Kotaku: Trademark

Rumor: Sony Starting Online Games Mag?

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:40:00 MDT

Sony Computer Entertainment America recently filed a trademark for a product named "Qore," but we don't expect to necessarily see a game coming to the PlayStation 3 or PSP with that name. Instead of the standard description "computer game software and video game software" services—as in the case with the recent filing for The Last Guy, a planned PlayStation Network release—the trademark filed for Qore protects against "computer services, namely, providing interactive online magazine and entertainment services in the field of video games."

Whatever it is, it's almost certainly PlayStation related—and one could speculate that a more polished digital delivery of approved info via the PlayStation Network might be a compelling service, from a marketing perspective. We'll be digging around for more info, but your best guesses in the comments are welcome.

Qore [USPTO]

Cosmic Smash Returns?

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:40:00 MDT

Sega's racquetball meets Tron meets Breakout oddity Cosmic Smash may be one more Dreamcast-era property headed for revival territory as the publisher has recently trademarked the title with the USPTO. The arcade title only saw release in Japan and didn't get much attention from gamers as a too late Dreamcast port, but it looks like Sega may be bringing us an update.

Cosmic Smash was developed by the team formerly known as Sega Rosso, probably better known for their Sega Rally and Star Wars arcade game releases. It's almost begging for a WiiWare re-release, as its rather simple in the mechanics and graphics department—perfect for a Wii-remote waggling short session game.

Cosmic Smash [USPTO]

Square Enix Bringing "Dragon Quest Party" Stateside?

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:20:52 MST

Is Square Enix finally bringing its Itadaki Street series to North America? We've got a hunch it is. The latest entry, known as Itadaki Street DS in Japan, features a guest appearance in the long-running board game series from the Mario universe cast, including Peach, Bowser, Wario and Yoshi. While previous games in the series featured characters from Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, the inclusion of Mario and pals may have the star power Square Enix needs to finally localize it.

Square Enix has made no such announcements about such a game, but its recently filed trademark for Party Castle certainly makes us think it may have sights set on an English port. Everyone knows "party" translates to "dice-rolling board game" in Nintendo-speak. Plus, Itadaki Street DS has no shortage of castles. Conjecture? Totally. That's why we're getting in touch with Square Enix to learn more about what this new trademark means. (Pray it's not a mobile game!)

Party Castle Trademark [USPTO]

pwnage (TM)?

Drew Crecente — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 08:00:00 MST

In the latest salvo in the let's-claim-credit-for-a-commonly-used-term-that-we-didn't-even-create War(TM), Finnish software company Futuremark Games Studio filed papers on February 26, 2008 to protect the trademark "Pwnage" in relation to:

"... computer game software; computer game programs; computer game discs; interactive multimedia computer game program; downloadable ring tones, ... multimedia software recorded on CD-ROM featuring fictional characters and computer games; pre-recorded DVD's, video tapes, laser discs featuring movies about fictional characters, and pre-recorded compact discs featuring music; motion picture films on fictional characters...".

Wow... at least they aren't attempting to apply it to every piece of media published or anything like that.

I am not a lawyer, but will be interested to see how Futuremark will protect its mark if they are successful in their efforts. I envision nightly round ups of thirteen year olds around the world for their blatant misappropriation of the term. This follows previously-cool Fark's attempts to trademark "NSFW."

Next to be trademarked will be "n00bs," "1337," "hax04," "ROTFL," "LOL" and "pr0n."

I'm going to get ahead of the curve on this one and trademark "d0uchage."

[United States Patent and Trademark Office via Trademork]

Activision Trademarks DJ Hero

fdemarco — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 11:00:00 MST

Trademork is reporting that Activision has applied for a trademark for the name DJ Hero earlier this month. There's not a whole lot of details at the moment but in legal terms, the trademark refers to "computer game software and related instruction manual sold together as a unit; interactive video game programs; computer game discs; downloadable software for use in connection with computer games; video game controllers; interactive video game comprised of a CD or DVD sold as a unit with a video game controller."

