Cimarb, on 04 October 2013 - 05:25 PM, said:
If you create something similar to an existing trademark, and call it the same thing, that is infringing on the trademark. If I make my own McDonald's logo, and call it a McDonald's, do you really think the fact that I created it myself matters?...
They can get away with it how they did the Firebrand/Rifleman, though - that is how they would have to handle the Marauder too, more than likely.
The only thing that was ever in contention with the original mechs is the licensed art. Not the names, not the stats, not anything else. Just the images. Drop those images and there is no issue. The only place where there are mechs named the Marauder or Phoenix Hawk or Warhammer or etc. is in BattleTech. Not Robotech, not Macross, not Crusher Joe, not Dougram. so there is no way you'd be infringing on the mechs by using the same names.
The thing with the JagerMech is that it was, since TRO: 3025 (published in 1986), a direct replacement for the Rifleman in canon. The JagerMech has always been pretty much a Rifleman that's 5 tons heavier by design.