Margaret on Trademarking Dragonlance

Margaret Weis

When trademarking a word for use on a product, the company needs to specify if it is used as a noun, an adjective, etc. The company decided Dragonlance would be used an adjective. Dragonlance Adventures, Dragonlance Chronicles, and so on. Not a problem until it came to the novels.

Since all product had to go through the legal department, we sent them the ms of the Autumn Twilight.They ruled that “dragonlance” had to be used as an adjective. In other words, Sturm could not slay the dragon with a dragonlance. He had to slay it with a dragonlance dragonlance.

They were serious!!! Our editor, Jean Black, had to go all the way to top level management to fight this. We won, thank goodness. But it was a little scary there for a while.

About Margaret Weis

Margaret Weis was born and raised in Independence, Missouri. She attended the University of Missouri, Columbia, graduating in 1970 with a BA degree in Literature and Creative Writing. In 1983, she moved to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, to take a job as book editor at TSR, Inc., producers of the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® role-playing game. At TSR, Weis became part of the DRAGONLANCE® design team. Created by Tracy Hickman, the Dragonlance world has continued to intrigue fans of both the novel and the game for generations. Hickman and Weis wrote the first of many fantasy novels, the DRAGONLANCE CHRONICLES, which are still in print after almost thirty years. The books have sold over twenty-five million copies worldwide. Weis is the author/co-author of several other New York Times best-selling series, including DARKSWORD, ROSE OF THE PROHET, STAR OF THE GUARDIANS, THE DEATHGATE CYCLE, and DRAGONSHIPS. Weis and her daughter, Lizz, have written two paranormal romance novels, WARRIOR ANGEL and REBEL ANGEL, published by Daw. Her newest world is written with co-author, Robert Krammes – The Dragon Brigade. SPYMASTER, is the first volume in the new series, Dragon Corsairs, which just published on March 21, 2017. Wisconsin is home where Weis lives with four dogs, Dixie, Joey the Thug, Clancy the Hooligan, and Tika (currently in flyball training). They all enjoy competing in tournaments with their team, the Barkbarians.

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