Sounds suspiciously like Konami's Beatmania but it will be interesting to see how Activision would make the game their own. It also leaves me curious as to what the song list would be like.

DJ Hero [Trademork via Opposable Thumbs]

Apple Trademark Hints at Handheld Gaming Device

fdemarco — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 13:05:00 MST

Rumors of Apple gunning to enter the handheld games market have been circulating for a while, but a new trademark application discovered by Trademork dated Feb. 5th seems to lend credence to the rumor mill. According to the application, Apple is upping its trademark to include "Toys, games and playthings, namely, hand-held units for playing electronic games; hand-held units for playing video games; stand alone video game machines; electronic games other than those adapted for use with television receivers only; LCD game machines; electronic educational game machines; toys, namely battery-powered computer games."

With the enormous popularity of the iPhone and the phenomenal success of the iPod, anything handheld from Apple seems like a sure fire hit. But on the other hand you have Apple's inability to bring a lot of quality games to their platforms. If this gaming device does come to fruition, will it end up being the next DS or just another Gizmondo?

Apple Trademark Application [TARR via Trademork]

Tomb Raider Underworld Coming Next?

Mark Wilson — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:40:59 MST

Have you seen the movie Underworld? OK, great. Now take that movie and relate it in absolutely no way to Tomb Raider Underworld, the rumored next TR sequel since the trademark was discovered. Said to revolve around the Mayan calendar, or more specifically, the five unnamed days at the end of the year known only as "Wayeb'." During this time, the realm of the living and dead was said to blur, leading us to only one, inevitable plotline in the game: giant ghost/zombie jubblies.

Tomb Raider Underworld [via gamelife]

Sony To Get Dressy?

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:40:09 MDT

When we're not posting about what we've eaten for breakfast, we're often found trolling the US Patent and Trademark Office for exciting new registrations. One of the more interesting such items to pop up recently is Sony Computer Entertainment's Dress, with the logo shown above.

So what the hell is Dress? Is Sony readying their own version of Sega's dress up and shopping game Love & Berry? Are budding Home citizens about to enjoy the labors of digital seamstresses? Is this Sony's answer to Project Runway? Whatever Sony's recently registered trademark for Dress will be, we're pretty sure it's going to be... interesting.

Most of the trademark's goods and services registrations seem totally inappropriate for Sony's gaming division. For example, Dress is registered against things like "X-RAY TUBES", "GYMNASTIC INSTRUCTION", and "ELECTRIC HAIR-CURLERS FOR HOUSEHOLD USE" which I doubt we'll see. But some of the registrations seem much more likely to apply to a PlayStation game or application.

Some of the more interesting, more telling services that Dress is registered against include:

PROVIDING EXHIBIT SPACE OF VIRTUAL REALITY ENVIRONMENTS IN THE INTERNET FOR COMPUTER GENERATED 3-DIMENSIONAL DESIGN OF CLOTHING

ON-LINE RETAIL STORE SERVICES FEATURING DOWNLOADABLE VIDEO GAME SOFTWARE, SOFTWARE FOR CREATING DRESS AND WEARS FOR VIRTUAL REALITY AVATARS, SOFTWARE USED FOR CREATING VIRTUAL REALITY AVATARS, AND SOFTWARE FOR COMPUTER GENERATED 3-DIMENSIONAL CLOTHING FOR AVATARS

ENTERTAINMENT IN THE NATURE OF FASHION SHOWS

A lot of this sounds very much in tune with Phil Harrison's Game 3.0 mantra, providing gamers with a suite of tools that would aid them in the design of online avatar threads. With that adorable heart-shaped button graphic, it would seem that Dress will come with a slightly more feminine bent.

