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News Trademarks Video Games

Activision applies for ‘The Roman Numeral II’, other Black Ops 2 trademarks

The Roman Numeral II

Activision applied for several U.S. trademarks this past week related to Call of Duty: Black Ops II which is scheduled to be released this November.  The trademark applications include “The Roman Numeral II”, “The Future is Black” and “There’s a Soldier in All of Us”.

Activision submitted two trademark applications (85673176, 85673166) for “The Roman Numeral II” which, of course, can be seen in the cover-art for the video game in a solid orange color.

“The Future is Black” is a tagline for the game and was used in the official reveal trailer that was published back in the beginning of May.  The filing (Serial Number: 85673145) like the others in the batch, covers computer game software and entertainment services.

The company looks to be protecting its IP as it ramps up marketing ahead of the game’s release.

“There’s a soldier in all of us” has been a tagline for Black Ops since the first game released worldwide in November 2010.  The trademark application (Serial Number: 85673131) was filed along with the others on July 10.

If you haven’t seen the official reveal trailer, you can watch it below.

Categories
Disputes News Technology WIPO

iPad3.com domain quickly turned over to Apple’s IP lawyers following complaint

iPad3

iPad3

The domain iPad3.com is now in the hands of Apple’s IP lawyers at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton.  It appears the previous name’s owner didn’t even want to wait for an arbitration panel to issue the inevitable decision, and has instead decided to quickly transfer the domain following a complaint that was filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) at the end of June.

In the last 24 hours, the Whois record for iPad3.com was updated to reflect the change in ownership from Global Access to Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, a law firm that has represented the company in several patent and trademark infringement cases.

Given the speed of the domain transfer from the time the dispute was filed until now, it’s safe to assume a WIPO panel hadn’t even issued a ruling for Case Number D2012-1319, as the entire process can takes weeks and months.  The case will end up being terminated, just as the cases for iPhone5.com and UsedMacs.com were terminated.

Ultimately, the next step is for the name to be transferred from Apple’s lawyers to Apple, as it was likely bleeding traffic when people typed www.ipad3.com into their web browser looking for “The new iPad” only to find themselves on a parked page filled with links.

Chances are Apple will not change a thing when it comes to marketing “The new iPad” and will simply forward the name to its iPad page on Apple.com.

At the time of this story, iPad3.com still redirects to a variety of different parking services with Above.com.

[UPDATE 3 July 12:. Apple has begun forwarding iPad3.com to its web site. DNW reports Apple is tracking the traffic it gets from this domain using a tracking code.]

[UPDATE 2 July 6:. Case Number D2012-1319 has now been terminated at WIPO.]

[UPDATE 1 July 5:. iPad3.com has been transferred from Above.com’s name servers to Apple’s name servers.]

Talking about this story:  Techmeme, The Next Web, CNET, PC Magazine, GameZone, Macworld UK, Australian Macworld, SlashGear, GMA News, MacRumors, Network World, iDownloadblog.com, ITProPortal, Marketing Land, WebProNews, mediabistro.com, 36kr.com, maclife.de, iJailbreak.com, Memeburn and ZDNet

(Image of the new iPad via Apple.com)

Categories
News Technology

What’s Facebook got planned? Company registers Facebook Supplier domains

Facebook logo

Domain name registrations made this week suggest that social networking site Facebook might be planning something new.  The company registered a handful of “Facebook Supplier” domain names like FacebookSuppliers.com and FacebookSuppliers.org, hinting at a new service or product.

While Facebook has not officially announced any plans, the new service or product most likely has nothing to do with providing Facebook “Likes” to fan pages and could be a platform for Facebook developers or possibly even a B2B portal.

Right now, it’s just speculation.  It’s also possible the social networking giant decided to register the names to protect its IP.

Below is a list of the names registered by Facebook through the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor.  One name is noticeably missing from the list:  FacebookSupplier.com.  The domain was first registered in 2011, not by Facebook according to Whois, and currently resolves to a parked page.

http://whois.domaintools.com/facebooksuppliers.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/facebooksuppliers.org
http://whois.domaintools.com/facebooksuppliers.net
http://whois.domaintools.com/facebooksupplier.net
http://whois.domaintools.com/facebooksupplier.org

At the time of this story going online, none of the domains resolve to a web page.

