Trademark, Trade Dress, Patent, and Copyright Infringement

Business Law
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Business Law
Several possible legal issues are evident in the scenario. In this scenario, the name Hallowed would receive protection as a trademark since it is a word that distinguishes the product from others. A trademark is understood as a design, symbol, phrase or word or a mix of these that distinguishes and identifies the source of the goods of one firm from those of other firms. A trade dress basically refers to the visual impression which is created by the totality of every element utilized in packaging or presenting a service or good for sale. In essence, it gives the product an identifiable and distinct look (Jameson 212). The name Hallowed cannot be a trade dress since it is not a visual expression, but rather a name.
The release of Halo 2 would have breached on their patent if Xavier and Trent had acquired a business process patent on their works. A business method patent or business process patent is essentially part of utility patents that protect processes, formulas as well as inventions. Technically, an idea cannot be patented. Nonetheless, Trent and Xavier could have protected and patented the method of doing business if the method satisfied certain prerequisites and criteria (Seuba 249). Patenting the method or process of doing business before another company comes up with something alike would have protected the process. With the business process patent, the release of Halo 2 would definitely have amounted to an infringement of their patent.
Basing only on described facts, Xavier and Trent could not take legal action against the Halo 2 makers for copyright infringement. Trent and Xavier could not sue them. In essence, infringement of copyright happens whenever a copyrighted work is publicly displayed, distributed, reproduced, performed, or made into a copied and imitative work with no permission of the owner of the copyri...