Wiimote vs. Weemote

Posted by Dan on August 5, 2008

Law of the Game, a weekly blog hosted by Joystiq, has a write up on the latest Nintendo legal controversy, this time a trademark infringement complaint regarding the Wii. The issue stems from a company named Forbis, who makes a childrens remote control called the weemote, prior to the Nintendo Wiimote.

Only problem is, Nintendo didn’t actually name their product the Wiimote. That’s just a common name that people refer to it by because it is easy to say and funny, similar to “crackberry”. Joystiq pegs the issue as one of trademark dilution, but given the design of the Wiimote, there may well be a case for confusion as well (certainly it will be thrown into the complaint so as not to be precluded).

The article is worth at least a quick read, though something about it seems to give Forbis way too much credit. Here’s a snip from the article:

The products covered by the marks, while both being electronics that exist in the living room, look quite different and have very different functions and relative levels of technology. In fact, only the weemote DV, first available on Amazon December 2007, has the color white on it, while the Wiimote is available in white only. This simple color difference, in addition to different shapes, button layouts, design styles, and decades of technological differences, put these products in very different places. In fact, they would be on opposite ends of your local electronics store.

For a more complete analysis of trademark law, though not specific to any one case, Chilling Effects has a great summary and FAQ page.

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