I have planned an aviation-focused game and have a question regarding the company names of the aircraft manufacturers: could I legally use names of planes, such as the Boeing 707, and Lockheed C-130?
Hmm, I think by putting some words on your game like âthese xyz plane is property of abc companyâ is enough. But then, Project Aces contacted related companies that own certain aircraftâs trademark.
Youâre not planning to do Ace Combat, right? 
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Unless youâre intending to deliberately misrepresent something (e.g. having the 707 invented by Lockheed Martinâand even then it probably wouldnât be a problem in an âalternate realityâ setting!) it really shouldnât be a problem. Trademark rights are more about infringement (illegal copying of) and gross misrepresentation (the 707 always crashing on take-off in your story) rather than whether or not they get mentioned in fiction, or even feature heavily (say, in the story of a pilot).
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Better do some research. Some companies are really nitpicky about this and chargea fee for use of their trademarked names.
Even games like Grand Theft Auto, from large companies with enormous budgets, have used made-up names instead of the real ones. It might be easier if you just use your creativity to come up with similar-sounding ones.
Copyright law is very complicated and a real pain to navigate.
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I agree with @Vendetta, it depends on how you plan on using the planes/names. Itâs kind of a grey area, but unless youâre going to run into deformation territory (like having the aircraft continually have engine faults and crashing killing people) I suspect the use of an aircraft name, is unlikely to result in reprisals. (Iâve seen them mentioned in books before.) Often itâs easier to substitute to be sure, like saying you drank soda instead Fanta, or making up a name for an airline company, but if you want a specific plane to be recognisable, names would help. (If youâre talking about a Boeing 707, most of your target audience would immediately know what youâre referring to. If you have a made up name like Airlyner 77, not so much.) Anyway do some searching, I looked it up a while ago and that was the consensis I seemed to find. If you think thereâs going to be an issue and youâre publishing through HG, check with COG if they have an issue with the way youâre using a brand name.
Couple of quick links
https://www.dailywritingtips.com/use-of-trademark-names-in-fiction/
(If you read them, youâll see there was a case where Mercedes didnât like how their car was shown in a movie and the studio had to delete the badges. TBH I doubt that would happen for a book unless it became a world wide best seller (hereâs always hoping though 
) and you misused the brand. The worst is likely that youâd have to change some names.)
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Just had a spark of mad genius⌠had to do with a âBoingâ airplane being made out of springsâŚ
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