Infocom

Okay, here’s an interesting one. There once was a software company in the 1980s named Infocom, which made many games and works of interactive fiction, including the Zork series, The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and ShogunInfocom was eventually bought by Activision in 1986 and was shut down by the publisher in 1989.

Fast forward to this year. On July 2, 2007, and individual from Germany named Oliver Klaeffling filed to protect the trademark Infocom in relation to game software. But hold up, Oliver! On October 3, 2007, an LLC based in San Francisco, CA has also filed to protect the name Infocom for the same IC and classes. Even more interesting: the aforementioned LLC is called Omni Consumer Products, which is the fictional corporation featured in the RoboCop franchise. So clever, those San Francisco folks.

Anyhow, Mork is interested to see who gets the Infocom name and what games they make. And don’t worry German guy. OCP sounds big. But the address listed in the filing is on Folsom Street. Its probably just some guy who lives above a leather bar. So, don’t be too scared.

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