Sony Lets Bloodborne Trademark Expire a Day Before Its Release

[StewShearerOld]

Sony Lets Bloodborne Trademark Expire a Day Before Its Release

Sony apparently forgot to file a request to maintain its claim on the Bloodborne brand.

Trademarks are important. So important, in fact, that company's will sometimes go <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/113531-Bethesda-Doesnt-Enjoy-Being-Forced-into-Mojang-Lawsuit>to seemingly silly lengths to protect them. That being the case, you'd probably expect that a company the size of Sony would do the basic maintenance required to keep its trademarks safe and secure. In the least, you'd think they'd make sure the trademark was active the day before their next big game releases.

Not so, it would seem, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/reviews/13669-Bloodborne-Has-the-Pedigree-of-the-Dark-Souls-Series?utm_source=latest&utm_medium=index_carousel&utm_campaign=all>with Bloodborne. While the game released exclusively today on the PS4, Sony no longer holds the trademark for its brand. While the company has offered no official reason for abandoning the trademark, <a href=http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=86262151&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch>the USPTO's website states that it was due to a failure on Sony's part to file a Statement of Use or Extension Request. In other words, Sony probably just forgot to do its paperwork.

It's worth noting that this isn't the first time this has happened this year. Just last month Sony accidentally <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/139847-The-Last-Guardian-Trademark-Abandoned-by-Sony>abandoned the trademark for The Last Guardian. This, understandably, prompted many to assume that the long in-the-works game had been cancelled despite <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/135125-The-Last-Guardian-is-in-Full-Development-Sony-Assures-Fans>fairly recent claims from the company that it was still in full development. According to the NeoGAF thread that uncovered this latest lapse, these errors mostly stem from the departure of the company attorney who previously handled the trademark work for both The Last Guardian and Bloodborne. In the case of The Last Guardian, Sony quickly filed another request to reclaim the game's trademark. We feel safe in assuming it will do the same in this case as well.

Source: <a href=http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1016443>NeoGAF


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[Erttheking]

Whoops. You might want to get on that Sony. We don't want MloodMorne being released just yet.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

Late to every single E3, multiple service-wide outages that required compensation, accidentally losing trademarks. Is Sony the Mr Magoo of the gaming industry?

 

[Rosiv]

So could this open the door to a PC bloodborne? Or am i misunderstanding the concept of Trademark.

 

[Timeless Lavender]

That is very stupid of Sony and kinda make Bloodborne launch looked embarrassing.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

So could this open the door to a PC bloodborne? Or am i misunderstanding the concept of Trademark.

Nah, Sony will probably just reclaim the trademark.

 

[Naqel]

So could this open the door to a PC bloodborne? Or am i misunderstanding the concept of Trademark.

It would mean Sony would have to rebrand the product, and someone else could name their game BloodBorne.
If they somehow failed to reclaim it that is.


PC version will probably come once they push enough copies/figure out how to make it run at 60FPS on consoles("definitive edition").

 

[CharrHearted]

So could this open the door to a PC bloodborne? Or am i misunderstanding the concept of Trademark.

It would mean Sony would have to rebrand the product, and someone else could name their game BloodBorne.
If they somehow failed to reclaim it that is.


PC version will probably come once they push enough copies/figure out how to make it run at 60FPS on consoles("definitive edition").

Lol, you wish pc elitists xp its staying on consoles.

Since it IS a sony product and PC's are microsoft... Cough.

 

[esserin]

So could this open the door to a PC bloodborne? Or am i misunderstanding the concept of Trademark.

It would mean Sony would have to rebrand the product, and someone else could name their game BloodBorne.
If they somehow failed to reclaim it that is.


PC version will probably come once they push enough copies/figure out how to make it run at 60FPS on consoles("definitive edition").

Lol, you wish pc elitists xp its staying on consoles.

Since it IS a sony product and PC's are microsoft... Cough.

PC's aren't microsoft's territory. Valve holds dominion over the sacred PC lands.

But, yeah, bloodborne is unlikely to ever make it to PC :,(

 

[xServer]

They'll just file a Petition to Revive and get the required use documents on file now that the game has launched. No worries - although they really need to find a new paralegal or attorney to look after this stuff. It's a pretty high-profile miss.

 

[Supernova2000]

Had Sony not taken it hostage then this might have concerned me but as it stands, all I can say is...

Spoiler

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

 

[Fox12]

Well, somebody just got fired. Come on Sony, it's only the highest profile release this yet.

 

[FloodOne]

Had Sony not taken it hostage then this might have concerned me but as it stands, all I can say is...

Spoiler

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Taken hostage?

So is Windows holding Civilization hostage? Is that how platform exclusives work?

 

[McKitten]

Trademark law is not as fickle as often claimed, there is no chance that a short lapse in claims or similar minor things would ever cost Sony the trademark.

That being said, at this point I'm quite sure they're doing this intentionally for the publicity.

Also: Fuck you Sony for not releasing this on PC.

