Grimoire is still under development? Wow! I heard about it something like 10 years ago and then forgot all about it because it didn't seem to be going anywhere.

I'm not really sure about the mental state of its developer, but IMO anyone willing to work on a true old school RPG with such dedication for so long can't be a *thoroughly* bad person.

now I'm sure mr Blakemore is insane.

I think Cleve is just covering his ass, and needs to, in the event that he releases the game that he has been working on.

If another owns the trademark, they can sponge off of his struggle, and seek remuneration on a product that they had nothing to do with.

Best bet would be to challenge the trademark, before granted ($), or get a legal commitment not to challenge upon his release.

I'm not a lawyer, but seems both sides neglected to protect their interests. Cleve, by not trademarking, and Omniwhoever, by not researching beforehand.

Edit to add: It's a shitty world sometimes/oftentimes, and money only makes it more so.

Seems like a good place to add a Wizardry 6 & 7 code:

Have fun, as always!

Edit to remove code.

Yes, it seems so.

He should have earned his fees by checking other places than the trademark office, before he gave his clients the go ahead on a name they were applying for. It only makes it more shady that he filed AFTER being made aware.

Just more games and bs over the peanuts that attorneys live on, but others work for.

Edit to add: It seems as if the attorney is practicing "damage control," by applying for the trademark after the fact. To hide his ineptitude, and the lack of due diligence, he filed after he was made aware of the potential conflict. Shady, small, little creature, that hides in such a fashion, and then tries to take the moral high ground.

I have no interest in this, just have seen enough of those kind, and like to see them step out on the limb that will be cut out from underneath them.

The way I understand it Cleve had not at any point during his game's ridiculously lengthy development actually secured the rights to the "Grimoire" name so Morrison did what a good lawyer does for his clients and secured it. It seems professional rather than shady to me unless I'm missing a point that actually makes him or his clients liable despite (or because of) registering the trademark.

I'm aware of patent trolls and stuff but securing a name that a "competitor" hasn't registered in twenty years while working on his project seems hardly unethical or shady to me.

Edit: Okay, just saw on the RPG Codex contributions by some users that suggest that Morrison may have lead himself or his clients into deep shit. Well, we'll see how that goes.

I've been involved in many IP cases. Making the comments he is making on a kickstarter page is not covering his ass. It doesn't assist his case at all.

There is every possibility that those comments will come out in an affidavit (if he does actually commence proceedings, and I doubt he will), and they will reflect very poorly on him.

He hasn't secured it yet, only filed. The shady part to me is that they only sought the trademark after being notified of the discrepancy.

As for acting as an attorney should, yes, given the situation now. As for acting competently before, and researching before giving his clients the go ahead, no. He lazy assed it, got challenged, filled his pants, then filed in damage control mode.

I'd like to see him sued by both sides, because he is a joke in allowing this kind of thing to jeopardize his client, and then try to hide it through subterfuge.

He is his worst enemy, at times, but he needs to challenge this, citing common law if nothing else.

If represented, I'm sure his counsel would plead for the application of law, notwithstanding the extraneous hyperbole that will almost certainly come into play.

Forgot about the Codex, I'm sure they have tons on it :-)

The only ones doing harm to the new Grimoire's developers seem to be Cleve Blakemore and his fans by spamming the comments section and distracting from the game. I think THAT'S what's truly unethical here and I wouldn't be surprised if in the end Cleve will be in trouble for intentionally harming a competitor's public image by spreading false accusations. No matter what Morrison did, it doesn't justify publicly throwing dirt at the project and Blakemore definitely should have handled these things in private. These public accusations right on the project's Kickstarter page are disgusting.

Agreed, to a point.

All should have been kept private, businesslike, and should have been easily resolved.

I don't know what is going on in other places, but I'll take your word for it.

Law is law, and I guess it is within the jurisdiction of whatever court that has venue to decide.

Can we not just live in a world where both Grimoire's exist?

Handling things in private seems to not be his thing - didn't he act in the same fashion in the comments of Brenda Brathwaite's and Tom Hall's Kickstarter campaign?

Having now played both, I'm going to hope for this one. Press test today for the Grimoire on Kickstarter. It was fun as hell.

I don't think the kickstarter Grimoire is going to get funded. I guess they will probably still make it anyway if it is greenlit.

Can anyone talk some sense into these nutjobs? They're two relatively small time developers that have nothing to gain from expending resources on this nonsense.