Are Aircraft Designations and Names Trademarked?

[TeaAndScones]

Hi.

I'm in the process of designing a top-down shooter game, where the player pilots an F-14D and shoots down enemy air and ground targets.  The working title is 'Super Tomcat'.  However, I'm kinda concerned this would land me in trouble if I were to publish the game.

 

I get this idea because names like 'Tomcat' and 'Eagle' are all corporate names rather than nicknames, like 'Turkey' and 'Double Ugly'.  So can someone shed light on this issue?

 

As an extension, are designations like 'F-14D' and 'F/A-18E' trademarked too?

 

Cheers. :)

[Caesar]

I'm not a lawyer, so take this with a bag of salt, rather than a grain.  I don't believe that designations are trademarked, but names are.  ThirdWire ran afoul this with the F-104 and C-130 if memory serves (someone correct me if I'm wrong).  I believe Namco got around it for its Ace Combat games (up to and including AC4) by using only designations and not names.  You won't see "F-14A Tomcat" in Ace Combat until AC5, only "F-14A." From AC5 onward, where aircraft have both designations and names, you'll also notice the Northrop Grumman logo on one of the opening screens, from which Namco licensed the names "F-14 Tomcat" "A-6 Intruder" "EA-6 Prowler" "B-2 Spirit", etc.  Same goes for Boeing, Dassault, and the various other companies whose aircraft Namco used.

 

What I'd recommend is talking to a lawyer familiar with trademarks and copyrights about it.

[TeaAndScones]

Ah I see.  I'm just looking through manual to 'After Burner II' on the Mega Drive, and it mentions your craft as the 'F-14XX Skycat'.  I suppose I'll have to come up with something similar if I don't want to pay royalties to Mr. Grumman. :/

 

Thanks anyway, I'll take your advice anyway. :)

[+Menrva]

I'm not a lawyer too, but I remember exactly how Namco got many aircraft licensed, with the exception of Russian ones, so you'll see Su-27 or MiG-29 but no Flanker or Fulcrum names.  As far as I can tell you can use designations like F-14D with no problem, since there is an indie game being developed for PC called Vector Thrust and it doesn't have any license for any of its aircraft.

[+Muesli]

Flanker and Fulcrum aren't even factory names of the a/c.... they originate as NATO
aircraft codes, in which the first letter (the F in this case being Fighter) points to the
a/c expected role. So MiG and Sukhoi and any other "Red" manufacturer do not

have owners rights over these...

[Do335]

How about this. UI text file on a script. Use nothing copyrighted in the script. Like F-14.

 

Script can be opened with notepad. After release, "leak" a script with "F-14 Tomcat" in it. If user base haven't modded it by then.

 

?...

[+Stary]

I think TK's removal of Zipper and C-130 had in fact more to do with issues he had with those he would have to spend extra time fixing them than with copyrights, but hey I am a wacko conspiracy theorist.

 

Now where's my new tinfoil hat?

[+JediMaster]

Right here:

[+Menrva]

Flanker and Fulcrum aren't even factory names of the a/c.... they originate as NATO

aircraft codes, in which the first letter (the F in this case being Fighter) points to the

a/c expected role. So MiG and Sukhoi and any other "Red" manufacturer do not

have owners rights over these...

 

I know this man, my bad. I forgot the Russian Bear bombers just to say. In fact Ace Combat Zero does make use of these NATO nicknames, a/c codes.

Edited March 19, 2015 by blaze95