Bethesda claims Interplay could only use the Fallout name

[TheWesDude]

here is my problem... how are C&D orders NOT proof of one of the following when beth did not hold ownership of the products in the trilogy pack

2. Should Bethesda pay Interplay’s costs for responding to the preliminary injunction? (decided)?

No.

To get a costs order Interplay needed to show that Bethesda pursued a preliminary injunction to enforce its trademark rights because of:
(a) Malice/fraud;
(b) economic coercion;
(c) pursued groundless arguments; or
(d) failed to cite controlling law.

Her Honour found that Interplay had failed to establish any of the above.

it seems to me that it could be proof of A or B whichever applies

 

[Elven6]

here is my problem... how are C&D orders NOT proof of one of the following when beth did not hold ownership of the products in the trilogy pack

2. Should Bethesda pay Interplay’s costs for responding to the preliminary injunction? (decided)?

No.

To get a costs order Interplay needed to show that Bethesda pursued a preliminary injunction to enforce its trademark rights because of:
(a) Malice/fraud;
(b) economic coercion;
(c) pursued groundless arguments; or
(d) failed to cite controlling law.

Her Honour found that Interplay had failed to establish any of the above.

it seems to me that it could be proof of A or B whichever applies

Bethesda does own the products in the Fallout Trilogy, the rights were retroactively transfered.

 

[Little Robot]

I'm 99% certain that I've read about IPLY having the rights to the original games still, but maybe I'm wrong?

 

[Ausir]

They have the rights to distribute the original games, although this is also currently disputed by Bethesda.

 

[Brother None]

What Ausir said. But don't confuse distribution rights with ownership. Bethesda owns everything. Interplay just has rights.

 

[Little Robot]

What do distribution rights entail? If they don't own the product that they are manufacturing, how do they make money on it?

 

[Ausir]

They don't own the copyrights to the product, but they can make money off producing new copies of the games and selling them. But, again, Bethesda claims that this right has been revoked, while Interplay claims that Bethesda cannot revoke it without canceling the whole Asset Purchase Agreement.

 

[Brother None]

Distribution means you produce copies and then make money when you sell them. You "own" the right to do so, but that doesn't mean you own the product you're distributing. Compare it to a local DVD company distributing, well, DVDs. They don't own the film, they pay whoever does for the rights to distribute it.