mapache-ga,
Making something putty-like to sell as a toy is one thing. Calling it
Gak is quite another.
There are many varieties of putty-like toys that have been marketed
over the years, Gak and Silly Putty to name two of the better known
items.
Viacom, the corporate parents of Nickelodeon, own the trademark for
"Gak Splat" and similar terms. Although they don't appear to
currently have "Gak" itself trademarked, calling a putty-toy "Gak" (or
anything similar), would potentially cause confusion in the market,
and I certainly wouldn't be surprised if Viacom decided to take legal
action to end any potential confusion.
In other words...Yes, you could wind up getting sued if you sold a
putty toy that was called Gak, or anything very similar.
You can see the Gak-related trademark listings at the site of the US
Patent and Trademark Office:
http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm
On the right hand column at the top, click on "Search" to run a
trademarks search, and just enter 'Gak' in the search box when you get
to it.
I hope that clarifies the situation for you, but if you need any
additional information, just let me know by posting a Request for
Clarification.
pafalafa-ga
search strategy -- Used knowledge of trademarks, and bookmarked link
to the USPTO site. |
