Friday, November 21, 2008

Second Life avatar first virtual item tradmarked

By Mass High Tech Staff

A New Hampshire law firm on Thursday announced it has successfully filed a trademark application for an avatar in the online virtual world, Second Life.

The law firm, Manchester-based Grossman Tucker Perreault & Pfleger PLLC, filed the application on behalf of its client, Alyssa LaRoche. Through her online avatar, named Aimee Weber, LaRoche provides “quality, custom-built structure and items within Second Life,” according to the law firm.

The trademark application was registered by Grossman Tucker associate Jennifer L. Fessler.

According to the firm, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s decision to accept the trademark registration is important because it means trademarks used only to identify virtual services can be enforceable in the real world. It also indicates Second Life is an area of commerce regulated by Congress, the law firm said.

The Second Life virtual world was established in 1999 by San Francisco-based Linden Research Inc. The virtual pastime made headlines earlier this week, when a British woman divorced the husband she had met and married in Second Life, after she caught him online having virtual sex with an animated prostitute.