Valve Trademarks Half-Life 3 in Europe

[Andy Chalk]

Valve Trademarks Half-Life 3 in Europe

The Half-Life 3 trademark filing in Europe may not mean anything - but maybe it does.

NeoGAF appears to be having some technical difficulties at the moment but before misfortune struck, it dug up the very interesting news that Valve has filed a trademark for "Half-Life 3" with the Trade Marks and Designs Registration Office of the European Union. The filing was made on September 29 and covers "Computer game software; Electronic game software; Downloadable computer game software via a global computer network and wireless devices; Video game software."

Wow! So an official announcement of Half-Life 3 is surely just around the corner, right? Well, no. I mean, maybe, but not necessarily. Filing a trademark in and of itself doesn't mean anything except that the party making the filing wants to hold the trademark; on the other hand, as superannuation noted on Twitter [https://twitter.com/supererogatory/status/385105012113694720], the theory that Valve filed the mark simply to protect the name doesn't really hold water because it already has a "Half-Life" trademark.

Where does that leave us? Rumor, innuendo, perhaps slightly more hopeful than yesterday and still completely in the dark. I think the great likelihood is that the wheels are turning - Valve doesn't do anything without a purpose, after all - but it's been ten years and an awful lot of disappointment since Half-Life 2. We'll update if and when we hear more but in the meantime, temper your optimism accordingly.

Source: NeoGAF [http://oami.europa.eu/CTMOnline/RequestManager/en_Result_NoReg#]


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[Ukomba]

I guess that's my ignorance of Trademark law. I wouldn't have thought you'd have to trademark putting a 3 in your title, and why you wouldn't then just trade mark as soon as you start making it a series 1 -> X.

 

[Rad Party God]

WAT.


It might be nothing, but... the HL fanboy in me is squeeing like a little girl.

 

[Beryl77]

NeoGAF went down pretty quick, their servers have probably melted through the floor by now.

OT: I would have been excited, maybe three years ago but there have been too many times where it just turned out to be nothing. I'll believe it when Valve makes an official announcement. I admit though, this does sound interesting.

 

[kajinking]

We are already dealing with a goverment shutdown and GTA online! The internet will not take much more stress!

 

[Triforceformer]

It's an intent-of-use trademark, so that means they have 6 months to publicly prove they're making the thing in question, with up to 5 extensions worth 6 months. So within three years we should see something from this.

 

[Andy Shandy]

In all likelihood...

But on the off-chance it isn't, consider me cautiously hyped.

 

[Legion]

I guess that's my ignorance of Trademark law. I wouldn't have thought you'd have to trademark putting a 3 in your title, and why you wouldn't then just trade mark as soon as you start making it a series 1 -> X.

It specifically states in Europe, so perhaps there is some strange rule that most people are not aware of? It does seem kind of odd considering Half Life has been around since 1998, you'd think they would have all of the necessary trademarks by now.

I am wondering if this means my suspicions are correct, and they are planning on releasing it as a launch title for their SteamBoxes. It would certainly explain why they have kept so quiet about it, and it would also be the perfect title to get peoples interest. Although I cannot see it being an exclusive for it. If it didn't at least get released on the PC for Windows there would be hell to pay.

 

[schrodinger]

Fuck it, i'll post this video anyways.


At this point I think people will take anything HL3 related as a sign it still lives, but i'm pretty sure this means nothing or valve is just renewing the name to keep ripoffs of the market.

 

[mateushac]

Well, there we go. At least now we're certain they have the intention of someday releasing the damn thing.

 

[James Crook]

And I have yet to finish Episode 1.
In other news, Hell appears to have frozen over.

 

[teqrevisited]

Spoiler

I can't say that I'm too excited yet. There've been so many rumours and false indications over the years. Once there's substantial proof of active development I'll stock up on underwear.

 

[bafrali]

I was out of breath when I saw the announcement. Now I feel well enough to survive till the official annoucement

Umm why does Neogaf accuse me of breaking their forums

 

[james.sponge]

So the prophecy is true! They can count to three!

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

Sun rose at a 49.2 degree angle
Gabe Newell brushes teeth 15 times
I took a giant dump at work today
The sea level increased by X inches this year
Valve Trademarks Half-Life 3

Half-Life 3 confirmed.

 

[Callate]

*sigh.*

...

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Valve, you sick bastards...!

...That is all.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well let's be honest if they make HL3 SteamOS exclusive and launch both simultaneously that shit will hit the mother load of fans and then all the fans will buy up every damn SteamBox they can get... it's evil genius really.
That is how Steam took off in the first place, it would be quite fitting to continue that sneaky tradition.

And for once I'd actually prefer waiting to play the game.

 

[flarty]

Well let's be honest if they make HL3 SteamOS exclusive and launch both simultaneously that shit will hit the mother load of fans and then all the fans will buy up every damn SteamBox they can get... it's evil genius really.
That is how Steam took off in the first place, it would be quite fitting to continue that sneaky tradition.

And for once I'd actually prefer waiting to play the game.

except steamos will be a free download and can be installed on any rig.

Most likely they will give HL3 away free with steambox purchases.