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Law firm represents Subreddit pro bono in the fight to keep “Gaymer” name

The trademark battle between Chris Vizzini of Gaymer.org and the Gaymer Subreddit continues this week, with the Subreddit announcing that law firm Perkins Coie will be representing them pro bono in an attempt to cancel Vizzini’s trademark on the term “gaymer”.

As you may recall, Vizzini sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Gaymer Subreddit in September 2011, claiming infringement and asking the Subreddit to discontinue use of the term. The Subreddit challenged the claim immediately, stating that the term “gaymer” has been in use long before Vizzini was granted the trademark, and therefore should remain in the public domain.

The Gaymer Subreddit recently engaged the Intellectual Property area of Perkins Coie — along with the assistance of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) — to challenge Vizzini’s trademark. Yesterday afternoon, Perkins Coie filed a petition with the US Trademark Office attempting to void the “gaymer” trademark registration.

Newly promoted Gaymer Subreddit moderator Zack (ozuri) took to the subforum to discuss the new revelations in this matter. Starting by saying, “I’ve been involved in intellectual property for the majority of my career and this particular case hits home for me,” Zack laid out the grounds for the counterclaim:

See, I’m older than most of you, and I grew up in an age when being a nerd was not a synonym for tech savvy entrepreneur with a high-paying job at Google; it meant social stigma, awkward interactions with peers and coming in last on the day we ran laps.  Coupled with the crippling anxiety of being gay (and for me, being from an evangelical Christian background), being a gay nerd who loved video games was the proverbial hat trick of otherness.Through the passage of time and the ubiquity of technology, nerds have come to claim our place at the table of industry.  Through the work of tireless individuals and organizations, the gay community has made significant progress in removing the venom of social stigma from our minority community.  It is the reclamation of our differentness from being a pejorative that we have found some peace as a community.  For me, it is the marrying of my hobby and a part of my identity that allowed me to grow into my own as an adult.  I am a gaymer.

Mr. Vizzini, you keep using the word ‘gaymer.’  I do not think it means what you think it means.

To the rest of us, it means community.  It means pride in our differentness and our small community.  It means inclusiveness rather than exclusiveness.  It means banding together and using a common hobby – games – to unite a sub-set of our community that otherwise has nothing substantive in common.  It bridges the gap in the gay community of an arbitrary characteristic with an activity that allows commonality, of purpose and activity.  In short, it is the antithesis of a claim of ownership and threats to exclude or demands to capitulate.

Many people have pointed out that “gaymer” was in common use well before it was registered with the Trademark Office; from Yahoo Groups, to USENET forum posts, to academic studies on our little community — heck, my own Match.com profile is gaymer77.  Claiming ownership of the word gaymer is like claiming to own ‘soccer mom,’ ‘baby boomer,’ or ‘computer geek’.

The EFF and Perkin Coie’s petition specifically claims that the term “gaymer” is “a generic term for members of the LGBT community who have an interested in videogames and the online videogame community,” and that “petitioner and numerous third parties have used the term gaymer as a descriptive or generic term since before Registrant used or sought registration for the term.” Moreover, the petition asserts that Vizzini has not “acquired distinctiveness” in his use of the term.

“Continued registration of the term gaymer for Registrant’s Services is a source of injury to both Petitioner and to numerous third parties who currently use, and are entitled to continue to use, the term gaymer, as it confers upon Registrant the presumptions that gaymer is distinctive for Registrant’s Services and that Registrant enjoys the exclusive right to use the term gaymer in association with such services,” it continues.

“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.”

Feature image credit: DeviantArt

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About the author

Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.