[Janus Wolf]

Just wondering as these are in the public domain what prevents someone from Trademarking the names Green Lama and Purple Claw? I know the comics are public domain but that is because copyright is expired.

[John C]

As I mentioned regarding Jenny Everywhere, there isn't anything, but it's not a particularly smart move.  The infringement case wouldn't likely hold together until you've established a track record of publishing the character when nobody else was doing anything significant.

[Janus Wolf]

trademarking green lama? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGj1kaNNusY can AC Comics do this? Now no else can use Green Lama?

[Janus Wolf]

just checked the US trademark office...

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=doc&state=4008:g4ircq.3.1

There you have it, I wonder if anyone can comment on this. Therefore, if a comic book is public domain, including the character, you can now trademark the character, if you arfe using it in commerce. Green Lama came out in 1940, and trademark was officially registered in 2009 by a new company.

[John C]

Are you not seeing my reply, somehow?

A trademark is a brand.  If you intend to use a phrase or symbol in a particuar context, that's a trademark.  The trademark's strength relates to how strong the association is between that mark and your company.

So you can claim (or register, if you want to be particularly busy about it) whatever you want--anything at all--but you're not going to successfully sue someone unless it's a strong trademark.

Consider:  Since the Martian Manhunter is a DC character, they claim a trademark to "John Jones."  The USAgent is a Marvel character, so they claim a trademark to "John Walker."  If you made a movie about "Detective John Jones," do you really think a judge is going to award DC money?

(A registered trademark might be a little bit trickier, but comic folks don't generally file for those, because they're expensive and not very useful in an industry where lawsuits aren't the norm.)

If you want to be super-safe (or respectful), just don't sell a competing product where someone else's trademark is used as YOUR trademark, like a title or in any advertising dress, plain and simple.

[Janus Wolf]

I guess my point is that characters like black terror were made long ago, the idea was long ago. And now they are being trademarked today in 2009...sure black terror, green lama are now trademark brands, but the idea did not happen today, or even with the original creators. They were taken from the public domain. Your example of "john jones" and "detective john jones" is different because your adding detective to the new john jones, unless yor saying characters like Green Lama, can be trademarked and now you can use something like Super Green Lama and not be sued because its a different brand?