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Second Life Patent and Trade-Mark Office: It was only a matter of time really...

By Chris Bennett, Tudor Carsten, Michael R. Coburn, Sarah Dale-Harris, Pablo Guzman, Danielle (Dani) Lemon, Chris Metcalfe and David Spratley

Two brave entrepreneurs have finally ventured into the frontier of virtual intellectual property protection and have opened a 'Second Life Patent and Trademark Office' at www.slpto.com. It was only a matter of time really, so what are the real world implications? In some ways, it is anyone's guess; however, I can't resist being an armchair critic and throw out a few initial thoughts. Plus, as a lawyer and trademark agent in the real world, how could I ignore a comment like this:

'It is our goal to provide the tools to allow you to protect your intellectual property, without expensive attorney's fees or long, drawn out processes.'

But can they do what they claim and 'protect your intellectual property?'

Seriously though, I promise I'm not being 'sour grapes' about this. I have an avatar (albeit, I admit, with a totally lame handle) in Second Life who resides in our virtual Davis LLP office, so clearly I think this is really exciting stuff! I think the SLPTO project is quite provocative and has at the very least, sparked some interesting debate (amongst types like me anyway) if not opportunity for its creators. For instance, if I can sue for trademark and copyright infringement that takes place in Second Life, in the real world, on the basis of real-world registrations - why would I apply/register in Second Life when I can apply/register at say, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) or the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)? Apart from the fact that it is free of course. With no legal standing and no statutory rights to enforce, how big could the SLPTO's teeth really be? On the other hand, could a registrant in Second Life rely on evidence submitted to the SLPTO to enforce real world rights? Surely, the question of common law rights (in Canada and the U.S. anyway) would arise because of use - even if it is use in the context of a three-dimensional virtual platform. So maybe it is worth a try - if only to create an evidence trail at common law - for free. And for fun of course'-- which is what this is really about, right?

For my part, I'm not convinced that 'Real Protection for Virtual Assets' is much more than a couple of clever and adventurous guys trying to take advantage of a potentially lucrative opportunity in cyberspace. But hey - you can't blame them for trying. It isn't as though it didn't cross our own minds.

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Full post as published by Video Game Law Blog on January 15, 2008 (boomark / email).