1-1/4 years down, 3 years to go on Rom trademark

Despite Hasbro's Rom trademark applications having seemingly been banished to bureaucratic limbo, there has actually been a small bit of news to report since the last update.

First, Hasbo did not respond within their deadline regarding their four "Rom the Spaceknight" filings, so the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has officially marked them as dead. Second, two of the "Rom" applications are still on hold, as reported last time.

Finally, the "Rom" applications, one for paper and office goods and the other for just about every game and toy you can think of, were published in the USPTO's Official Gazette on October 20, 2009 and no parties responded within the five-week deadline to object. If you'd like a personal copy of this four-pound, seven-ounce tome, the U.S. Government Printing Office will be happy to sell you one . . . for just $81! So Hasbro now has six months to submit proof of using the mark in commerce in order to secure it. Sounds good, right? We'll see ads for new Rom toys within six months, right? Well, no.

If Hasbro doesn't submit proof of use within six months, they can instead file for a six-month extension. So we'll know something in a year, right? Uh, no. They can file five of these extensions, meaning it could be three years before the Hasbro trademark saga finally comes to an end.

At this point, I hesitate to speculate any more on Hasbro's motives. In the blog comments, I'd previously argued that Hasbro's spending thousands of dollars on this surely meant they actually had some sort of plan. I'm no longer so optimistic. Perhaps this is simply a negotiating tool because Marvel or some other party (or even multiple parties) have approached them asking to license Rom. And they realized that to do so, they might need some better legal standing than, "we created this character in 1979 and the copyright is still ours." In any case, check back in six months or so for an update and prepare for a long wait for any resolution.

[Next trademark update]

The North Pole Creed

I believe in Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, granter of children's wishes, who is seen at malls, yet unseen Christmas Eve.

I believe in Saint Nick, Sinterklaas, who sees you when you're sleeping and knows when you're awake. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist.

For us and for our children he comes down from the north, carrying a bag full of toys made by elves.

For our sake he was persecuted under Burgermeister Meisterburger; he was captured and jailed.
He escaped with flying reindeer; he ascended to the North Pole and built his workshop.

He will come each Christmas to judge the naughty and the nice, and his legend will have no end.

I believe in the spirit of Christmas, which doesn't come from a store, but means a little bit more.

I believe that Christmas comes but once a year.

I write one letter per year for the gift of toys.

I look for peace on earth and goodwill toward men.

Merry Christmas!


(CC) BY-NC-SA 2009 LKS


The North Pole Creed by Lee K. Seitz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Rom, van decoration

Just a quick note. Maxim has included Rom as one of 12 Superheroes Who Should Be On '70s Vans on its site (not in print). He's #11. Thanks to ~P~ for the tip.

Is this the end of the Rom trademark saga?

If you've been wondering what's the latest in Parker Brothers' attempt to renew their trademarks on Rom, you're not alone. So have I! Unfortunately, there had been nothing to report until now. (Well, actually a few weeks ago when I started this entry, but life interfered with finishing it until now.)

First off, let's tackle the four "Rom the Spaceknight" trademarks. I said previously that I was most looking forward to see Hasbro's response on those, particularly the one that would include comic books. Sadly, I've been denied. Hasbro failed to respond in the six month response period about these four applications, therefore the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has mailed an abandonment notice to them. This notice informs them that if they don't respond in an additional two months, the applications will be considered abandoned. I guess it's their "final final notice."

So, that leaves the four "Rom" trademark applications. The first, for software and video games, has hit a snag. When it was filed, it included various types of equipment. Hasbro's response to the USPTO's earlier claim that the category specified was too broad had them change it to include "downloadable software" for video game consoles and cell phones. The USPTO now says downloadable software does not logically follow from all the equipment (hardware) they specified in the original application. Frankly, I wonder if the original attorney really knew what he was doing in regards to the categories on the original applications. Anyway, Hasbro now has another six months to reply. At the moment, this is the final issue for this application.

The second application, for entertainment like movies, has been suspended pending the approval of an earlier application for "The Rom" by a company called Curious Sense, Inc. That application is for an "online community website featuring educational and entertainment related digital music content, video gaming, online shopping and social networking features". Curious Sense has less than a month remaining to either show they're using the mark in commerce or ask for an extension. We'll have to stay tuned for that one.

The third application, for paper and office goods, and fourth, for just about every game and toy you can think of, have both been accepted and will be published in the USPTO's Official Gazette on October 20, 2009. Barring, of course, objections by any other parties. The last one, of course, is the most important if Hasbro wants to actually bring the toy back.

So that's where everything stand now. Out of eight applications, four appear to have been abandoned, two are approved, one is awaiting clarification, and another is held up pending the approval of a similar but earlier application. But even those two approvals aren't the end for those applications. Hasbro will have to actually start selling something related to Rom to secure them! So, consider this just another step in what's becoming an unending saga.

[Next trademark update]

Hannah update: 1 year

Hannah turned a year old earlier this month. Hard to believe a year has passed already. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a doctor's appointment for a bit yet, so I can't give any official growth statistics. We have noticed, however, that her 6-9 month wardrobe is finally getting a bit tight, so we think she's had a growth spurt.

Developmentally, Hannah's still at or above where she should be. She's been walking since 10 months, which is well ahead of when either of her brothers started walking. Her vocabulary pretty much only consists of "mama" right now. Sometimes she'll say "baba", which usually refers to a baby doll. Rarely she'll manage "dada". Dorothy has tried to teach her some sign language, but she doesn't yet consistently use any of it. And at the moment, she's up to seven teeth: four on the top and three on the bottom.

Hannah's already taken on a chore for herself. If she's around when I start emptying the dishwasher, she'll bring me the silverware to put in the drawer. Usually this means one piece at a time, although recently she was doing two — on in each hand. The bad part is when I start putting the dirty dishes in, she'll still try taking the silverware out to put in the drawer.

Hannah has an amazingly good temperament. She fusses when she's hungry and sometimes when she doesn't get her way. We recently bought a gate and when we put it up between the living and dining rooms, she did not like it if someone went over it without her. We've since moved it to between the dining room and kitchen and that doesn't seem to be as traumatic. She doesn't fuss so much when she's tired; she just keeps going until Dorothy nurses her or she's put in the car, in which case she'll fall asleep quickly. She doesn't fuss over wet or dirty diapers, which is sometimes to her detriment because if it's a day where we're busy, busy, busy, we'll sometimes forget to check her diaper as often as we should.

Hannah's still not sleeping through the night, though. Well, at least most nights. She'll go to sleep around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. and stay asleep until around when Dorothy and I go to bed two or three hours later. Then she'll wake up, but go back to sleep until 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. After that she's a bit restless until, of course, around 6:00 a.m. when I get up.

Hannah hasn't had a proper haircut yet, but Dorothy did trim her bangs a bit, as seen in the adjacent photo. Note that her hair was wet, so it's not its usual, curly self. As I recall, Dorothy was able to get the trim done without major drama.

For her birthday party, we invited her grand- and godparents, plus many friends who had children around her age. All the grandparents plus a great-grandmother and two out of three godparents made it and a few friends. It seemed like everyone had a good time. The party had a zoo/jungle animal theme and the kids seemed to have fun playing with inflatable, ball-shaped elephants, lions, and other animals.

So here's to Hannah celebrating a year of surviving being in the same house as her brothers. She's managed to avoid major injury so far. Life is certainly getting more interesting since she got more mobile, such as the scare with the paperclip. We look forward to what the next year will bring.