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Pokemon Gene Renamed Under Legal Threat

Posted by Zonk on from the tumor-i-choose-you dept.

Gamasutra reports that the 'Pokemon' cancer-causing gene has been renamed after legal threats were made by Pokemon USA. From the article: "Scientific journal Nature reported that Pokémon USA, the subsidiary company of Nintendo established to control the Pokémon brand in America, threatened to sue the cancer research center on the understandable grounds that equating Pokémon with cancer was doing harm to the brand's image. Sloan-Kettering acquiesced to the company's demands and changed the gene's name to the more unobtrusive Zbtb7."

3 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why was it.. by kernelfoobar · · Score: 5, Informative

    FTFA: "The gene, which has the formal name of POK erythroid myeloid ontogenic gene, was previously abbreviated as POKEMON,"

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    Here we go again!
  2. The obvious reasons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    The obvious reasons why Nintendo did this are:

    1) Pokemon is a trademark; if you allow anyone to use a trademark for any reason you risk loosing the trademark because it can become a generic term.

    2) The 'Pokemon' gene could cause a negative image of pokemon "my mother died of cancer because she caried the 'Pokemon-gene'!"

  3. Re:Hmm.. by BurntNickel · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here you go: Sonic Hedgehog.

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    And the knowledge that they fear is a weapon to be used against them...