Tag: brand protection

Categories
News Video Games

Lucasfilm (parent of LucasArts) registers Ewok Village domain for unknown project

Ewok Village

It’s not everyday that Lucasfilm registers a new domain name.

The last time the company picked up anything of note was back in early May when the company registered eight domains related to Star Wars: 1313, which turned out to be a video game that is creating quite a buzz.  So, it may be worth paying attention to a domain name the company registered on August 20, 2012, through the brand protection agency Corporation Service Company – ewok-village.com.

Ewok Village is the home of the furry Ewoks on the forest moon Endor.

While the domain may be nothing more than the company protecting its intellectual property or unannounced plans for a new action playset for the 2012 holiday season, it’s possible LucasArts could have an Ewok Village video game in the works.

For now, it’s all just speculation.

If you’re wondering why Lucasfilm didn’t register EwokVillage.com (no hyphen), that’s because the name was first registered back in 2005 by someone else.  Today, it’s a puppies website that has a picture of Ewoks on the homepage.

At the time of this story being published, the domain name does not resolve to a web page.

Talking about this story: Games.com News (blog)

(Image of Ewok Village via Wookieepedia)

Categories
News Video Games

Electronic Arts registers ‘The Cap Lab’

Electronic Arts Redwood Shores

I have no idea what Electronic Arts is dreaming up, but this week the video-gaming company registered the domain name: TheCapLab.com.

On June 18, 2012, EA purchased the domain (Whois) through the internet brand protection company CSC Global.

No other traces of names being registered in other extensions can be found, and, at the time of this story, EA has not filed any trademarks for “The Cap Lab”.

It’s unknown what EA has planned.  The company has not made any official announcement and the domain name does not resolve to a web page.

According to Whois history, TheCapLab.com was first registered by a resident of Florida in 2007, but the name appears to have expired way back in 2009 and was never renewed.

Readers:  Care to guess what “The Cap Lab” will be?

Talking about this story: Gameranx

Categories
News Technology

Could the Google-branded tablet be called the Google Play? [UPDATED]

Google Play

Google Play

[Update 1 on March 6, 2012:. Google Play isn’t the name of Google’s upcoming tablet.  The company announced that starting today, Android Market, Google Music and the Google eBookstore will become part of Google Play.]

Original story on March 2, 2012:. Rumors have been swirling since late February that Google may launch a Google-branded 7-inch tablet later this year.  So, what might it be called?  How about the ‘Google Play’?

I like to speculate on new domain name registrations and this past week it appears Google registered a slew of domain names like Googleplayapps.com, Googleplaygames.com and Googleplaybooks.com, hinting at a new product or device that sure sounds a lot like a Google-tablet. 

On February 29, well over a dozen domain names were registered through the brand protection company MarkMonitor. 

The full list of names includes:

appsonplay.com
booksonplay.com
gamesonplay.com
googleplayapps.com
googleplaybooks.com
googleplaydownloads.com
googleplaygames.com
googleplaymagazines.com
googleplaymovies.com
googleplaymusic.com
googleplaynewspapers.com
googleplaynewsstand.com
googleplaytv.com
googleplayvideos.com
magazinesonplay.com
moviesonplay.com
newspapersonplay.com
tvonplay.com

Of course, Google hasn’t officially been confirmed as the buyer of the Google Play domains since the registrant is hidden behind Whois privacy, but Google regularly uses MarkMonitor to acquire domain names.  Its own Google.com (Whois) is registered with MarkMonitor.

At the time of this posting, none of the names resolve to a web page.

This is all speculation at this point, but with the tablet expected to arrive in April, I’m guessing whatever the name is, we’ll see more news soon.

As of today, Google does not own GoogleTablet.com or GooglePlay.com.

Discussion: The Next Web, Neowin.net, Geek, RootzWiki, androidandme.com, Tom’s Guide, Ubergizmo, WebProNews, phoneArena.com, MobileSyrup.com, Pocket Gamer, Electronista, Phones Review, Geeky Gadgets, Games.com, Marketing Land, Tablet Community, WinFuture, AndroidOS.in, TechCrunch and SlashGear

(Image of Google tablet concept via Chromium)

Categories
News Trademarks Video Games

Zynga goes on record about new iOS game by filing Forestville trademark

Forestville on Facebook

I first broke the news last week about Zynga developing a new “Ville” game after several Forestville domains were privately registered through MarkMonitor, an internet brand protection company Zynga regularly uses.

While I had nothing more to work on than new domain registrations, an anonymous reader sent me a tip that a Facebook page was online, further solidifying my belief that a game was in the works and near launch day.

Shortly after my story ran, accompanied by screen shots and a web address, the page was taken offline. 

Zynga, even with all the proof, made no announcement despite Games.com, AllFacebook, and other sites covering my story, so there was still some lingering doubt about the game.

Though Zynga does not officially comment on speculation or rumor, this week it has officially gone on record indirectly, by filing a trademark application (Serial Number: 85487695) for “Forestville” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Here’s a look at the trademark filing.

Forestville trademark

Expect to see a press release from the social gaming giant on “Forestville” soon.