Kotaku: Trademarks

Would You Buy An Atari Phone?

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:20:00 MDT

Well, would you? Seriously. Reason we're asking is that last week Atari sought to have their name trademarked in association with “internet protocol phones” and “residential telephone apparatus composing telephones and telephone connecting units”. Before you ask, yes, that's the gaming Atari doing the trademarking, not some random, other Atari. This would be the part where we try and find a good reason the company would be bothering with this, but really, there's little salvation to be found amongst the thought of an Atari phone.

Atari [Trademork]

Apple Patent Looks More Than A Little Like The Wii Remote

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 MDT

A patent's been uncovered by VentureBeat, which Apple first filed in November 2006. It's for a pointer/remote device, that communicates via IR, and has a sensor bar you place in front of the tellie to detect 3D movement. You know, just like a Wii Remote. The patent states the following:

...the absolute x- and y-positions of [the] remote control can be used, for example, in video games to position a user's character or to otherwise track the movement of the remote control in a user's environment.

Interesting. Now, as anyone who has ever used AppleTV with a remote will tell you, entering text is not fun. This device is most likely intented primarily to make stuff like entering text and navigating menus a lot easier than it currently is. Then again...that does say games up there. What's stopping Apple from adding some Wii-like titles to iTunes, available to AppleTV users? Nothing, that's what.

Apple copying the Wii concept for Apple TV gaming? [VentureBeat] [Pic]

Square Enix Files New Dragon Quest Trademarks

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:20:59 MDT

The Nintendo DS remakes of both Dragon Quest IV and Dragon Quest V look likely to make their way to U.S. shores soon, as a pair of recently filed trademarks have popped up on the US Patent and Trademark Office's web site. Filings for "Chapters of the Chosen" and "Hand of the Heavenly Bride" were submitted over the past two weeks, matching very closely to the subtitles of both DQ IV and V respectively.

The ESRB just published its E10+ rating for Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen but Square Enix has yet to make official a U.S. release. The Japanese re-release of IV happened last November, with V planned for this summer.

Chapters of the Chosen & Hand of the Heavenly Bride [USPTO]

Capcom Trademarks Spyborgs

Luke Plunkett — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:30:00 MDT

Last week, Capcom went and registered the trademark Spyborgs. Two weeks before that, they registered the domain name spyborgs.com, which at time of writing sits empty and unused. This of course means absolutely nothing right now, but at an unspecified future time, when writing about Capcom's official unveiling of the exciting new Spyborgs franchise, we'll be able to link on back to this post and show you where it all began.
Spyborgs [Trademork]

Sonic Unleashed Trademarked By Sega. What's ...

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:20:07 MDT

Sonic Unleashed Trademarked By Sega. What's this? Another possible Sonic the Hedgehog game from Sega? You don't say! Sonic Unleashed is the newest filing from the Japanese publisher, one that applies to "video game software [and] computer game programs." Yes, those are the entirety of the details. We just hope it's far, far better than the shittacular Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games known simply as Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sega File Trademark For "Stormchaser"

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:40:00 MDT

Was helping a small-business-owning friend out yesterday, trawling through the Australian trademark databases, when I figured I'd stop off and check some game-related ones. And whaddya know, I find this. Filed in December and approved last month, it's for an upcoming Sega title called Stormchaser, with the only other info I could find being this old rumour suggesting it's a Sega racing title. Sure, the rumour's old (from 2006), but remember, the patent application was only approved last month.
IP Australia

New Sony, Ubisoft, Square-Enix Trademarks Reveal New Games?

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 20:00:00 MST

Recent filings at the US Patent and Trademark Office may give us some insight into upcoming plans for a number of publishers. While not all filings eventually make it to actual product, there are a few interesting unknowns within. Leading the pack is Capcom's Wolf of the Battlefield which, while unannounced, may be the final name or part of the name of the company's top-down shooter Commando 3.

Sony Computer Entertainment has just registered In The Beginning There Was Darkness, a game we don't believe is based on the book of the same name, chronicling a blind man's life journey while reading the Bible. [Update: As commenter CONFUSEDGAM3R points out, this is part of the God of War: Chains of Olympus ad campaign. Thanks!] Square-Enix has two new filings with Sigma Harmonics and My Life As A King, the latter of which may be a spin on the name of its announced WiiWare game.

