I know this forum isn't filled with lawyers but since this question came up in a discussion i had recently and my only answer was "Well, i really don't know." i thought i might bring it up here and see what's people's thoughts/experiences(?) in this regard. Trademark law is obviously a complicated beast but from all i know using it on acronyms is at least not exactly easy. I guess avoiding it would generally be the better-safe-than-sorry approach here but do you think someone could get nastygrams from Wizards for using "MTG" in the name of some Magic related project or have there been any instances of this in the past?
I don't know, but I don't think MTG is trademarked by Wizards. I do remember that an old MTG retailer had "MTG Fanatic" trademarked, and places like MTGGoldfish are in good with Wizards.
Yeah, it's quite obvious that Wizards isn't actively opposed to the usage of the acronym but then this kind of project is probably viewed favorably by Wizards therefore giving them little reason to try to mess with it. Like i said from all i know (certainly not a lawyer) using trademark law on acronyms is tricky at least as in that it at the very least requires the product to be actively marketed using the acronym in question, which i don't think Wizards does ("MTG" is basically just used unofficial/fan publications it seems) but i wonder if in case they objected to a certain project there's any precedent of such usage giving them leverage to go after it.
Using "MTG" in a Magic: The Gathering-related project can indeed be problematic due to the intellectual property rights held by Wizards of the Coast. As long as your project is non-commercial and does not directly use "MTG" to generate profit, you can have some freedom. However, as soon as you enter a commercial domain (merchandising, paid events, etc.), it is best not to use "MTG" and to look for creative alternatives to avoid legal conflicts.
Yeah, it's quite obvious that Wizards isn't actively opposed to the usage of the acronym but then this kind of project is probably viewed favorably by Wizards therefore giving them little reason to try to mess with it. Like i said from all i know (certainly not a lawyer) using trademark law on acronyms is tricky at least as in that it at the very least requires the product to be actively marketed using the acronym in question, which i don't think Wizards does ("MTG" is basically just used unofficial/fan publications it seems) but i wonder if in case they objected to a certain project there's any precedent of such usage giving them leverage to go after it.