Blinx Trademark and IP
in: Handbook
What is the Blinx trademark?
The Blinx trademark refers to the word and design¹ 'Blinx'. This includes the series' logo and the word itself. The trademark does not include the copyright to Blinx, the IP or the titular character himself.
Is the Blinx IP in public domain?
No, just because the Blinx trademark has been dropped and the series has been dead for over a decade, the Blinx IP is very much under copyright with Microsoft as the owner.
For the Blinx IP to go into public domain, either Microsoft explicitly states that Blinx is public domain or 50-70 years after Microsoft goes out of business², if and when it happens.
For the Blinx IP to go into public domain, either Microsoft explicitly states that Blinx is public domain or 50-70 years after Microsoft goes out of business², if and when it happens.
All Blinx Trademark Listings
Serial Number |
Goods and Services | Live/Dead Indicator |
Cancellation/ Abandonment Date |
---|---|---|---|
78975159 |
(CANCELLED) computer programs, namely game software | DEAD | December 26, 2014 |
78975608 | (CANCELLED) printed publications, namely guides and manuals | DEAD | July 22, 2011 |
78157018 | (ABANDONED) clothing | DEAD | January 9, 2005 |
78117529 | (ABANDONED) toys and games | DEAD | February 26, 2005 |
78117527 | (ABANDONED) printed publications, namely books, magazines and newsletters | DEAD | February 26, 2005 |
78117525 |
(ABANDONED) physical copies, CDs and DVDs | DEAD | February 19, 2005 |
Infomation on the trademarks can be retrieved on the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS).
Microsoft Senior Director on the Blinx IP
Below is an email response from Noash Musler (senior director of Microsoft) in February 2019, to an inquire about the Blinx IP. To summarise, while Microsoft does have the rights to the Blinx IP, it didn't get fully resolved before Artoon was absorbed so things are messy.
Hi ■■■■■■■,
Phil sent this my way. Apologies for the delayed response.
Thank you for your interest in Blinx. To be honest the IP is dormant, and while we do control the rights, it isn't entirely clean with the original creator ARTOON (Who is unfortunately out of business). To be honest, while we love the enthusiasm for the IP we have concerns that because of the murkiness associated with the rights we don't feel comfortable licensing it out even for a non-profit use.
I did do some research into this because your intentions seem genuine and positive. According to our legal team if we did license it out we'd need full indemnification from the licensee to protect Microsoft from 3rd party lawsuits AND we'd place a requirement in the license for the licensee to use best efforts to track down any lingering rights holders to get clearance for usage before release.
Unfortunately I think Blinx will probably stay in hibernation until we see a viable commercial reason to go the extra lengths to fully clear the IP usage to avoid any unforeseen legal action.
I hope you understand.
Rock on,
Noah Musler
|Senior Director, Business Development, Microsoft Game Studios
ARZEST on the possibility of a Blinx 3
The owner of The Time Factory emailed Arzest (the company that Artoon was absorbed into) and inquired if a Blinx 3 developed by the company was possible.
Thanks for contacting us, ARZEST.
As for your inquire, as you mentioned we are different company from
Artoon, and Blinx is the property of Microsoft. So, unfortunately, we
are not in the position to comment any to that sequel.
Even though, we have the producer of Blinx and he appreciates you were
fan of the Blinx games.
Thanks again for contacting us!
Game Content Usage Rules
The developer rules were once avaliable at this url but were removed by Xbox for unknown reasons.
References
1. Trademark, Patent, or Copyright? United States Patent and Trademark Office
2. How do you know whether a game is in the Public Domain? Gaming stackexchange
Last updated 22 Jan 2021