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News Trademarks Video Games

Nintendo finally files trademark applications for Wii U in the U.S.

Nintendo Wii U controller

Nintendo has filed nearly 20 trademark applications (several including images) with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the word Wii U.

The goods and services cover a broad range of items from consumer video game machines to trading cards.

Filing trademark applications is one thing, but not owning the domain name Wiiu.com is still a problem for Nintendo.   In June, according to a rough estimate provided by the analytics website Compete, traffic to the website was over 3,000 visitors.  Prior to that, wiiu.com, whose owner is hidden behind Whois privacy, registered zero visitors.

Wiiu.com is currently a Shopping.com affiliate site that displays videogame and console ads.

Here’s an abbreviated look at some of the trademark applications all filed on August 9, 2011 by Nintendo with a priority date of June 3, 2011.

Serial Number: 85393202
Issuance of point cards; advertising and publicity services or providing information therefor; issuance of trading stamps or providing information therefor; implementing promotional prize drawings, quiz programs, raffle tickets, questionnaires and games, or providing information therefor;

Serial Number: 85393204
Telecommunication via electronic bulletin boards or providing information therefor; communication via consumer video game machines; providing information on communication via consumer video game machines;

Serial Number: 85393212
Providing images via communication with hand-held game machines with liquid crystal displays; providing images via communication with arcade video game machines; providing images via communication with consumer video game machines;

Serial Number: 85393213
Clothing for domestic pets; bags and the like; pouches and the like; unfitted vanity cases; umbrellas; walking sticks; bags and luggage, namely, shoulder bags, handbags, purses, carry-on bags, carrying cases, tote bags, backpacks, athletic bags, gym bags, traveling bags, duffel bags, satchels, school bags, school book bags;

Serial Number: 85393218
Clothing; waistbands; belts for clothing; shoes and boots; sportswear; shoes for sports other than horse-riding boots; masquerade costumes; clothing, namely, bandanas, coats, infant wear, jackets, jerseys, mufflers, pajamas, pants, scarves, shirts, shorts, sleepwear, socks, sweatshirts, sweat pants, swimwear, T-shirts, tops, underwear, vests, warm-up suits, wrist bands;

Serial Number: 85393191
Card games and their components; hand-held game machines with liquid crystal displays; protective films for liquid crystal display of hand-held game machines; AC adapters for hand-held game machines with liquid crystal displays; parts and fittings for hand-held game machines with liquid crystal displays; other toys; toys for pets; dolls; Go games; Japanese playing cards, also known as Utagaruta;

Serial Number: 85393180
Note books; mechanical pencils; other stationery and study materials; trading cards; magazines (publication); catalogues; pamphlets; other printed matter including books, booklets, manuals, posters regarding video games, calendars, game cards, greeting cards, trading cards, stickers and sticker albums; photographs; photograph stands, namely photo frames; banners of paper; flags of paper; pre-paid value cards and gift cards

Serial Number: 85393173
Consumer video game machines fitted with a camera function; consumer video game machines; programs for consumer video game machines;

Discussion: Kotaku and Nintendo Everything

Categories
News Trademarks Video Games

RockYou files trademark for Hooked

RockYou office

RockYou, one of Facebook’s top 25 developers has filed a trademark for Hooked, for a yet-to-be revealed game.

There are no clues given as to what the game will be about, other than the limited details found in the trademark.

The trademark application was filed on August 2 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Word Mark  HOOKED

Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Downloadable computer software for use on wireless devices and computers for social networking for use in the field of online and mobile gaming; Computer game software; video game software; interactive video game programs; computer software to enable uploading, posting, showing displaying, tagging, blogging, sharing electronic media or information regarding the fields of virtual communities, electronic gaming, entertainment, and general interest via the Internet or other communications networks with third parties

IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Entertainment services, namely, providing on-line computer games; providing information on-line relating to computer games and computer enhancements for games; Entertainment services, namely, providing on-line reviews of computer games; providing an Internet website portal in the field of computer games and gaming
 
Standard Characters Claimed 
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 85387704
Filing Date August 2, 2011
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Owner (APPLICANT) RockYou Inc. CORPORATION DELAWARE 425 Broadway Redwood City CALIFORNIA 94063
Attorney of Record Kelly Phair McCarthy
Type of Mark TRADEMARK. SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

I’ve reached out to RockYou for comment on Hooked and will update this post if I hear back.

