Game Names

#1 IANAL, but from what I know you just have to make sure you aren't stepping on somebody's trademark. Most book titles (or movie titles for that matter) aren't trademarked. Just go to www.uspto.gov and do a trademark search. If your name turns up something, check what it covers, if nothing shows up that is a video/computer/arcade game you'll probably be fine.

A sample chedk of "Space Station" listed a bunch of stuff, including a pinball game, a computer table, a stereoscopic vision system, a chemical dispenser, a brand of bike/equipment racks for vehicles, intervascular devices, electronic sound equipment (digital/analog signal processors), and a storage rental company. Among others. Of those you'd probably only have to worry about the pinball game.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, I am not providing legal advice. If you believe I am providing legal advice, please reference the previous sentence, and/or get your eyesight checked. If you want legal advice, contact a lawyer.

#2 Thanks for link for the trademark search. That'll do the trick I think.

#3 I am not a lawyer, but I don't believe that precludes a person from giving legal advice. That being said, all advice given in the following letter is to be taken "as is", explicitly without any offer of warranty, legal liability or indemnity provided by myself, or any corporations or other legal bodies I may be a member or representative of. All information provided herein represents my opinion, and may be factually incorrect (of course, the same may be said of your lawyer's opinion, but I digress).

Titles are a pretty clear area, frankly. Keep in mind that all matters of copyright, trademark and patent are governed under civil law, meaning that nothing will arise from them unless the holder specifically files suit against you. Do you think they'll sue you over this? That's question #1.

There is a great amount of grey area in title litigation (so far as I'm aware), and short titles are usually offered little protection in the eyes of the law. Just a smidgen of research will show you vast numbers of books that share titles, and movies as well. Sometimes, movies are made with titles that have previously been used for books, with no other connection between the two.

As far as Trademark is concerned, you also have a number of different issues to take into consideration.

Is your title suitably unique? It's much easier to defend the trademark on a company named MafrDraztDazzle than it is on Dog. One's an invented word, and the other is in common parlance.

Are you in the same area of business? I'd have a lot of trouble opening a detergent company called Tide... But I could open a watersports company called Tide without much problem.

Anyway, I highly doubt you'd run into any troubles using the title Space Station. It's not a terribly unique name, and you're trying to sell a completely different product. If you'd like to be safe, you could always contact the legal department of the book's publisher and ask whether it would be alright.

OTOH, I wouldn't really recommend that title. You're right in it being short and punchy... But it's also generic and forgettable (no offense). From a marketing stand-point, you always want to be unique and intriguing. Best of luck!

#4 Space Station is really generic. With a title like that I'd expect the cover of the box to be plain white with black letters in plain font and no art. I'd expect the actual game to be just as generic. Sorry I don't have any better ideas for you, making my post kind of useless other than to back up Chris' thoughts on the title.
-Ajari-

#5 Can you have a trademark on common names, though? I recall somebody like Polaroid trying to sue a dictionary for not capitalising their name, but it was ruled that polaroid had become a common term, or something.

#6 From what I understand, a trademarked name can become generic, but I'm not completely sure what effect this has on a company's ability to protect it. The classic example of this is Kleenex, which is now the common term for any snot rag no matter the manufacturer. I believe a dictionary's use of the name is covered under Fair Use (as the dictionary writers are obviously not trying to convince the public that their dictionary is a Kleenex product); however, competing brands still don't say Kleenex on the box. They say facial tissue... Although I'd prefer if some company labelled them Snot Rags. :)

#7 I think the legal definition of when a word has become a common term is when it appears in the dictionary as a word, rather than a brand (or at least this is used as evidence). So when the dictionary added "kleenex n : a piece of soft absorbent paper (usually two or more thin layers) used as a disposable handkerchief", Kleenex lost the right to protect their name. Copyright and trademark are 2 completely different things, though. Copyright is for intelligent works (art, literature, etc) and trademark is for brands and symbols. You can't copyright "Space Station" but you could copyright a book named "Space Station" or a picture you made of a space station, or trademark it if you use it in a unique way (like a logo). For example, google is a common word, but when shown like it is on Google's front page, it is a trademark (one being disputed, amusingly).

But, I am not a lawyer, so this is just my opinion.