Hello all. A few quick questions: Would it be legal to use trademark names in a game? example: Question: What arcade game was originally invented as a hexadecimal test used to evaluate computer programmers? A. Pac-Man B. Space Invaders C. Galaga D. Donkey Kong And would it be legal to use company names like Nintendo, Atari, SEGA etc.. in a game? As you probably already guessed the type of game in question is a quiz/trivia game..
IANAL, but I believe in this context it is fine, as you are just refering to other games here and not trying to clone them. The game press falls in this same category as you are only "writing about" the other game. You might need to place a 'tm' or '®' next to their names and include a footnote indicating who the trademark holder is (but I'm not sure about that). Also, don't try and name your game 'You Don't Know Jack" or "TrivalPursuit", as that would definately get you in trouble.
How about "You Don't Know Pursuit?" Anyway, you should be fine. We've done a few quiz games ourselves and there's loads of questions involving celebrities and what not. It's a sign of how screwed up the copyright situation is when folk can be worried about this kind of thing.
Trademarks for fictitious products? On a related note to trademarks, is it legal to display the TM symbol adjacent to a fictitious product used as a prop within a game? Think of the ACME devices in Road Runner and you know what I mean. For example, would it be ok to have a label on a device prop in game with a label like "Quantum Harmonizer 3000 (TM)"? It has a double connotation: lawyers, and.... lawyers