still exciting for little Xavierathon.
philogames 