Question Regarding Rules

[MartyG33]

Hello my name is Marty and I have a question about safety rules for Team 4624. Our team logo is the Rebel Alliance Logo (basically) from star wars. We are looking to laser-cut this logo out of 1/8in steel and post on our robot. The outside diameter will be no more than 20". Is this legal? We have rounded all of the points to a .25in radius and we are even considering encasing each of the edges in rubber.

The reason I am asking on Chief Delphi is because I have not yet been approved on FIRST Q and A.

[JohnSchneider]

As long as the edges are rounded and don't present any probable harm the inspection crew won't find any fault with the logos themselves.

I don't believe there is any problem with using the actual logo either as you are an educational outlet. I've seen multiple teams use transformers logos over the years.

[Tom Line]

Originally Posted by animenerdjohn

As long as the edges are rounded and don't present any probable harm the inspection crew won't find any fault with the logos themselves.

I don't believe there is any problem with using the actual logo either as you are an educational outlet. I've seen multiple teams use transformers logos over the years.

While an inspector will not likely ding you over trademark infringement, unless you have a letter stating that you have been authorized to use it or that Disney has released the right to you then it's likely not legal. Just because teams *may have abused the intellectual property rights in the past does not mean it's legal.

* - I used the word may because I'm not a copyright / trademark lawyer and have no idea if teams that used transformers logos in the past have been authorized to do so.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Marty,
Inspectors will look at the device in terms of student/volunteer safety and how it is mounted on the robot. If it is unsafe in any way, we have to be concerned. If it is capable of entangling other robots or of damaging the field or balls, then all of the event volunteers will be upset. From your description, I immediately thought that mounted on Lexan might be a good thing such that no points or openings are available to fingers and balls.