Namespace collision (code)
Basically, bt let me know about a slight namespace collision between Solace (my ongoing renderer project) and Solace (an online boardgame). Fwee.
Update: The situation has been resolved in a way agreeable to both. If only all trademark issues were so easily dealt with. :)
So, I put a note on the main Solace page:
(deleted for the sake of being decent)and then I sent a polite email to the creator of the other Solace:
Hi, I just found out about your game entitled "Solace" today. Unfortunately for me, that's also the name of my ongoing personal project game/cinematic rendering engine/MMORPG project which I've been working on in my spare time since 1998...So hopefully there won't be any problems.So, I've put a note on my Solace's page ([url removed]) to clarify the issue. Hopefully there won't be too much confusion over this. :) I'd greatly appreciate if you or Freeverse or whatever could put on a little note saying, "Note: If you're looking for the high-quality interactive rendering engine by the same name, go here" or similar. (Especially since right now I'm trying to get a job, and my Solace-named project is a HUGE part of my portfolio!)
I'm not asking you to change the name of your product or anything, what with it already being published and so on (that would just be crass of me, especially since I haven't exactly put out anything for public consumption aside from an interactive rendering test). I'm just a bit annoyed to find this out. :)
Thanks for your time.
Update: The author said he'd be happy to oblige, but it's up to the publisher, Freeverse, whom I should contact. So I did.
Update: Got a response from Ian at Freeverse; he said they'd be happy to link back to my Solace if I were to change the "editorial" (which he thought to be inappropriately accusatory, though I don't think it was) on the Solace page to a simple link back to their product, which I have done. Groovy.
Amicable resolutions kick ass.
Comments
Solace is the name of the engine, right? There should be no confusion, as any game you make would likely bear a different name anyway.
I can't count the number of songs I've heard named Solace. That would be more of a confusion than a 3d engine/game confusion.
You should be pretty safe.
I hope so anyway. I happen to like that name. =)
Yeah, mostly I'm just annoyed that an appropriate websearch on "Solace" now finds the other Solace instead. :)
I hope you have copyright on the name. =)
Just to be safe.
That's a common misconception: you don't copyright a name, you trademark it. Copyright for contents (code/graphics/music/etc.), trademark for names, and patents for designs/methods (the conceptual part, anyway).
Anyway, I've already received a response from the author, and he told me to contact his publisher for any reciprocal link. He also said he felt sorry for the plight, but that the name "Solace" is hardly unique (which is true as a whole, but in the realm of 3D graphics it was until now), so I don't think he was really understanding what I was getting at when I called it a namespace collission. Oh well.
I have to wonder whether they actually checked to see if the name was in use first, though, since (my) Solace is at least listed on a number of graphics databases... Oh well.
Oops, trademark. I just woke up an hour ago. Bear with me. ;)
The question is, has someone already trademarked it. And if so, does it fall within the realm of 3D Engines? A game called Solace cannot be confused for a 3D engine, or technology named Solace. So there's no trademark dilution there. At least, there shouldn't be.
Heh. While we're at it, this is even more annoying, because that's a definite tread on my engine.
Dunno about trademark dilution. The reason I'm trying to deal with this right now is to *avoid* exactly that problem (a trademark infringement suit).
Have you considered filing for trademark on the name?
Nah, I don't see any reason to bother at this point. :) It's a personal project and a research platform, not an actual product at this point. Honestly, I was probably going to change the name for any commercial venture anyway. It's just that right now, the uniqueness of the name is rather important to me, since Solace is such a vital part of my portfolio and I'm trying to get hired and so on.
Honestly, I think the name totally fits your engine.
I can understand why any product that results from your engine would bear a different name. But the engine itself is your brainchild. I donno about you, but it would be crushing to have to change the name of your 'baby' after watching it evolve for several years..
Hm, good point. I'll look into it.
I should also trademark the logo, too...
Ah, cool. Only three trademarks on the word Solace within the field of computers exist, and they are:
- (live) systems security optimization
- (dead) Australian banking systems, abandoned in 1999
- (dead) The logo for the above
Cool.
Like the whole Patent mess, sometimes it's better to protect something to keep others from grabbing it and taking you to court.
The only problem with trademarks is that you *have* to defend them, or else you'll lose them. Atleast, that's what I understood about American trademark law. So it can protect you, but also be a pain in the ass should it come to taking someone to court to protect yourself.
Still, better you own it than someone else, right?