Curious point…how come this game isn’t called spomin? At least on the slovene language page!

I remember playing the board game version as a kid. Perhaps that one was made by a different company? I wouldn’t know though. Any thought?

Perhaps it’s some sort of trademark infringement??

     by Michael N. on January 31, 2007 at 8:08 am

Good point, Michael. Novala mentions trademark issues in her comments. She says:

From a previous job experience I know that Ravensburger sues everybody who even calls the game “Memory”. They have got the copyright and won’t let anybody else use the name.

So there’s that.

     by Michael M. on January 31, 2007 at 9:56 am

@Michael N:
Perhaps it’s some sort of trademark infringement??
It absolutely is. Not only does it use the copyright- protected name of Ravensburger for such kind of games, it also imitates their corporate design. Regarding the comment of ihre Excellenz on my comment there, the owners of the site mentioned are lucky because either Ravensburger has not found their site yet or they don’t dare to sue a project sponsored by some sort of ink-manufacturer (HP).

     by Dietmar on January 31, 2007 at 10:02 am

Huh, someone’s got to tell Martin about that…

     by pengovsky on January 31, 2007 at 10:07 am

A thought occured to me… Maybe if the game passes as an art project, it’s cool?

     by pengovsky on January 31, 2007 at 10:08 am

I know that parodies are usually fine, at least in the U.S. I’m not sure about European trademark laws.

I would think that peng is right in that art projects would be exempted from the wrath of Ravensburgerian lawyers.

     by Michael M. on January 31, 2007 at 10:15 am

I don’t understand: somebody actually managed to copyright the very word “memory”? Oh. Let’s go and copyright the rest. I will start with “air”, “water” and “earth”. Lovely game, though. Or, rather, piece of art.

     by tadej on January 31, 2007 at 10:45 am

@tadej:
the word “memory” is as far as I know reserved for games like mentioned here, wether they are electronical or not. Another quite popular example is “apple“. There have been some problems between the record-company (Beatles) and Steve Jobs’ company. Shouldn’t be a problem to produce - erm - memory chewing gum or whatever

     by Dietmar on January 31, 2007 at 11:35 am

@tadej: Unfortunately “air” is already taken. You can check it out here. Slovene trademarks are available here

     by pengovsky on January 31, 2007 at 2:43 pm

Michael, you brought up a point in your entry that seems to be an unnecessary embarassment for some of us, some being defined as Male Societal Components.
Namely, the pants thing.

I am a strong proponent (due to the machinations of what is the cloudy maze of Casual Office Attire) that man would be more efficient if we were all given a jumpsuit uniform (say, a differnet color for each state/country you’re from) as SciFi movies of the 1950’s & 1960’s seemd to promise we’d be wearing in the future. The future that is now.

What with textile modernization, cheap mfg in China, and chemical-industry-marches-forward-through-Superfund sites thinking, don’t you think that such a one-piece male suit would also be treated such that it would be soft enough to sleep in, quick-drying enough to shower in, and perm pressed enough to be snappy as we commute in our yet-to-be-provided floating-on-air vehicles to our jobs of the future?

I think so! Change one’s clothes once a week? Why, that sounds efficient and so helpful in minimizing the embarassment of the shoe/pants conundrum you’ve noted. And isn’t it easier to remember 1 suit rather than the plethora of garments now that one is required to be ambling out in polite company?

     by DarkoV on January 31, 2007 at 5:08 pm

I once had to rename an online “Memory” game. I had read about Ravensburger sueing people for using the name and called my press contact. She confirmed the issue.

The system of the game doesn’t matter - just don’t call it “Memory”.

     by novala on January 31, 2007 at 9:05 pm