Jess Ragan Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 Apparently, the CEO of Ultracade is trying to claim the rights to the open source emulator MAME, so his company will be the only one allowed to use the name in association with its arcade cabinets. I don't know how well that's going to work, since the MAME emulator has been around for nearly a decade and has always been freeware. The head of Ultracade claims that this won't infringe on the rights of the designers of the popular emulator, but the fact that he's trying to claim any rights to a piece of software he didn't create or own kind of means he already HAS. Besides, after he obtains the rights to MAME (even if it's through less than moral and legal means), who know how far he'll go to defend them? JR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanBoris Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 He is not trying to claim rights to MAME itself, but he is trying to register the name MAME and the MAME logo as a trademark. You can read some of the details in this Slashdot posting: http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=0...3&tid=17&tid=10 I am a member of the MAME development team, and I can tell you that the team (and other people in the emulation community) are not to happy about this, and plan to fight it. Dan[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 I know who created that Logo too! They've dissapeared from the online community though for a while now.. just funny though. I think that guy bit off more than he can chew.. he tried to sneak it under the radar, then got exposed/slashdotted/etc. the works Now he's trying to put a spin on it that he's trying to prevent copyright theft... by trademarking "MAME"?!?!?! Give me a fucking break Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stingray Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Sorry, I didn't see this thread before starting another one in the coin op forum. I think that guy bit off more than he can chew.. he tried to sneak it under the radar, then got exposed/slashdotted/etc. the works icon_lol.gif Now he's trying to put a spin on it that he's trying to prevent copyright theft... by trademarking "MAME"?!?!?! Give me a fucking break My feelings exactly. He's been activly sending emails to people who do nothing more than sell MAME marquees and other artwork for cabinets, and trying to extort royalties out of them. This before he has been granted a trademark (and with as many people fighting it it seems unlikely that he will be granted the trademark in any case). I certainly don't know the laws, but demading royalties on something that you don't actually have trademarked seems completly illegal to me. -S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Mame is really M.A.M.E...is it even possible to trademark an acronym? Is it even possible to trademark one that has been in use for years already?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?...=mame&Find=Find Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dav Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Yes, trademarks go to the first to use it and register it. He hasn' t used it though so he doesn't have much of a chance. If he'd uses the name for his product too we'd been hosed probably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+stephena Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Yes, trademarks go to the first to use it and register it. He hasn' t used it though so he doesn't have much of a chance. If he'd uses the name for his product too we'd been hosed probably. The point of him wanting to use it is that to the general computer-using public, the word "MAME" is associated with "emulation of arcade games". It's the MAME project that made the association of this word to the public, not this leech who wants to take advantage of that fact. So, that proves he has no right to it, since he isn't the one that made the word a household name (in computer circles, anyway). Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Yes, trademarks go to the first to use it and register it. He hasn't used it though so he doesn't have much of a chance. If he'd uses the name for his product too we'd been hosed probably. That wasn't my question. Suppose he is able to trademark the word "Mame"...what then? Since the actual name of the emulator is called "Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator"...not "Mame"...is this even a concern at all? Should Michigan Area Media Eduators be worried too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dav Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 He's applied for trademarks for MAME and multiple arcade machine emulator both as well as the blue mame logo. You can see the application at http://www.uspto.gov/ and search the trademarks for arcade emulator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osbo Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 I'm glad to see the mame team is taking action against this person (he doesn't deserve to be called a person IMHO) I know legal representation is expensive, if mame team needs money, count me in to chip in a few bucks to help out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zonie Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 If he's so damn worried that the "illegal" use of the MAME trademark needs to be prevented, then what he should be doing is assisting the creators/developers of MAME and it's logo in obtaining said trademark and then liscensing it from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That80sGuy Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 Ultracade equipment sucks the big one anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Ragan Posted February 28, 2005 Author Share Posted February 28, 2005 Let that be a lesson to everyone... if you've created intellectual property, protect it with a trademark or copyright. Don't just assume that people will respect your rights to that property, because there's always someone out there waiting to claim your hard work for themselves. JR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MayDay Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 Though I am very poor, this seems quite outrageous, and I am willing to chip in a lil' dinero for a legal defense as well. I get paid on Friday! Keep us posted on how this is turning out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 Yep just read about this tidbit today. Just another moron trying to make money off of other peoples work. The guy should be shot. Glad he got caught before he could implement his plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stingray Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 Just posted this in the other thread in the coin op forum, but it seemed worth a double post. Update: http://www.retroblast.com/index.php?action...s&poll_ident=16 This just in: it looks like the status of the Trademark Application on the MAME phrase and logo made by David Foley of Ultracade has been changed to "Current Status: Abandoned: Applicant's express request."! Better yet, there is a NEW Trademark Application on record for the phrase "MAME", and the applicant is none other than Nicola Salmoria (the founding father of MAME)! It looks like "MAME" is now safely out of the hands of David Foley, and with any luck the phrase will soon be the rightful property of Nicola Salmoria. Great news! -S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze_ro Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 Well, that's certainly a relief... The sad thing here isn't that someone tried to do this, it's the fact that a lot of us were REALLY worried that he would actually succeed. The whole patent/trademark thing in the states is so messed up it's pathetic. --Zero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceCold Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 (edited) BUMP TO AN OLD THREAD!!! It's 4 years later, and David Foley himself is indicted. And the irony being, that he accused the MAME community of intellectual property violations, and that's now the charges he's facing. I didn't see any other posts about this, but if I missed it, I'm sorry. Edited July 10, 2009 by IceCold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 BUMP TO AN OLD THREAD!!! It's 4 years later, and David Foley himself is indicted. And the irony being, that he accused the MAME community of intellectual property violations, and that's now the charges he's facing. Stop bumping old threads unless you have something new to ad... Err never mind. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osbo Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 A blast from the past Glad that duchebad will get nailed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 Very interesting, thanks for posting this update!! ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 That's fantastic news. About time he gets nailed for selling cabs for outrageous prices, for people's hard work and release for free. If he would have won they should have renamed MAME to Don't Buy Ultracade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceCold Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 (edited) Very interesting, thanks for posting this update!! ..Al No problem. I'm glad I get to spread the news, and I'm even more glad that this whole thing came to a fitting end. That's fantastic news. About time he gets nailed for selling cabs for outrageous prices, for people's hard work and release for free. If he would have won they should have renamed MAME to Don't Buy Ultracade. One of the worst parts was, he was going after all kinds of vendors. There's a lot of vendors selling MAME marquees for cabinets and other artwork, and he was sending them cease and desist letters, WHILE he was waiting for trademark approval, claiming he owned the MAME trademark. He's a very shady character. A lot of these vendors make very little profit, and are just doing it because they like classic arcades, and they want to help out the community. There's a small minority in the MAME cabinet community that aren't real happy about this indictment, though, as David Foley was supposedly about to release an "opti-gun" lightgun interface. Was supposed to make arcade lightguns work on your PC. I would have never bought one, even if I would have liked an interface like that. He will never see a dime from me, no matter what he does to try to make amends, and no matter what he releases. Number 1 rule in my book: don't do business with shady people. I really just have one thing to say about this indictment: Edited July 10, 2009 by IceCold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmel_andrews Posted July 10, 2009 Share Posted July 10, 2009 The whole mane copyright thing never happened...as far as i remember (being a frequent visitor to a certain w/k emulation site back then) he sort of dropped his copyright/patent application to mame as he was getting some serious stick and slagging off from the emulation community Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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