

Ask HN: Can I use a name from a novel for my company? - um304

I&#x27;m a fan of George R R Martin&#x27;s A Song of Ice and Fire and among many things, I like his creativity with names. I was wondering if I can use a name from his series for my company. Perhaps I should ask this question directly from him, but he seems unapproachable.<p>So the question is, is it fine if I use a name from his books for my company without informing him in advance? Is there any legal problem with it? Is there any moral problem with it? If yes, how would you avoid them? Have you ever borrowed name of your company from a book?<p>Any hints&#x2F;clues&#x2F;ideas will be appreciated.
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drallison
Consult a lawyer and get an opinion letter. Copyright is unlikely to apply to
names (see [http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-
protect.html](http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html)). Patents
clearly do not apply. Character names may be trademarked, but it is likely
using a name from the book for your company will not introduce confusion by
conflicting with another use of the same "mark". (See
[http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/process/index.jsp](http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/process/index.jsp))

Using a name from a book brings along a lot of baggage, some of which you
might want, but some, not so much. No matter what, it's complicated.

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pedalpete
I agree with pmtarantino, about contacting the publisher, but you can also use
those names as inspiration.

Duran Duran (the music band from the 80s) apparently got their name from
Barbarella, but when I looked for the Duran Duran Barbarella, we get Dr.
Durand Durand.

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simantel
Palantir is from LOTR and Starbucks is from Moby Dick. Unless it's copyrighted
(basically every character in Star Wars would be, for instance), I think you
should be fine. Ask a lawyer, though!

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pmtarantino
You should ask permissions to his publishers. They will guide you.

