[Master O]

So Ion Maiden's not gonna take 15 years to finish?

[Sledgehammer]

Damn, that would be the longest game of all time.

[Mark]

Decay TC was a 15 year project from concept to release.Mblackwell wrote a short history. https://forums.duke4...-release-decay/

[Master O]

Iron Maiden files trademark infringement suit against Ion Maiden

Looks like you guys are in deep trouble.

[Mark]

ouch

[OpenMaw]

If that is serious.... Uh... Iron Maiden is... Full of shit.

Aside of the portmanteau of the name, the look and feel of everything else about the game is COMPLETELY UNRELATED IN EVERY WAY.

[Gambini]

https://www.blabberm...den-video-game/

This article seems to go into more detail about the claims.

I hope you guys come out of this well, and that it serves as a way to indirectly promote the game.

"There´s no such thing as bad publicity"

[OpenMaw]

Right. Except for the financial pain this might inflict.

I never thought i'd say "Iron Maiden are dicks" But... Yeah Iron Maiden are dicks.

[Micky C]

Quote

Defendant began using the Ion Maiden name, without authorization, in an effort to confuse consumers into believing Defendant's products and services are somehow affiliated with or approved by IRON MAIDEN

This line seems to imply that part of their case rests on 3DR/VP spreading information implying that Ion Maiden is related to Iron Maiden, which I'm pretty sure has never happened. This component is a pretty damn weak argument.

Quote

Without even examining the content of the Ion Maiden video game, confusion is undeniable because of the virtually identical use of the iconic IRON MAIDEN mark for video games

The first part of the sentence is hilarious, because if you actually DO examine the content of the video game, it's easy to see that there's absolutely nothing to do with Iron Maiden.

I hope 3DR lists several of the following points in their defence:
1. Iron Maiden is a type of device that predates the band.
2. The game's name is arguably based on the 'Ion Maiden' weapon from Bombshell, which Iron Maiden didn't seem to have a problem with.
3. Ion is in fact a real and distinct word from Iron. Surely they can't claim ownership over all combinations of names that bear some resemblance, especially if the product is completely unrelated in every conceivable way (video game vs band etc)? Not that I'm a legal expert.
4. Shelly actually is a maiden

[MusicallyInspired]

For the love of...

Iron Maiden has become Bethesda.

Quote

"Defendant began using the Ion Maiden name, without authorization, in an effort to confuse consumers into believing Defendant's products and services are somehow affiliated with or approved by IRON MAIDEN."

Bloody LIARS.

[Avoozl]

Well I am never listening to their music.

[Micky C]

So apparently being "deceptively similar" is in fact grounds for trademark infringement, so it'll be interesting to see what comes of this case. If you compare the words "Ion Maiden" and "Iron Maiden", which are literally just one letter different, they do in fact seem very similar indeed.

However, if you look at the logos which actually use those words, they don't look anything alike. Anyone looking at the two logos side by side would probably not believe they were necessarily related, as they are quite stylistically different. Let's hope the judge feels the same way.

[Forge]

the article makes the case seem pretty weak.

better go get your drm-free version while you can, just in case

[HulkNukem]

Best of luck to 3DRealms and Voidpoint

Even if they can win the case it is still a financial burden.

[Hank]

Sure, jump on Iron Maiden, but this is the current status of Ion Maiden's Trademark, which is abandoned.



direct link http://tsdr.uspto.go...pe=statusSearch

I hope there is an explanation forth coming.

[Jimmy]

I wouldn't blame the band. They might not even be aware of this. It's the company that handles their merchandising that is actually suing.

Perhaps fans of the game and the band should let the band know how bad this makes them feel about the people representing the band.

[MusicallyInspired]

But...why?

(re: trademark abandonment)

[The Battlelord]

Ridiculous... Exception for the "similar" name (NOT the SAME, ffs) this is like to say that a metalhead and his guitars is similar to Rambo and his guns and both do the SAME thing...
Do they at least watched the trailer? (assuming that they weren't under drugs effect too).

[Zaxx]

Well, title change incoming I guess. That sucks, I liked Ion Maiden, now it's going to be "Bombshell something".

[HulkNukem]

Keep the theme and name it after another weapon from Bombshell

3DRealms presents: Loverboy 3D

[Forge]

Shelly shells cyborgs by the sea shore

[Zaxx]

HulkNukem, on 29 May 2019 - 09:06 PM, said:

Keep the theme and name it after another weapon from Bombshell

3DRealms presents: Loverboy 3D

Prepares for a trademark lawsuit: Naughty America.

[Zaxx]

Anyway how about "Bombshell 3D"?

[xMobilemux]

I wonder how this will affect the Founders Editions if they have to change it.

May as well cancel mine.

[Danukem]

It's a lame and unfortunate suit. It's not like anyone is going accidentally by the game instead of an Iron Maiden album because they made a typo when searching. But honestly, there's a hundred other good names out there which would provide people with a better sense of what the game is than "Ion Maiden". It's not like ions, or being a maiden, are integral to the game. It was just a cute name because it sounded like "Iron Maiden" and still fit, sort of. My advice: Give it a few days for gaming sites to cover the news and bring attention to the game, then change the name.

[Aristotle Gumball]

It's a blessing in disguise if this can get attention for the game. Controversy like it's the late 90s again.

[OpenMaw]

thricecursed, on 29 May 2019 - 10:47 PM, said:

It's a blessing in disguise if this can get attention for the game. Controversy like it's the late 90s again.

Except if it does money damage to Voidpoint and 3D Realms. They aren't exactly swimming in money.

[Zaxx]

Commando Nukem, on 29 May 2019 - 10:57 PM, said:

Except if it does money damage to Voidpoint and 3D Realms. They aren't exactly swimming in money.

That's why I expect a title change. When it comes to this stuff even if there is only a tiny little piece of logic behind a suit usually the more powerful party wins (= the one who has more money).

Some financial damage is surely coming to 3DR since they'd have to rebrand stuff, change the packaging for the limited boxed releases and stuff like that but fighting Iron Maiden's claims would lead to much, much worse I think.

[Mr. Tibbs]

3D Realms statement on the lawsuit:

Quote

We’ve recently heard about a lawsuit filed in California by the band Iron Maiden, claiming our old-school first-person shooter Ion Maiden is infringing on their trademark. From what we’ve heard, the suit claims our main character, Shelly Harrison, originally debuting in 2016’s Bombshell, is based on their musician Steve Harris; our skull bomb icon found in-game is based on their skeleton mascot Eddie; our logo in itself is based on theirs; and other frivolous claims anyone who has played Ion Maiden would find more over the top than Shelly’s “Loverboy”, her signature 18-round triple-barreled revolver. We at 3D Realms, our co-publishers 1C Entertainment, and developer Voidpoint will review our options once we receive official notice of the lawsuit and will make any necessary decisions at the appropriate time.

Regardless, everyone continues to work diligently on Ion Maiden to deliver the best possible experience later this year.

[NightFright]

I really hope the game won't have to be renamed when approaching its release date. It's annoying that these days there seems to be a certain tendency to feel offended by pretty much anything. Certainly, the two names are very similar, but that's where it actually already ends for me.

Good luck to 3DR and Voidpoint to get through this ordeal as unscathed as possible. Fingers crossed some kind of settlement can be reached quickly.