So in my continuing quest to complete the Harry Potter series of books before watching the new movie, I’m plugging through Book 7 now. I started wondering, though, what would happen if a real high school decided to name its houses after those in Harry Potter ie Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin? Would there be any kind of IP violation at all? It’s difficult to think of what the violation could be. And what if the school used the same “house colors” as described in the books, but didn’t copy any of the Harry Potter costumes or props or other merchandise related to the movies?
I know there’s a bunch of unauthorized “Harry Potter” products and paraphernalia on the market these days, but I was wondering particularly about the question in the high school context.