I have a domain i want to develop for example: battlequest.com (just example domain) there already is a game called "battlequest" and its similar to the one i want to develop but not the same. if i use www.battlequest.com as my home page but call the game: "atvking's battlequest" (example like tom clancy's ghost recon ) am i facing legal trouble? the domain consists of generic words battle and quest does this help the situation any? my game would look very different from the original battlequest (example) it may be the same genre but the whole gameplay/visuals/logos/game characters are different... its becoming hard to develop something without infringement because everything is already out there lol
It depends on whether or not the other game has trademark rights to the name. For example, "Mattel" has a trademark on "Battle Quest" in the game category. Mattel sues everyone, so that particular name would be protected and adding "atvking" to the term would not get around infringement. It doesn't matter if the game or logo looks different if there are word mark rights to the name in the same classification "games", it would still be infringement. Without knowing the exact name, it is impossible for anyone to give you a good opinion, but from the little you have posted, it doesn't sound like something you should do. If the other game has a registered TM, you should certainly stay away from using it. Be advised that not having a registered TM does not mean you can use the name. There are common law trademarks that offer protection and do not have any type of filing.