When we ran the rumor that Sony was planning to unveil an extension of the PlayStation framework in the form of PlayStation Home, it was time to do some sleuthing. One of the first things you do in a case like this is visit the United States Patent and Trademark Office to see what floats to the top. So that's what I did. When "PlayStation Home" didn't turn up, I thought it strange.

Fortunately, our huge fans over at NeoGAF (hi, guys!) did some digging, including super detective "gofreak" who, with Herculean effort, decided to click to the second page of results when searching for trademarks registered by Sony Computer Entertainment. There it was. PlayStation Home. Details on the trademark follow.

So what is PlayStation Home, as defined by the trademark? This:

IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Computer game software; electronic devices for the wireless receipt, storage and/or transmission of data and messages; computer software for conducting and coordinating real-time and asynchronous communications among computer users sharing information and audio/video data via electronic communications networks; downloadable electronic publications; sound and/or video recordings featuring music and entertainment, television programs, motion pictures, news, sports, games, cultural events, and entertainment-related programs of all kinds; downloadable digital sound and/or video recordings featuring music and entertainment, television programs, motion pictures, news, sports, games, cultural events, and entertainment-related programs of all kinds; computer software to allow users to perform electronic business transactions via the Internet

IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Electronic games services provided by means of the Internet; Internet games (non-downloadable); organizing of games; entertainment services provided online and/or via a computer database for matching users for the transfer or sharing of music, video and audio recordings via communications networks; providing on-line chat rooms and electronic bulletin boards for transmission of messages among users in the field of general interest; providing of an on-line service enabling physically remote players of an electronic game to search on-line for other players and to communicate with selected players during the game; organizing, staging and the provision of on-line tournaments; entertainment by means of wireless television broadcasts

IC 042. US 100 101. G & S: Hosting on-line web facilities for others for organizing and conducting meetings, gatherings, interactive discussions and interactive game play; computer services in the nature of customised web pages for featuring game player information, including information regarding a player's identity and the player's preferences; hosting the computer sites of others on a computer service for a global network; creating and maintaining computer sites for others; website design services; creation and development of virtual and interactive images and environments; providing on-line access to computer networks, computer databases, the Internet, on-line bulletin boards, virtual worlds and libraries of text, graphics and audio-visual and multimedia information and entertainment

IC 045. US 100 101. G & S: Introduction and social networking services, namely introducing electronic game players to others

That ought to clear it up! While verbose, these broad-based trademarks have some meat to them, but also contain some very "cover your ass" kind of registrants. Of note are the "customised web pages for featuring game player information", "software to allow users to perform electronic business transactions" , and "downloadable digital sound and/or video recordings featuring music and entertainment, television programs, motion pictures, news, sports, games, cultural events, and entertainment-related programs of all kinds."

That could potentially mean purchases outside of the PlayStation Store, downloadable media via the Home platform, and a dozen other things that make the service a very robust and useful piece of software. We're looking forward to Sony's upcoming GDC announcements like you wouldn't believe. Michael McWhertor