Hello guys
SO I started working on a game sci-fi top down multiplayer shooter. And I came up with a nice name for it, fitting it perfectly. “The Swarm”. But as you see, when you hear or read The Swarm, you instantly are reminded of StarCraft’s swarm. The Zergs. I was wondering if I release the game as comercial project could StarCraft developers actually sue me for that?
IANAL, but I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Blizzard does not own ‘The Swarm’, nor does it own ‘The Horde’, which may be an even more recognizable reference for many. In fact, when I hear ‘The Swarm’, I am not immediately reminded of StarCraft, even though I have spent a large amount of time in it. It could be anything. That being said, if you make a game named ‘The Swarm’ and it is about a group of space marines that have to defend their base from an overwhelming number of aliens pouring in from all sides… you might have issues… from both Blizzard and from Heinlein’s estate for that matter… but even that’s debatable depending on the content of your game. There’s a lot of leeway in creative content, just don’t blatantly rip anything off.
I understand it now, thanks. Basically nothing that can remind of people to other games.
you should ask legal questions to a lawyer. anybody else can give you just bad advise on it.
A bit of research led me to a movie called The Swarm…
You shouldn’t worry about such things.
A movie fan will remember The Swarm, a starcraft fan will remember the swarm etc. It always happen.
What you NOT should do is literally make it all the same. Just because you didnt name your game The Swarm, does not mean you can use the same swarm models. So it works both ways. 
Just work on the game. Good luck.
Thank you, that was a breaking point for me. Now I can continue 
You could start with checking trademark database like this one:
http://www.wipo.int/branddb/en/
Normally even if name is used but the product is completely unrelated to games (including board games) then you should be fine. Be very careful about products from related media such as movie, tv shows and music.
When you are ready to start promoting your product you might want to contact a lawyer and apply for registration of the trademark. Get in contact with local IGDA office, they can help you with all that.
Don’t let naming be a bottleneck for development. In fact, I would strongly recommend using a working code name and only assigning a final name once your project is complete. You have no idea what twists, turns, and pivots your idea will take between now and then, so why try to constrain it with an arbitrary name or worry about legalities that might never matter. Worry about naming, copyright, trademarks, and all those headaches once you have a game completed… all with the caveat that you are not blatantly ripping off story or assets from existing works of course.
Thanks you guys. @BoredEngineer just looked at the database and it looks like there are so many products named SWARM etc. Good thing.
@snidersh Yeah you are right, never thought about it.
Thanks for all the help guys 