Several German magazines and websites report of a trade mark dispute between German comedian and actor Michael "Bully" Herbig and Software producer Take Two Interactive regarding the release of a computer game called "Bully - Die Ehrenrunde". The German word "die Ehrenrunde" translates into 'lap of honour' and colloquially also means 'repeating a year in school'. Herbig became famous in Germany in the 1990ies with his comedy show "Bullyparade" and is widely known under the name "Bully".

The computer game features a teenager as its main protagonist, who occasionally has to "get rough" with his surroundings at a boarding school. Michael "Bully" Herbig is of the view that the computer game infringes his trade mark rights and his personality rights and does not want to be associated with a violent computer game. The defendant argues that the game title did not refer to the actor but was a reference to the English colloquial word "to bully". The defendant's lawyers are quoted as saying that Herbig was not known as a computer game producer and as such there was no likelihood of confusion; furthermore many things were already called "Bully": there was a VW van and "bully" was also a term used in ice hockey. The Regional Court of Munich (Landgericht München) reportedly advised the actor after the intial hearing of the case that his chances of success are low and the basis of his claim was "at least difficult". The judges also reportedly tested the computer game themselves and did not find it "too violent".

It is an interesting footnote that the computer game already had to be re-branded into "Canis Canem Edit" for the Australian market and some other European countries due to the negative connotations assoicated with the English word "to bully". The ruling of the Munich court is expected for mid September.