Hey Everyone---- Does anyone have a copy of the last few weeks of CoinWorld??? I heard from another collector that there is an article that says something about PCGS Copyrighting the word First Strikes and NGC getting mad over it.... If so can anyone fill us in on what is going on?....I don't see how PCGS could copy right such a term....if so then I think NGC could and would copyright such things as VG and F and so on... Speedy
Speedy, I haven't heard anything about PCGS copyrighting the term, but I'd be interested to know if they have!
Technical point - Under US copyright law, the words "First Strike" can not be copyrighted. Pursuant to US Trademark law, under certain circumstances the words "First Strike" used in conjunction with coins could be trademarked. Although I personally doubt that the circumstances allowing registration of that as a trade mark exist, I have insufficient facts to say so with certainty.
Yeah, it's a trademark dispute. It's going to drag out in the courts for awhile. The worst part of it is that it's a meaningless term because it has nothing to do with whether the coins are struck with the new dies.
Well Roy I think you need to tell that to PCGS---- Thanks Palindrome----keep us updated please on how it goes! Speedy
I suspect that their attorneys have possesion of significantly more facts than I do, and it's not my place to give free legal advice, especially when I know that I don't know all the facts.
Seems like an abuse of the copywrite laws, but that's for the courts to decide. Hopefully, PCGS will lose.
Yes it is true, NGC argues to cancel first strike regisration "because the designationregistered is the name of a product categoryor genus, rather than a brand name" It is a trademark issue.
Copyright law is odd. I was amazed when the modern Olympic movement could claim the word "Olympics" and limit its use when it is a 2500 year old word and concept.
That is a trademark, not a copyright. There is a HUGE difference between the two concepts. You can not copyright an idea, only the specific form in which you have expressed it. Copyrights are limited in time, and when they expire the material is in the public domain. For example, Mark Twain's known works are all in the public domain, but if his heirs found a previously unpublished short story, it could be copyrighted. A trademark is a visible means of identifying the goods or services provided by the holder. They are only valid in connection with those goods or services. The Olympic movement can prevent you from using the word in connection with a sporting event, but not otherwise, so if you have an ice cream store on Olympic Blvd. in Los Angeles, feel free to sell your Olympic Fudge Sundaes. Trademarks can be lost by lack of use or failure to take action against infringers (that's why "aspirin" is now a generic word), but otherwise they go on forever. That's why you can't legally market a soft drink under the name "Coca Cola" or in a bottle shaped like theirs, in the 21st Century, even though the marks were first established at the end of the 19th Century.
Yeah I read the article, it doesn't seem like PCGS will have too much of a leg to stand on, but I'm not a lawyer either. We'll see it'll propably drag out for years and years like that acg suit has.
