The WSFS Mark Protection Committee from time to time adopts resolutions of continuing effect. The following lists of resolutions are managed by the Mark Protection Committee. Unless otherwise noted, a year lists means “as of the end of the Worldcon held in that year.” Resolutions are numbered by the “Worldcon year,” so that, for example, resolutions adopted between the end of the 2010 WSFS Busienss Meeting and the start of the 2011 WSFS Business Meeting are numbers MPC-2010-N. This list is compiled by the WSFS Mark Protection Committee. The committee uses a definition of “likely to continue to have effect for more than a year” as “continuing.”
Adopted December 3, 2023 at a Special MPC Meeting
MPC 2023-01
MPC 2023-01
The Mark Protection Committee requests that future Worldcons donate US$0.75 per WSFS member, and non-Worldcon conventions sanctioned by WSFS contribute US$0.25 per attending or supporting member, to the MPC for the purpose of funding the committee’s ongoing operations.
Adopted September 23, 2023 at an Online MPC Meeting
The following were adopted as standing policies of the Mark Protection Committee:
MPC 2022-01
The MPC will endeavor to register the WSFS marks in all trademark jurisdictions where there have been at least two Worldcons; however, the NASFIC mark need not be registered in jurisdictions outside of North America.
MPC 2022-02
The priority of WSFS marks for registration are as follows:
- High:
WORLDCON
HUGO AWARD
The Hugo Award Logo - Medium:
WSFS
LODESTAR AWARD
The distinctive design of the Hugo Award Trophy Rocket
NASFIC - Low:
WORLD SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION
WORLD SCIENCE FICTION SOCIETY
MPC 2022-03
The Chicago International Film Festival Bronze Hugo Award, Silver Hugo Award, and Gold Hugo Award, as they have been awarded, are of sufficiently different name and refer to a sufficiently narrow and different service that they do not conflict with the HUGO AWARD mark of WSFS. Thus the MPC does not intend to contest them.
MPC 2022-04
It is the policy of the MPC that the accurate use of the text “Hugo Award Winning” in connection with individual or collected works or their creators requires no permission from the MPC and is of benefit to the Hugo Award mark. The MPC will encourage, but will not attempt to require, that such use be accompanied by a citation of the society’s marks and/or the registered trademark symbols, if appropriate.
Adopted at the 68th World Science Fiction Convention, AussieCon 4, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
MPC-2010-01
Members of the Mark Protection Committee and any of its subcommittees must agree to decline nomination for a Hugo Award presented in a year following a year in which that person served in whole or in part.
[Rescinded by resolution of the MPC at the 2011 Worldcon after the adoption of BM-2011-01.]
MPC-2010-02
The Chair of the Mark Protection Committee shall be ex officio a member of all subcommittees of the MPC.
MPC-2010-03
The WSFS Mark Protection Committee authorizes Victorian Science Fiction Conventions, Inc. to act as Agent for the MPC in Australia, to investigate options for protecting WSFS’s service marks in Australia, and to report to the MPC e-list when practical to do so.
[This resolution was rendered moot by the dissolution of VSFC and by the creation of Worldcon Intellectual Property, a non-profit corporation whose voting directors are the members of the MPC, and which was organized to hold title to WSFS’s intellectual property, especially in jurisdictions that do not recognize unincorporated associations.]
MPC-2010-04
The WSFS Mark Protection Committee authorizes CanSMOF Inc. to act as Agent for the MPC in Canada, to investigate options for protecting WSFS’s service marks in Canada, and to report to the MPC e-list when practical to do so.
[Although never rescinded, this resolution was rendered moot by the creation of Worldcon Intellectual Property, a non-profit corporation whose voting directors are the members of the MPC, and which was organized to hold title to WSFS’s intellectual property, especially in jurisdictions that do not recognize unincorporated associations.]