Wiimote triumphs over Weemote: A small business sob story

by Candace Savino { Jul 23rd 2008 at 9:00PM }

Sometimes, it really sucks to be the little guy (especially if the big guy you're up against is Nintendo). Take Forbis Technologies, for example, who came out with the Weemote (and trademarked the name in 2000) long before the Wii even launched.

Nintendo never officially refers to the Wii's controller as a Wiimote, and always calls it by the full name Wii Remote. Retailer and blog outlets such as ourselves are the cause of the problem, however, as we constantly use the unofficial nickname. Ever since the term "Wiimote" caught on, though, the Weemote's sales have "fallen considerably."

Game Politics recently talked to John Stephen, who owns the firm that manufactures the Weemote. Not only has the term Wiimote managed to cut into Weemote sales, but also, the company has been forced to spend a lot of money and resources protecting its trademark. The firm recently sent out over 100 cease-and-desist letters to retailers and resellers, asking them not to use the term "Wiimote" anymore (here's an example). If the firm doesn't take such actions, they'll lose the trademark by default. In either case, they lose something, making it a lose-lose situation of sorts for Forbis.

Ideally at this point, Nintendo would just buy the trademark from Forbis and the small firm would rebrand the company. Of course, Nintendo refused such an offer -- as Stephen explains, "The reality is we have no leverage and they are already getting a free ride. So I guess their position is why pay for something that is already free!"

Stephen knows that Nintendo's success from the word "Wiimote" has been mostly unintentional, but wishes the mega-company would do the right thing and purchase the trademark, even though they're not under legal obligation to do so. In the real world, though, the chances of that happening are slim to none.

Who knows, maybe the Big N will go and surprise us. But until then, our heart is breaking for the little guy.

Tags: business, forbis, forbis-technologies, john-stephen, trademark, weemote, wii-remote, wiimote

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Feba @ Jul 23rd 2008 9:22PM

I really don't think the WORD Wiimote has helped Nintendo's success. Pretty sure that would be the product.

If anything, what's hurting it is consumer confusion, but even then it's not Nintendo's fault. Why the hell should they pay for a nickname?

If someone had a pet shop called Wally's World, you wouldn't seriously expect Wal-mart to buy the name from them when they aren't the ones that use the name.

Chris Are @ Jul 23rd 2008 10:18PM

Bad example for one reason: anyone and everyone is going to defend the little guy against Wal-mart.

I see Candace's "heart breaking" over the little guy, but I agree: the nickname isn't hurting sales. I'd even say the drop in sales is unrelated. If anything it should be helping sales, when grandma goes out to get a Wii controller and thinks this is a 3rd party controller or something.

steve @ Jul 23rd 2008 9:26PM

must be a slow news day

msw @ Jul 23rd 2008 9:37PM

Well weemote is prolly like wimote -- cutesey way to say remote...

Doesn't even sound like WE-mote, really...

Psy @ Jul 23rd 2008 11:15PM

"So I guess their position is why pay for something that is already free!""

How ironic. I could make the exact same argument for the use of ROMs.

jar jar @ Jul 24th 2008 11:15AM

How ironic. I could make the exact same argument for the use of your mom.

They aren't free, shut up.

Psy @ Jul 24th 2008 2:54PM

I know about 7 or so sites off the top of my head that beg to differ.

And please, if you're going to insult me, try something a little more witty than a 'your mom' joke.

Sami @ Jul 31st 2008 10:17AM

The wit is in the ironic witlessness.

Fiefdom @ Jul 23rd 2008 11:36PM

Wasn't there something sort of similar to this with Xerox? The company wanted people to stop using Xerox as a verb (to xerox instead of to copy) because, if the term were introduced into a dictionary, the trademark would automatically become invalid. It's vaguely similar....

Prof_Chaos @ Jul 24th 2008 8:52AM

You're right. I can't remember what the exact term for this is, but When a company's brand is associated so strongly with a product type that the type is often referred to by a brand name first they run the risk of losing the trademark. Q-tip and Coke have both struggled with this issue before. This is why Q-tip's packaging specifically states "Q-tip brand cotton swabs".

Mickey @ Jul 24th 2008 12:44AM

My site:
http://www.WiiNintendo.net

Just received a Cease and Desist from Forbes lawyers, they said that "Wiimote" causes buyer confusion and I must remove it from my site. They didn't threaten me with anything else, I'll try to cut back a little on the "wimote" slang.

Lee @ Jul 24th 2008 6:15AM

"Nintendo never officially refers to the Wii's controller as a Wiimote, and always calls it by the full name Wii Remote."

Nintendo of America perhaps, but it says Wiimote on the box in France at least.

Rocketboy @ Jul 24th 2008 7:32AM

"If the firm doesn't take such actions, they'll lose the trademark by default."

I thought that had been proven as an urban legend by more lawyerly types.

Solo @ Jul 24th 2008 11:00AM

I think you are mixing this up with copyright. Copyright can't be lost due to a lack of defending it but trademarks can.

Rocketboy @ Jul 26th 2008 1:19AM

Solo.. No, it looks like I was still thinking of trademark

http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/gum.asp

If the Wiimote people stop using Wiimote in any way shape and form for 5 years, there's a chance that they could lose it (or more specficially, someone else has a chance to take it), but as it's still a product that they sell, nobody's going to lose anything.

Also, how is the Wii Remote blocking people from buying a child's remote. It's probally boosting sales more than anything. It's not Nintendo's fault that nobody wants a Wiimote anymore.

Brucie B @ Jul 24th 2008 7:41AM

I've been looking for that Weemote for the kids!!! Seriously, I need 1 or maybe 2 of them for the kids TV's.

Dan Davis @ Jul 24th 2008 11:35AM

Hmmm... I need to trademark other similar names, like "He-Mote" (a tough color, like black or camo), "She-Mote" (pink -- but don't let the Fat Princess crowd hear that), and "Key-Mote" (for Kingdom Hearts games?).

Alright Nintendo, where's my money?

thetank264 @ Jul 24th 2008 2:17PM

The disgusting thing is that in the same store where you can purchase the "Weemote", you can also purchase t-shirts that blatantly attack Nintendo. I personally wonder if there is anyone in the free world who would ever purchase them.
http://shop.weemote.com/

This is clearly a case of someone with a failing business idea looking for a free ride from a company with more money.

KaBob799 @ Jul 24th 2008 7:05PM

Wow I glanced at that store and that is just stupid. Who would buy a shirt like that?

Garst @ Jul 24th 2008 5:08PM

That's even before the GameCube came out. I would also like to say that I have never seen anything promoting the "Weemote," so until then I'm not going to acknowledge that they even exist. You can't claim something is hurting your sales if you're not doing anything to let people know you exist.