Rollercoaster Trademark/License

Hello, just joined the coasterbuzz family. I'm finishing up a coaster game, but was wondering if there are trademarks/licenses attached to the rollercoaster's name and or design.

You can look up trademarks on the USPTO site.

Thanks, I didn't see anything, for say for instance dueling dragons- have you come across anything? I wonder if I'm searching the wrong way.

Dueling Dragons

It's a safe bet that every major roller coaster name is trademarked.

Yeah, they file trademarks on names they don’t even always use.

That link says the registration was cancelled or invalidated.

Correct, because Dueling Dragons no longer exists

Unless you have a good lawyer and can afford to fight big corporations, you're much better off not using real world rides in a commercial game, regardless of the trademark status.

Chris Sawyer did it...

But he is a rollercoaster gaming legend.

And he went through the proper legal process to utilize real parks/real rides in his game. IIRC the Six Flags logo was on the box of RCT2.

Yeah, I'm just a no-name little guy. But I imagine Chris probably had some bucks with the other games he did before RCT. If the names were changed with resembled likeness, do you think that could pass, or would there still be an issue with that?

If you actually intend to sell this game then I think you need to speak with a lawyer.

I think Aquatrax is available.

I've been avoiding commenting on this one because it's just so... Seriously. I mean, I can't even.

coasterrider:

If the names were changed with resembled likeness

It worked for McDowells yes…. but seriously I’m asking the experts if there are design patents or anything regarding the shape etc. Like is the batwing design patented…things like that. I think I get the point on the trademarks.

It's hard to believe you're serious when you say you came here to "ask the experts" about trademarks and patents.

Now if he were asking about semantics and sliders...

My great grandfather Jeremiah Rollercoaster patented all roller coasters after he invented them while on his deathbed in 1987. It was a years long process. As the executor of his estate I hereby grant you the use of the term "roller coaster" (but not "Rollercoaster" as that is a family name) for your game on the condition that you program the game in Rust. You may also use Javascript but only for backend processes like file operations or database queries.