Finally, it looks like Ubisoft has two new properties in the works, Aftershock and Strike Hawk. Why do both of those instantly sound like Tom Clancy branded games to me? Regardless, the first may simply be the post-earthquake survival game previously known as Alive. Go ahead, speculate!

Activision May Take Guitar Hero "On Tour" To Nintendo DS

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:40:00 MST

All that "hoping" and "exploring" in regard to a Nintendo DS version of Guitar Hero may become reality soon. And that reality may be named Guitar Hero On Tour, if a recently unearthed trademark filed by Activision matches up. The filing, which was discovered by Trademork, is dated January 19th of 2008, is certainly video game related, as it applies to an "interactive video game comprised of a cartridge or DVD sold as a unit with a video game controller."

RedOctane co-founder Charles Huang mentioned to GameSpot last summer that a DS-specific controller peripheral was "definitely one of the options we're exploring." We have little doubt that Activision and RedOctane will be doing their best to capitalize on the Guitar Hero name on every single platform they can, so we expect an announcement soon.

Guitar Hero On Tour [Trademork]

Is Sega Working On Dreamcast 2?

Mike Fahey — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 13:00:09 MST

Back in August, Sega filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office to protect the Dreamcast trademark. Now their original filing is good until December of 2009, this new filing has added some new terms to the mix that are sparking speculation of a Dreamcast 2 being in the cards. From the filing:

home video game machines; player-operated electronic controllers for electronic video game machines; video game interactive controller, namely, hand held pads, and floor pads or mats; joysticks for video games; computer cursor control devices, namely, computer mouse; flash memory cards; video game software, computer game programs

While most of the devices listed could easily relate to the original Dreamcast, flash memory cards and floor mats were never a part of the company's machine. Could Sega be quietly getting ready to re-enter the console business?

As much as I wish this rumor were true, I don't believe it. More likely the company is updating the original trademark to cover additional items in order to make sure some enterprising company doesn't come out with a Dreamcast brand memory card or dance pad. Either that, or Sega is planning on getting into the peripheral market themselves - Dreamcast is still a pretty strong brand among fans after all. I just cannot see them jumping back in to the already crowded console market.

For one thing, Sega's software offerings haven't been all that stellar lately, in case you hadn't noticed. Sonic sells well to children, but most gamers can agree that their flagship franchise has been in a downward spiral since Sonic Adventure, and with Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games they've managed to release the worst Mario game ever. They couldn't make a new console work on strength of software alone.

That leaves strength of hardware, and while the Dreamcast was an amazing little machine, I just can't imagine Sega pulling together the cash to manufacture something that could compete with the popularity of the Wii or the power of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Besides, many of us have already gotten our current gen machine picked, and with multi platform third party titles becoming the norm, we're right back at selling a hardware platform on first party titles, which again - not happening.

I'd love to be wrong here, really. I would really love to see Sega give hardware another go, and there will always be room in my heart and my entertainment center for my Dreamcast, but no.

Dreamcast [Trademork.com via Videogamer.com]

Mystery Harmonix Project Focus Of GDC Session

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:20:35 MDT

With Harmonix ready to ship Rock Band in just a few weeks, its time to focus on what else the musical developer has up its sleeve. The recently published session list for next year's Game Developers Conference gives us some clues about what it might be. According to the description of the session "Your Music Is the Game: Designing the OTHER Project at Harmonix" it won't feature beats "authored by tech-savvy musicians", but "would instead be algorithmically generated, and the game would lack the dedicated peripherals that were critical to the success of the Guitar Hero series." So what will be shown?

Session speaker Chris Foster, Senior Designer at Harmonix, will present attendees with a case study on the mystery game's design, but, sadly, most likely won't reveal concrete details about the specific project. Details on the session indicate that past Harmonix titles will be used to "illustrate various points", possibly indicating that a formal reveal will follow GDC.

While details are still scarce and may continue to be so, a Harmonix trademark from earlier this year for a product named Beat Boy may provide more insight.

The first trademark for Beat Boy was for "video game software" and "portable listening devices, namely mp3 players", among other things, which could apply to a game that could algorithmically generate beat charts from already encoded music, say, on a Memory Stick. More specifically, on the PlayStation Portable.

A second trademark was added for Beat Boy specifying it for "handheld units for playing electronic games", another indication that it could make its way to the PSP, a handheld that meets the technical requirements for such a product but one that doesn't lend itself to Guitar Hero-style peripherals.

