Talk:Wiktionary/logo/Archives/2007

Some time this decade would be nice

Really. Gurch 02:02, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Hello, please read the Wiktionary mailinglist, maybe then You would understand. best regards --birdy geimfyglið _{(:> )=|} 08:09, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

I haven't been reading it either - could someone please give a summary of what's happening? (or is it possible to get an archive of it?) Thanks, //Shell 12:01, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

[1] 01 02 03 2007. --birdy geimfyglið _{(:> )=|} 12:20, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

Trademark infringement

background color

In order to minimize the likelihood of a trademark infringement suit, should we change the background color of the tiles to match that of Mahjong tiles, i.e. either white or the color in Image:MJf1.png (shown as a thumbnail here)? Has this already been discussed somewhere? Rodasmith 22:02, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Actually, even better would be to use the colors described at wmf:Wikimedia visual identity guidelines:

With white on WMF blues: Luminosity 72 (original) Luminosity 150	With WMF green on WMF blues: Luminosity 150 Luminosity 200 Luminosity 220 Luminosity 240 (white)
With white on WMF greens: Luminosity 96 (original) Luminosity 150	With WMF blue on WMF greens: Luminosity 150 Luminosity 200 Luminosity 220 Luminosity 240 (white)

Doing so would simultaneously reduce trademark infringement and honor WMF color requirements. Rodasmith 22:49, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Um, in order to reduce the likelihood of what trademark infringement suit? Whose trademark might we be infringing? BD2412 T 23:06, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

As noted on Wiktionary/logo, the proposed logo is specifically a blend between Scrabble tiles and Majhong tiles. Mailing list conversations like this one mentioned that there was the possibility of Hasbro/Parker Brothers trademark infringement for the similarity to Scrabble tiles. Fear of such infringement has been one of the obstacles to adoption of the new logo. Rodasmith 23:31, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Hmmm. Completely unrelated goods and services, and there are lots of games that use tiles of that shape and even shade. But Scrabble would quite possibly fall under the famous marks doctrine, and its trade dress may get additional protection therefore, so I agree that a little tint would help avoid any possibility of confusion. Cheers! BD2412 T 02:09, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

I thought that one of the issues during the selection process was that a number of the options used the WMF colors and would have needed to be changed to other colors so as not to be confused with WMF itself.. --Versageek 04:24, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

Surely that's nonsense! Different font, different colour, no score number. I can't believe that Hasbro/PB hold any kind of copyright on tiles! I see no point in transferring to Mahjong tiles - that is just confusing. Why are Mahjong tiles relevant to Wiktionary, I ask you? --HappyDog 14:45, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

If Mahjong tiles are irrelevant to Wiktionary, that makes an even stronger case for Hasbro/PB. I'm inclined to give more weight to BD2412's opinions on such matters, as he is an attorney for intellectual property cases. Concern about possible trademark infringement is a specific barrier to adoption. To eliminate that obstacle to adoption, we merely need to change the background color. Rodasmith 16:38, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

As an attorney, I like to speak in the "abundance of caution" language. I frankly think it is unlikely that Hasbro would raise a claim, or that they would succeed if they did, but "unlikely" does not mean "impossible". A relatively minor adjustment to our color scheme (which costs us nothing to implement) would move it much farther towards the realm of impossibility. Cheers! BD2412 T 16:42, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

Sorry to have noticed this thread late, but I would note furthermore that the presence of an actual picture of scrabble game pieces as part of the main page design tends to negate any attempts to make the logo look less scrabble-like. Dmcdevit 13:52, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

You know, we're looking at this from completely the wrong angle. I'd bet if we ask permission, Hasbro would be delighted to let us promote their game by using a picture of the pieces in our imagery. BD2412 T 19:33, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

That background image could easily be changed if a legal confrontation seems likely. wikt:vi: changed it to a completely unrelated image for a time last spring. – Minh Nguyễn (talk, contribs) 09:00, 25 November 2007 (UTC)

There, the Vietnamese Wiktionary has changed the background image for the Vietnamese New Year, and we're planning to rotate it between several different images that don't resemble trademarked products from now on. As far as I know, only the Finnish Wiktionary uses the same Scrabble image. – Minh Nguyễn (talk, contribs) 18:02, 6 February 2008 (UTC)