Hans im Glück v. Board Gaming

[@boardandsaviorgames]

Where do you come down on the Great Meeple Debacle? Should anyone *own* the Meeple?

[@alfonsstekebrugge8049]

It's a boneheaded move. In the board game community stuff like this will spread and they will just be seen as the EA of board games and suffer for it long term.

[@boardandsaviorgames]

“The EA of board games” is just about the worst thing you could be known as, thank you for coming up with that damning descriptor haha!

[@orinlong889]

I think its...pathetic from Hans Im Gluck to do this. I get it is probably just business being business, but to not defend your trademark against companies that could fight, then to demand a cease and desist from some smaller company. Makes me not want to support them or use the word Meeple anymore. Maybe Neb has some new work to do.

[@boardandsaviorgames]

It's just so weird to me that they haven't done this before. Even if it was crappy, I could understand if they went after everyone who used the word equally. But to seemingly randomly target this one publisher? It's crazy that they didn't expect a ton of blowback.

[@garylangford6755]

I will no longer support them

[@v.a.2028]

I have yet to get any Carcassonne or Hans im Glück games, and If I ever do, I will never buy them new. I won't contribute to their sales.

[@boardandsaviorgames]

Getting games second hand is great in general... some of my favorite moments happen at Half Price Books :')

[@orinlong889]

@@boardandsaviorgames but I do love opening and punching and organizing. I will often open games long before I ever plan to play them.

[@mechajaraxxus3510]

So they didn't even create the idea of the meeple, then didn't do any effort in protecting it as their own idea (Countless other games using the word/ shape and them not doing a thing) yet they were allowed to trademark the meeple??? Total horseshite

[@boardandsaviorgames]

It’s genuinely kind of remarkable that it was all allowed to get this far. Also, even though it’s very funny that Corey Thompson has the Meeple trademark in the U.S., I have to imagine that’s only temporary. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that trademark laws are stupid.

[@garylangford6755]

​@@boardandsaviorgamesI've learned that Japan isn't the only country to have terrible companies do copyright strikes

[@garylangford6755]

Well spoken video. Did not expect it for something with 200 views!

[@boardandsaviorgames]

Thank you!

[@recurvestickerdragon]

"meeple" was not created by Carcassonne, or by Hans. it's already a part of culture, it's slang, but they're trying to trademark it. has about as much legal grounds as trying to copyright the name "thingy"

[@boardandsaviorgames]

My next video: One Man's Journey to Trademark "Thingy"

[@jmandaddyo]

I think in court the trademark wouldn’t hold up. I feel like the shape is too vague to say it’s ours. And the term is just a part of board gaming now.

[@boardandsaviorgames]

Yeah, I think that's the general consensus from what I've seen... The tricky thing is that it seems like they target smaller publishers who won't take them to court. Allegedly.

[@HelenIGuess]

Cool video! I love it when KZbin recommends smaller creators that also fit within my interests! Definitely an interesting look at board game copyright laws.

[@boardandsaviorgames]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@thomasdegroat6039]

I can't believe the EU or US would approve a trademark for a word that was invented by a separate entity and was already in general use by the public. That'd be like Apple trying to trademark the phrase "smart phone." Completely ridiculous

[@boardandsaviorgames]

Seriously! Makes me wonder what *I* could randomly trademark…

[@shocknawe]

It’s always the companies with the clearest use of public domain and common domain that love pulling this, eh? Their name being literally someone else’s story, now public domain is just perfect.

[@jokerES2]

Sounds like I should stop recommending Carcassonne and Dominion as gateway games, if the company behind them wants to be this shitty.

[@delfo8063]

Congratulations on this video, I was expecting to see hundreds of thousands of views and was very surprised about your low view count. With this quality your line is gonna get up!

[@boardandsaviorgames]

Thanks so much! This is very much not my usual stuff-I tend to do reviews and more general board-gamey discussions. Hopefully folks stick around for all of it!

[@Kazemahou]

I'm never giving any money to Hans im Glück again for the rest of my life.

[@PamWallsGameDesign]

Great video! It seems we went down the same rabbit hole 😆 I’m so glad you are talking about this too - more people need to be talking about it! Thanks again and great job on telling this wild story, you got a new subscriber 🙌

[@boardandsaviorgames]

I was cracking up watching your video at the browser tabs bit-way too relatable. I subbed to you, too, can’t wait to see what’s next from ya!