Of course, Sony, like many companies, registers plenty of trademarks that never see the light of day. Beats. for instance was trademarked by the company in the first quarter of 2007, then rated by the ESRB, but not a peep has been heard about the game.

We'll be tapping the shoulders of our favorite Sony execs in Tokyo next week to bug them about it, hoping to learn more.

What Is Sonic Rush Adventure?

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:20:20 MDT

Trademark hunters at Sonic the Hedgehog fansite Sonic Stadium uncovered an interesting recent filing from Sega for a video game named Sonic Rush Adventure. While details are miniscule—there's nothing to go on save the game's title—I have to wonder what the game could be.

Is it simply a sequel to the Nintendo DS sidescrolling game Sega released in the fall of 2005? It could very well be. It was one of the best rated Sonic games of the past five years, performing just as well critically as Sonic's first forays into 3D gaming, Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2. Sonic Rush did pretty well in the sales department, too.

Maybe Sonic Rush Adventure is a totally new title, distinct enough from its DS ancestor to warrant new branding.

Given Sega's recent comments that a "reinvention" of the series is overdue, comments made after the release of Sonic the Hedgehog for PS3 and Xbox 360 and Sonic and the Secret Rings for the Wii, I wouldn't be surprised to see a new take on the Adventure series.

Will Sega keep the Sonic Rush 2D gameplay, adding more story driven elements and exploration? Could they take a Super Paper Mario approach, merging the series' 2D and 3D strengths, eliminating one of its biggest weaknesses, shoddy 3D camera control? Why wouldn't they simply name a standard Sonic Rush sequel Sonic Rush 2?

I'm just riffing here and fully aware that all this conjecture based on a simple trademark registration is mostly wishful thinking, but I'm hoping that Sonic Rush Adventure isn't just Sonic Rush 2 and will give Sonic an opportunity to shine. Michael McWhertor

New Sonic Rush game in the works? [Sonic Stadium via NeoGAF Forums]

Guitar Villain Coming?

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 18:40:59 MST

Gamespot is reporting that Activision has filed trademarks for two titles, Guitar Villain and Drum Villain, both for things like "computer game software" and "toy guitars designed to be used as controllers for computer games."

While this doesn't necessarily mean that the company is actively working on these two titles (they have plenty of Guitar Hero games to milk for the next few years), the filings from late last year may provide insight into where the new publisher of the series plans to move the game's direction. Or maybe they just get off on filing trademarks.

Also noted by Gamespot for indication that Activision may be looking to expand the franchise are related trademarks filed by previous publisher Red Octane last summer. These include Drum Hero and Keyboard Hero.

No word on when Konami will think about registering "Remember Guitar Freaks? That Was Pretty Good" but we're sure it's coming. Michael McWhertor

Activision calls dibs on Guitar Villain, Drum Villain [Gamespot]

Mario Takes Up Flooring

Mike Fahey — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 12:40:32 MST

Alert reader drivebybiped looked out his window in Rochester, NY this morning and saw this:

Mario really needs to pin down a profession. He's been a carpenter, a plumber, a travel agent, and now he's in the flooring business. Oh wait, that's not Mario. That's obviously an E on his hat. And here I thought there was some trademark infringing going on.

I am sure Excel Flooring is an excellent source for all your flooring needs, despite the truck bearing the mascot they don't own and the website they don't have. Michael Fahey

Thanks drivebybiped!

Wii Trademark Found

brownlee — Fri, 05 May 2006 13:40:12 MDT

Bad news for those of us who were hoping that the lack of a Wii trademark indicated a Nintendo marketing conspiracy to change the name back to the Revolution come E3. The trademark database has been updated and, sigh, Wii is there.

The US Patent Office link tends to like to die out, so we're not sure if it'll work for you, but you can see it in the screenshot above, and yes, Wii is indeed registered to Nintendo of America.

Of course, even as a publicity stunt, Nintendo would be likely to trademark Wii, right? Right?

Wii Trademark [US Patent Office] (Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)