Pokemon Gene Renamed Under Legal Threat

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."

Comments

COMPROMISE!

[mister_llah]

Call it Zbbt-achu!

It's a slow news day everywhere, it seems.

[Sockatume]

Researchers jokingly name gene after franchise. Franchise owners ask that they change it. Researchers change it. STOP THE PRESSES! [/sarcasm]. Yeah, I'm cranky. Caffiene withdrawal.

Cancermon!

[Bahumat]

/obligatory

Cancermon! I choose you!

photosensitive epilepsy

[b1t r0t]

However, further recent warnings on these Pokemon-related health problems have been tempered by the fact that Southern Medical Journal researchers discovered only a small fraction of the children treated were actually diagnosed with photosensitive epilepsy.

Well, duuuuuuh. In the original case in Japan, after watching the Porygon episode, schoolkids were basically told "if you felt sick after watching that episode last night, you can go home right now." If you were a schoolkid, in Japan or elsewhere, what would you do? It doesn't take a Bart Simpson to jump at the chance to play hooky and get away with it.

Re:Why was it..

[kernelfoobar]

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

The obvious reasons

[Anonymous Coward]

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'!"

Re:The obvious reasons

[booch]

if you allow anyone to use a trademark for any reason you risk loosing the trademark because it can become a generic term

Not true. There has to be a likelihood of confusion or deception. But your reason number 2 may be valid. It's a grey area though -- whether just because it's a gene associated with cancer is enough to turn the case in Nintendo's favor is questionable. The added "fame" of the Pokemon trademark might be enough to throw the case into their favor though.

Harm to the brand's image?

[meanfriend]

So naming a gene whose function that one in a thousand people couldnt even begin to describe is harming their image, but blackening the skies with lawyers over what most people would consider a non-issue doesnt?

Nintendo should protect their brand, but come on. This 'intrusion' on thier namespace is pretty obscure. It's not as if the research facility is using the name to get grants or sell drugs.

Personally I think it's cool. There is actually a gene named after Sonic the hedgehoge that has a role in developmental biology. I'd think that companies would be amused that they are being recognized in important scientific work.

Of course the researchers backed down. They have far more important things to spend their money on than defending pointless lawsuits. They should have renamed the gene NLCBMSMA (Nintendo Lawyers Can Bite My Shiny Metal Ass) or would they have been sued by Fox instead?

Would this really be a bad thing?

[aj1]

I think the brand is very much defined already. Let's face it, Kids are the main consumer of this type of game and I know of several demented middle schoolers who would love owning a game that has a gene that causes cancer named after it. The parents might be afraid the game could cause cancer, and that the two are linked; BUT having that fear would require the parents actually knowing which games their kids play, AND the name of that specific gene.

Then again, I am probably not giving credit too the age of media sound bytes. I can see the headlines and one liner news stations now. "A new meaning to pocket monsters; Pokemon linked with cancer! Are your kids safe? More after the break."

Re:Hmm..

[BurntNickel]

Here you go: Sonic Hedgehog.

Good.

[rainwalker]

Good, there's nothing more annoying when reading literature than genes given "cute" names by researchers trying to be funny. Name it after the function, so we don't have to keep looking it back up! I'm all for using the courts to force researchers to name genes properly, dammit!

Re:Damn Laywers

[Guppy06]

"They should be honored that Pokemon was chosen as a name."

Dude! CANCER! Radiation! Chemotherapy! Dying bald kids! Their name would be tied to fewer deaths if somebody built the Pokemon Death Camp!

Gee big surprise.

[CheechWizz]

I know bashing companies who resort to threatening with legal action is the 'in' thing with the slashdot crowd but come on, this is a cancer causing gene we're talking about here. It's pretty reasonable that a company would'nt want it's product linked to that (however annoying that product may be).
The scientists that came up with the abbreviation thought they were being smart & funny and Nintendo thought otherwise.
It's not like their legal actions are threatening scientific progress or freedom of expression so it's not worth getting your panties in a bunch over this.