Talking about this story: AllFacebook

Categories
Disputes National Arbitration Forum News Video Games

Microsoft Corporation secures rights to pair of “Xbox 8” names at arbitration

Xbox 8

Microsoft Corporation has won two disputes filed in May with the National Arbitration Forum over a batch of Xbox-related domains owned by a resident of China who goes by the name “Cheng Juan”.

The disputed names include XboxPhone.com, XboxTablet.com, XboxLiveTV.com, XboxCompanion.com, Xbox8.us and Xbox8.org.

While Microsoft’s interest in securing names like XboxLiveTV.com and XboxTablet.com is understandable, the “Xbox 8” names are a little more puzzling.  That is, unless of course, Microsoft has plans for the names beyond just defensively protecting its intellectual property.

At this point, it’s unknown whether Microsoft has any plans to name a future Xbox the “Xbox 8”, but this isn’t the first time speculation has surfaced online that the upcoming Xbox may be called the “Xbox 8” instead of the “Xbox 720”.  Earlier gaming articles discussed whether the next-gen Xbox would be named the XBOX 8 and why Xbox 8 not 720 is a good name.

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In late June, the domains listed in the disputes were ordered transferred after two separate panels found the names were identical to the XBOX marks, that the respondent had no rights or legitimate interests in the domains, and that the domains had been registered and are being used in bad faith.

Microsoft has been busy filing complaints and has a number of pending cases against the owners of Xboxliverewards.com, Xboxsports.com, Xboxsmartglass.com, and Xboxmusic.com.

As of today, no complaint has been filed against the owner of Xbox8.com, which also appears to be registered to a resident of China according to Whois.

Full details of the decisions handed down are available online.

Microsoft Corporation v. cheng juan Claim Number: FA1205001445083

Microsoft Corporation v. cheng juan Claim Number: FA1205001445084

Talking about this story:  The Guardian, Adrenaline, BGR, CNN, CNN México.com, Complex.com, ComputerAndVideoGames.com, ComputerBase, CSICON, Digital Spy, Eurogamer.net, Game Guru, Gaming Examiner, Geek, IGN, In Entertainment, International Business Times, iTech Post, ITProPortal, Gadgetsteria, Gamers.fr, GameRanx, GameZone, GamerZona, GamingBolt, G4 TV, Game Informer, Game Rant, Gaming Target, Gematsu, God is a Geek, Here is the City, Joystiq, Kotaku, Kotaku Australia, MCV, Meristation, Metro, msnbc.com, NDTV, Neoseeker, Overclockers Club, PC Magazine, Ping! Zine, RedOrbit, Shacknews, Side Mission, Tech2, Tech Source, TechnoBuffalo, TheSixthAxis, TheGamersHub, The Droid Guy, The Tech Report, LLC, This is Xbox, TweakTown, Xbox 360 Achievements, Xbox 360: The Official Xbox Magazine, Ubergizmo, Video Game Writers, VG247, VR-Zone, WebNews, WebProNews, WinFuture, WinBeta and ZoKnowsGaming

(Image of Xbox Logo; image modified by Fusible)

Categories
News

What is “LucasArts Play”? Domains registered via brand protection company

LucasArts Play

UPDATE: Superannuation suspects “LucasArts Play” may be a casual games effort or cross-game online platform, as recent Lucas job listings have mentioned both.

ORIGINAL STORY: LucasArts grabbed the attention of many at E3 2012 with the announcement of Star Wars 1313.   There was speculation early about Star Wars 1313 after domain name registrations were spotted in early May through the brand protection agency Corporation Service Company.

Now, LucasArts appears to be up to something, though at the moment it’s unknown what the company could be developing.

On June 28, 2012, LucasArts apparently registered the domain names LucasArtsplay.com (Whois), LucasArtsplay.net (Whois) and LucasArtsplay.org (Whois).

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All three names were registered through Corporation Service Company.

However, unlike the Star Wars 1313 domains, the “LucasArts Play” names have been privately registered, indicating that the company wants to keep “LucasArts Play” quiet for now.

At the time of this story, the domains resolve to a blank web page.