Trademarks, the official word

From: greg_at_glorantha.com
Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 09:10:45 -0700


Dear Friends,

> From: Warren Creighton <wbcreighton_at_yahoo.ca> asks

> Did Greg ever have the trademark ? I thought it might
> have been a trademark of Chaosium ?

It was, but it was sold to Avalon HIll, who sold it to Hasbro, who let it lapse so that Issaries reclaimed it.

> What
> value is there in having a trademark that was part a
> game system, now out of print, and owned by someone
> else?

The recognition value is tremendous. A lot of people who do not know HeroQuest know RuneQuest. To many people RuneQuest = Glorantha. And oh yea, the sentimental value is tremendous too.

> My question is
> now that he has it, what will be done with it?

We will be using it on various products that could be used with the old RuneQuest books. I have even considered putting it on the HeroQuest line, to indicate the connections.
If anyone has other suggestions, send them to me privately, please.

> What does all this mean for Glorantha and Runequest ?

We have been talking with Chaosium about the possibility of licensing the RQ TM to them to use with a version of BRP to fill out their fantasy line. Issaries does not plan to release a version of the RQ game ourselves. Although I love the game dearly, I find the system to be archaic and not capable of representing the entirety of Glorantha as well as HeroQuest.

> Who owns the trademark for Glorantha ?

Issaries, does, through usage, etc. And we have finally applied officially for it as well to cement the facts.

I hope that this presents the facts satisfactorily.

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