Did Starcraft Copyright the phrase UMS? I want to create an Engine like the Starcraft UMS and call it UMS Engine, where people can create there own mini games.

Titles, names, short phrases can't be copyrighted in the United States. But they can be trademarked.

What does UMS refer to? Is it "Use Map Settings?"

UMS does mean use map settings, but i'm gonna call mine User Map Settings.

If that's the case, you should be fine.

A quick google search reveals that UMS can mean:
University Musical Society
USB Mass Storage
United Mobile Sportfishermen
Universal Micro Systems
United Merchant Services
Universal Math Solver
United Medical Systems
University of Metaphysical Science
A band called UMS

And that's just the top 10 results.

thanks man. apreciate all the research you did.

Quote: Original post by cyansoft
A quick google search reveals that UMS can mean:
University Musical Society
USB Mass Storage
United Mobile Sportfishermen
Universal Micro Systems
United Merchant Services
Universal Math Solver
United Medical Systems
University of Metaphysical Science
A band called UMS

And that's just the top 10 results.

None of those relate to the games industry so none of them are relevant to the OPs case. An important issue with Trademarks is that they are industry specific (except for some special exceptions). This means that I can register a trademark for McDonald's if it is an auto dealership or a bicycle makers or a consumer electronics firm but not a restaurant because McDs will object.

Starcraft UMS could be a registered trademark in relation to the games industry. Even if it isn't registered it could well be argued that it has common law trademark protection because it is so widely used/known. That would mean that using the name UMS could well attract unwanted attention from Blizzard.