Are you allowed to use different sci fi terms for an official published project?
<p>’m working on a project for a sci-fi franchise and I was wondering if I am allowed to use concepts I thought up of that also appear in a Google Search after the fact. So I have a term I want to use but someone has used it online. Is it legal to use it since I thought of it on my own?</p>

<p>Names might be protected by trademark law. For example, Lucas Films and now by extension Disney has <a href="https://alter.com/trademarks/droid-75878790" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a trademark on the word &quot;Droid&quot;</a> , so if your work contains robots, you better call them something else. If your robots happen to be large and well-armed, then you might think about calling them &quot;Mechs&quot;, but that might also get you into trouble, because it's <a href="https://alter.com/trademarks/mech-73626301" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a trademark FASA enforces for their Battletech franchise</a>.</p>
<p>So if you consider using the name of a science fiction concept you picked up somewhere, first make sure that it's not a registered trademark.</p>
<p>But there are also <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unregistered_trademark" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>unregistered</em> trademarks</a> which can be legally enforced. The prerequisite for enforcing an unregistered trademark is that the name is &quot;used in commerce&quot;. That means that the person who wants to enforce the trademark must sell some product or service under that name. So if someone &quot;used the term online&quot;, make sure they don't use it commercially.</p>

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