 

[Jandau]

Sooooomeoooooone is gettiiiiing fiiiiiireeeeed....

Had Sony not taken it hostage then this might have concerned me but as it stands, all I can say is...

Spoiler

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Taken hostage?

So is Windows holding Civilization hostage? Is that how platform exclusives work?

The thing is, if Firaxis wanted to make a console version of Civ5, they could. Nobody would be stopping them. Well, aside from the lack of a proper input device, but nobody would prevent them from trying. On the other hand, From Software CAN'T make a PC version of Bloodborne - Sony wouldn't allow it, and they paid money to make sure it stays that way.

There's a difference between an exclusive and a game that simply doesn't come out on one or more platforms.

 

[alj]

Sooooomeoooooone is gettiiiiing fiiiiiireeeeed....

Had Sony not taken it hostage then this might have concerned me but as it stands, all I can say is...

Spoiler

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Taken hostage?

So is Windows holding Civilization hostage? Is that how platform exclusives work?

The thing is, if Firaxis wanted to make a console version of Civ5, they could. Nobody would be stopping them. Well, aside from the lack of a proper input device, but nobody would prevent them from trying. On the other hand, From Software CAN'T make a PC version of Bloodborne - Sony wouldn't allow it, and they paid money to make sure it stays that way.

There's a difference between an exclusive and a game that simply doesn't come out on one or more platforms.

This is exactly correct. The claims that "Sony helped with the development" don't sit right with me from could have developed the game themselves but they chose to take money from sony to make it an exclusive. And anyway if it is true and "Sony helped" and even sony cannot make the thing run at 60 then there is something seriously wrong with that console. But in reality its caped to 30 and from what i have seen from gameplay videos it takes all over the place ( disclaimer: this may have been the recording method, however videos from the same person on DS1 and 2 did not have the same issue).

Its all just coperate bull , sony did this to try and force people into buying a PS4, they did not do it out of the goodness of there heart to seen bloodborn made. Exclusives exist for no other reasons than to screw over the customer and make rich executives even richer fuck em. I am doing my part by not buying the console or the game.

 

[Gladion]

This is exactly correct. The claims that "Sony helped with the development" don't sit right with me from could have developed the game themselves but they chose to take money from sony to make it an exclusive.

How do you know this?

 

[Robyrt]

The claims that "Sony helped with the development" don't sit right with me from could have developed the game themselves but they chose to take money from sony to make it an exclusive. And anyway if it is true and "Sony helped" and even sony cannot make the thing run at 60 then there is something seriously wrong with that console. But in reality its caped to 30 and from what i have seen from gameplay videos it takes all over the place ( disclaimer: this may have been the recording method, however videos from the same person on DS1 and 2 did not have the same issue).

Its all just coperate bull , sony did this to try and force people into buying a PS4, they did not do it out of the goodness of there heart to seen bloodborn made. Exclusives exist for no other reasons than to screw over the customer and make rich executives even richer fuck em. I am doing my part by not buying the console or the game.

I doubt From Software "could have developed the game themselves". Sony probably paid the development costs of Bloodborne in exchange for getting an exclusive, similar to the deal they cut with Capcom for Street Fighter 5. Demon's Souls was a PS3 exclusive for similar reasons. It's not an altruistic move, but neither is it a nefarious money grab. From Software is not a rich studio, and they were trying to double the size of the Souls team to support DS2 and Bloodborne at the same time. The upfront money to hire developers and marketers has to come from somewhere, and Sony was willing to foot the bill because they need good exclusives.

Keep in mind also that the Souls series is known for having dodgy engine code and framerate issues in general. Blighttown had terrible performance too. This is why so many people are clamoring for a PC port: they know that the PC has enough raw power to make up for the game's other shortcomings. (To give them credit, the DS2 PC port was excellent.)

 

[Def25]

Since it IS a sony product and PC's are microsoft... Cough.

If sony has fully ownership and this screw up doesnt look like it, i thought fromsoftware made most of it.

 

[Toadfish1]

Sooooomeoooooone is gettiiiiing fiiiiiireeeeed....

Had Sony not taken it hostage then this might have concerned me but as it stands, all I can say is...

Spoiler

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Taken hostage?

So is Windows holding Civilization hostage? Is that how platform exclusives work?

The thing is, if Firaxis wanted to make a console version of Civ5, they could. Nobody would be stopping them. Well, aside from the lack of a proper input device, but nobody would prevent them from trying. On the other hand, From Software CAN'T make a PC version of Bloodborne - Sony wouldn't allow it, and they paid money to make sure it stays that way.

There's a difference between an exclusive and a game that simply doesn't come out on one or more platforms.

There's also the fact that Sony actually worked on Bloodborne. Japan Studios collaborated with From to make it just like when they made Demons Souls. You can even notice the differences present that show Sony's work.

So, its more like calling Super Smash Bros WiiU a hostage since Namco co-made the game, but Nintendo won't let Namco release on multiple platforms.