[@elikurtz729]

Loved the conclusion :D Thank you for this informative and humorous take on the matter. I find the whole thing badly timed and unfortunate. I believe the term Meeple should not be trademarked after being in public use for so long, very much like the popular Happy Birthday tune was opened for public use because it had transcended into culture. The meeple shape is quite a different matter and I am sure that for the 100.000s of board game T-Shirts sold nobody ever asked or credited the designer - very much like in the case of the smiley face icon ^^ The word Meeple is an English term. I remember the uninspired German term for playing pieces in my childhood (1960-70ies) games was "Spielkegel" (they were shaped like bowling pins and thus vaguely human in silhuette). You would find them in games like Pachisi, Halma and even Monopoly. Not sure when we started to use "Möppel" to refer to them which is rather closer to Meeple ... The modern alternative "Spielfigur" just is too long a term and to dry an expression to convey fun :P Btw. the classic "Spielkegel" is still the shape of the German Boardgame Award ^^ There were many other predecessors for the Meeple - of my head I remember Sagaland (1980ies) with hats or Papua (1990ies) with printed faces and "Drunter&Drüber" (1994) with distinct heads but no arms. The latter was also by "Hans im Glück". Also I had a wooden farm playset in the early 1970ies where the farmer looked very much like a green Meeple with a hat. It had a set of simple cut and base painted animals (pigs, geese, chickens, sheep, cows and a horse) - just somehow nobody thought of including such pieces in a boardgame during these times :P The Carcasonne Meeple was what really inspired more elaborate shapes in board games ^^ Love that you have so many odd shapes nowadays including animals like in Everdell :D

[@boardandsaviorgames]

Thank you so much for this comment! I love learning more about the history of Meeples/pre-meeple pieces-especially from your perspective!

[@khiarastales2091]

Really nice summary of the case. Good job! The funny (or rather pathetic) part of this is HiG admitted that their cease and desist against Meeple Inc publisher was "too aggresive from their side" and they apologized. Yeah maybe don't sue a random small publisher for something you don't actually own just because their campaign is succesfully funded, I guess. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@boardandsaviorgames]

I think it was the BoardGameWire article that said HiG’s CEO was surprised by the response from the community… remarkable to me that they wouldn’t expect people to have a reaction to such a stingy, unprecedented move

[@ioannispaxinos5171]

The term meeple was mostly used as slang amongst gamers. I don't think anyone really cares about games with the word "meeple" on their title. The important thing is the shape. As long as companies are free to use the shape, it doesn't matter what they call it. Besides, no game with meeples actually calls them meeples, they call them workers, assistants etc.

[@boardandsaviorgames]

The company is going after both-Cotswold Games changes the name and shape of their pieces to accommodate Hans im Glück.

[@MussoGames]

Fantastic video, well done

[@boardandsaviorgames]

Many thanks!

[@wywerny]

Wow I love the ending! Good job!

[@boardandsaviorgames]

Thank you!

[@elgoog-the-third]

"Just because someone did something and got away with it, does not mean it is ok, does it?" - Yes, CEO of Hans im Glück, you are right - trademarking "Meeple" and getting away with it does indeed not mean that it's okay to trademark it.

[@TheTabletopMisfits]

Burning all my copies of carcasssone now.. F-ing lawyery germermans.

[@boardandsaviorgames]

Waitwaitwait-germermans? As in merpeople from the Elbe?

[@suntzu6122]

What a supremely stxpid business decision on their part. They are fighting over something stupid. They made themselves into the bad guys. And now they basically have to battle people to protect what was never theirs to begin with. Epic fail. I dont buy a lot of board games but now theres a 0% chance I buy any of theirs.

[@boardandsaviorgames]

They claimed that they weren’t expecting the negative response but… how did they not see it coming? Everyone collectively hates it when companies pressure smaller publishers. Really crazy move.

[@morgaknightgames]

If they wanted to protect their trademark, then they need to protect it consistently, which they have not done. This is very much ridiculous and has absolutely damaged their brand. It'll be interesting to see if they backtrack, or if the community comes to a consensus over something different... possibly out of spite.

[@boardandsaviorgames]

Spite is such a powerful motivator and I don’t think Hans im Glück fully realized that pre-cease-and-desist. Crazy to watch all this play out in real time!

[@CardboardHunter]

Bro you killed this one. I see you flexing those editing skills 🫡💪🔥

[@boardandsaviorgames]

I knew I went to film school for a reason

[@thegamesninja3119]

How about wooden people, or weeples? It also means lamenting the loss of the common name meeple.

[@boardandsaviorgames]

Brings a tear to my eye.

[@Biodelic]

Next video: How CGS is going after Forsaken & Gametrayz, in the form of some absurd IP claims, as part of an all out lawfare against a former employee / founder, and while doing so not only delaying Forsaken but also hurting KZbin creators and channels.

[@boardandsaviorgames]

I will definitely look into it!

[@rishirajjaingupta]

#Gample as a new term for "Meeple" Board game enthusiasts know the tiny wooden pawns as "meeple," a term coined by Alison Hansel in 2000. But with trademark issues surrounding "meeple" I propose "Gample" combining #Game and #People, as a new universal term for any human or animal shape Meeple. "Gample" is short, memorable, and captures the essence of these pawns. Let's make "Gample" the new go-to word for uniting boardgamers everywhere!