Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Connecticut

Re: Use of existing products in the theme of a website

This is a very interesting question. Depending on the year of origination of the games you will be "inspired by" and the type of game piece you may fall under a "fair use" exception of the law which would allow you to use certain identifiers. There are several other exceptions that may work for your website as well. Without knowing more details it is difficult to formulate a fair response to your question. Please feel free to contact me for a further discussion on this matter.

Re: Use of existing products in the theme of a website

You could run into significant problems here. It does depend on the game - for example, a checker board is probably in the public domain but a monopoly board is not. I understand you want to make your graphics look LIKE (but not same as) the well known games. In doing so, you will be copying some elements of the originals (otherwise, they wouldn't resemble the well known counterparts). Exactly what elements you will use are of key importance. You see that there may be a copyright violation, but depending on what you intend to do, issues of trademark, tradedress, and design patents may come into play (ha, pun intended). Also, it is not necessarily dispositive that there will not be a trademark issue because you are not in the same trade - likelihood of confusion of affiliation or endorcement is the standard.

In sum, an attorney would need to sit down with you, actually see what you propose, research the various rights involved, and render a legal opinion on the risks and recommended actions.

Best of luck.