Virtual Worlds

It is not surprising that copyright and trademark issues arise frequently in virtual worlds, given the fact that they are products of copyrightable software code and thus by their very nature implicate intellectual property analysis. Additionally, MMORPGs, such as Second Life and WoW, have developed marketplaces for the sale and barter of virtual goods for real money or virtual money that may later be converted to real money. See http://secondlife.com/whatis/marketplace.php. As in any marketplace, there is also a need to identify the source of virtual goods, especially in virtual worlds such as Second Life, which allows its users to generate their own virtual content and retain intellectual property rights in the content they create. Second Life Residents To Own Digital Creations, Nov. 14, 2003, http://lindenlab.com/pressroom/releases/03_11_14; Second Life Terms of Service ' 3.2, http://secondlife.com/corporate/tos.php. Some entrepreneurs in Second Life have applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for registration of their avatars (the user-created character representation of the virtual world participant in the virtual environment) and other marks for their virtual businesses.

Recently, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a registration for a Second Life avatar as a design mark. U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3531683 for the Aimee Weber avatar claims computer programming services, namely, content creation for virtual worlds and three dimensional platforms in International Class 42. This avatar has become identifiable with the virtual world content services provided by the real person and registrant Alyssa LaRoche. A related mark, AIMEE WEBER STUDIO (& design), Registration No. 3531682 for the same goods in International Class 42, was granted on the same day. These were the first U.S. trademark registrations to be issued for marks that identify services provided solely within a virtual world. These registrations establish that use of marks to identify source purely within an MMORPG creates enforceable trademark rights in the real world. It further indicates that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office identifies use of a trademark in a virtual world as “use in commerce” that may be regulated by Congress, supporting trademark rights. It also suggests that infringements occurring wholly within a virtual world, such as Second Life, would be equally cognizable in a U.S. federal court.