Discussion: Gamezebo

(Photo of RockYou offices in Redwood City, CA via GlassDoor.com)

Categories
News Video Games

What’s in store for EA’s newest registration: CentipipeIndustries.com?

Electronic Arts Redwood Shores

Electronic Arts Inc registered two new domain names that have never been registered before on August 3.

The names may seem a bit odd, since video game titles are usually a little more intuitive.

Whatever the case, EA registered CentipipeIndustries.com and Centipipe-Industries.com this past Wednesday.

Here’s a look at the Whois record:

Registrant:
Electronic Arts Inc.
Domain Administrator
209 Redwood Shores Parkway
Redwood City, CA 94065
US
Email:

Registrar Name….: CORPORATE DOMAINS, INC.
Registrar Whois…: whois.corporatedomains.com
Registrar Homepage: www. cscprotectsbrands.com

Domain Name: centipipeindustries.com

Created on…………..: Wed, Aug 03, 2011
Expires on…………..: Fri, Aug 03, 2012
Record last updated on..: Wed, Aug 03, 2011

Administrative,Technical Contact:
Electronic Arts Inc.
Domain Administrator
209 Redwood Shores Parkway
Redwood City, CA 94065
US

Categories
News Trademarks Video Games

Microsoft files trademark for Iron Brigade combat video game

Iron Brigade

Microsoft has filed a trademark for a video game called Iron Brigade, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Not much is known yet about which military unit the game refers to, but as states across the country commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, it’s possible the title is a reference to the “Iron Brigade”, an Union Army infantry brigade which suffered the highest percentage of casualties of any brigade during the Civil War. 

Other possibilities include present day U.S. military units such as the 2nd Brigade of the U.S. Army’s 1st Armored Division, but with the timing of the filing, it seems more likely the game will be centered around the American Civil War.

The trademark filing  (Serial Number: 85381616) occurred on July 26, 2011 and says nothing more than for use as computer game software.

A filing back in June for Bloodforge, turned out to be a combat action title set in ancient Celtic world for its online game hub Xbox Live Arcade.

I will update this post as I get more information.

Discussion: Joystiq

Categories
News Video Games

Who’s planning a Big War game? CSC’s newest domains aren’t your average buys

Big War Game

An unnamed organization using the domain services of Corporation Service Company (CSC), a company that caters to some of the world’s most successful organizations, has registered a slew of domain names that hint at the possibility of a massive multiplayer war game called: Big War (BigWarGame.com).

The domain names – eight in total – were all registered on July 27, 2011 and have one thing in common: they all have “Big War” in the name.

No details on the company behind the registrations as of yet, since the domains are listed in CSC’s name.  But you can bet the company is a major player in the gaming industry, as CSC’s clients include many of the Top 500 companies in the U.S. and many of the top 2000 public companies in the world.

Here’s a look at the domain registrations.

http://whois.domaintools.com/bigwargame.com 
http://whois.domaintools.com/bigwargame.net 
http://whois.domaintools.com/bigwarthegame.com 
http://whois.domaintools.com/bigwarthegame.net 
http://whois.domaintools.com/bigwar-game.com 
http://whois.domaintools.com/bigwar-game.net 
http://whois.domaintools.com/big-war-game.com 
http://whois.domaintools.com/big-war-game.net 

I’ve done some checking around on trademarks and haven’t found any new filings, but it’s likely the company behind these domains will keep the game a closely guarded secret until it’s ready for launch.