EFF Moves To Nix Trademark On "Gaymer"

netbuzz writes "Spurred by the mark holder's cease and desist letter to Reddit's subreddit r/gaymer, the Electronic Frontier Foundation today officially petitioned the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to rescind its grant of a trademark registration on the word "gaymer". 'This registration should never have been granted,' said EFF Intellectual Property Director Corynne McSherry. 'Gaymer is a common term that refers to members of this vibrant gaming community, and we are happy to help them fight back and make sure the term goes back to the public domain where it belongs.'"

Really!?

[Tagged_84]

What's so different about a gaymer compared to a gamer? Why the need to segregate gamers based on their personal sexuality? Do they prefer certain genres? Or just demand gay sex in the games they play?

- From a confused gamer

Re:this is how EFF spends donation money?

[Anonymous Coward]

The problem is a commonly accepted term is not appropriate as a trademark. You can actually LOSE your trademark if you don't staunchly defend it against misuse (like calling all pain relievers "tylenol" instead of referring to the product "Tylenol"). If a company doesn't defend its trademark, the trademark disappears. Double trouble if you trademark a common phrase and try to suppress its use after the fact.

This guy is a fucking idiot and I guarantee he's going to lose the trademark.