The trademark was originally filed by Harmonix for Beat Boy back in 2002 but expired earlier this year, possibly indicating the idea has been brewing for a long time.

Of course, the Nintendo DS is also capable of playing MP3s, given the right hardware, something that hasn't been officially released in North America by Nintendo themselves. The GDC listing does mention "unique input mechanics" after all, which could indicate plenty of microphone blowing and stylus tapping. Furthermore, the game could come to any number of portable platforms, including mobile phones and iPods.

It was reported earlier this year that Sony Computer Entertainment America wasn't taken with the prospect of a PSP follow up to Harmonix's PlayStation 2 music game Amplitude, but the developer may have convinced its new owners at MTV Games to fund such a project.

We'll keep digging to try to learn more.

Your Music Is the Game: Designing the OTHER Project at Harmonix [GDC 08 via GameSetWatch]

Sony Goes Trademark Crazy

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:20:00 MDT

Sony Computer Entertainment went a bit nutty recently at the US Patent and Trademark Office, with its European division registering new trademarks for unannounced software under the names Ember, SkyBlue, Carriage Return, Race Day, and Strings Attached. These registrants coincide with a number of products already released or announced, including PlayStation Network and PlayStation Eye games Snakeball, Operation Creature Feature, Super Rub'A'Dub and Super Stardust. Unfortunately, the descriptions of the goods and services for each, including helpful hints like "computer games apparatus adapted for use with an external display screen or monitor" don't hint at what these products may be.

The company's Japanese division also recently added a new trademark, known as the Broadcasting Engine, the logo of which can be seen above. The trademark info hints less at a software release, instead covering hardware bases on cellular phones, computer mice, video cameras, dvd players, video game machines, set-top boxes and vending machines. This is intermixed with multiple mentions of downloadable media, like music, movies, television programs and video games.

The Broadcasting Engine may be the name of the technology that powers the PlayStation Network Sir Howard Stringer was referring to recently in an interview that took place in Moscow. He spoke of Sony's plans to integrate the PlayStation Network throughout its consumer product line, connecting PlayStation 3s and PSPs to Bravia televisions and Sony Ericsson phones.

Sega Trademarks Golden Axe: Beast Rider

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 20:40:32 MDT

The Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 sequel to Sega's hack n' slash series Golden Axe sure isn't gonna make its estimated 2007 release date. We haven't heard a lick about the game since it was announced way back in May of 2006 but now, we may have a name. Golden Axe: Beast Rider was recently trademarked by the Sega for "video game software" and "computer game programs" and could be the name of the next high-def iteration.

On the other hand, it's Sega. They could've have decided to divert resources to what would essentially be Golden Axe: The Ride at one of its SegaWorks arcade locations. We'll bug them and try to find out more.

New Nintendo Trademarks - Wii Handle?

Mike Fahey — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 11:30:13 MDT

Nintendo has been busy at the Japanese trademark board recently, registering several new names that could hold a titillating look into future Wii products. Trademarked items include the Wii Body Controller, Mii Contest Channel, Nintendo Magic, Wii Handle, and something called Soma Bringer. Now the Wii Body Controller is probably the Wii balance board with a better name, and the contest channel speaks for itself. Nintendo Magic? The ability to make something called the Wii a commercial success? Powerful juju there. Soma was a ritual drink of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, Vedic and Persian cultures with hallucinogenic properties, so I am going to assume the Soma Bringer is a drug delivery device. Could be wrong. Finally we have Wii Handle, which intrigues me somewhat. Perhaps a unique user name for your Wii to do away with the cumbersome friend code system? I won't get my hopes up. It's probably just a carrying handle for your Wii. Guy can dream though.

Nintendo trademarks reveal new products? [CVG]

PS3 Controller is a P.O.O.S.

brownlee — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 10:40:57 MDT

The newest, frankly incredible trademark to be taken by a gaming company? Sony Japan has trademarked the PS3 controller as "P oo S".

No rumble. Tilt controls that Somerset Maugham might have described as 'craptacular'? We think Sony made a typo of an extra 'o' in their patent application form.

Or the alternate theory: the double 'o' represents the dual analog sticks in the same way that the double 'i' in Wii represents two Wiimotes. Also, infinity, I guess. I like my explanation better. Florian Eckhardt

Sony Trademarks PS3 Controller [Digital Battle]