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Movies News

Prequel will be called 300: The Battle of Artemisium according to domains

300 The Battle of Artemisium

It appears Warner Bros. Pictures has finally settled on a title for the prequel to 300 after kicking around several working titles like 300: Battle of Artemisia.

According to newly registered domain names, the film studio will go with the rumored title 300: The Battle of Artemisium.

On January 3, several names were privately registered through the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor like thebattleofartemisium.com, 300thebattleofartemisium.com and 300-thebattleofartemisium.com.

Although the owner of each domain is hidden behind MarkMonitor’s privacy service DNStination, Warner Bros. is a client of MarkMonitor, so there’s little doubt that Warner Bros. is the registrant.

Last June, Warner Bros. publicly registered names like 300thebattleofartemisia.com (WHOIS), but has taken extra steps to privately register this week’s names.  So if I had to speculate, I would say “300: The Battle of Artemisium” is no longer a rumored title.

Talking about this story: Movieline, Cinema Blend, IGN, 411Mania, FilmWatch and Celebrities.com

Categories
News Trademarks Video Games

WB Games planning GreyFoundry video game according to trademark, domains

WB Games

It appears Warner Bros. may be developing a new video game called GreyFoundry.

On December 15, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. filed four separate trademark filings (85493271, 85493265, 85493259 and 85493253) with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, two of which cover video game software and online video games.

In addition to the trademark applications, it looks as though Warner Bros. may have secured the domain rights to greyfoundry.com, greyfoundry.net, and greyfoundry.org.  According to WHOIS records the domains aren’t registered to Warner Bros., instead, each name is registered to Kite Inc., a full-service strategy and design firm that helps companies build brands. 

Kite counts amongst its customers: WB Games Seattle (screenshot).  WB Games Seattle was recently in the news after laying off dozens of employees.

At the time of this story going online, Warner Bros. has not made any announcement about a new video game called GreyFoundry

Here’s a look at the Goods and Services covered in two of the trademark applications:

Serial Number: 85493271
Designing and developing computer game software and video game software for use with computers, video game program systems and computer networks; Computer software design; Video game development services; Video game programming development services

Serial Number: 85493265
Entertainment services, namely, providing online video games, providing online computer games, providing temporary use of non-downloadable video games; Production of video and computer game software; Entertainment services in the nature of live-action, comedy, drama and animated television series; production of live-action, comedy, drama and animated television series; distribution and display of live-action, comedy, drama and animated motion picture theatrical films; production of live-action, comedy, drama and animated motion picture theatrical films; theatrical performances both animated and live action; Internet services providing information via an electronic global computer network in the field of entertainment relating specifically to games, movies, and television; providing a web site featuring film clips, photographs and other multimedia materials; providing information for and actual entertainment via an electronic global communications network in the nature of live-action, comedy, drama and animated programs and production of live-action comedy, action and animated motion films for distribution via a global computer network; conducting contests on-line; providing a computer game that may be accessed by a telecommunications network; and electronic publishing services, namely, publication of text and graphic works of others on-line featuring articles, novelizations, scripts, comic books, strategy guides, photographs and visual materials

Categories
News Video Games

New Cartoon Universe game? Warner Bros. hints with domains [UPDATED]

Looney Tunes Cartoon Universe game

Is Warner Bros. planning to launch a massively multiplayer online game or social game called “Cartoon Universe”?

Well, if new domain name registrations are any indication of a company’s future plans, it appears a new multiplayer online game could be in the works.

On November 29, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. registered a handful of domains like CartoonUniversegame.com, Playtheuniverse.com and looneytunescu.com.

All together, Warner Bros. registered a dozen domains on November 29, not all having to do with a game.

Here’s a look at the registrations:

cartoonuniversegame.com
cartoonuniverseonline.com
leelabeque.net
looneytunescu.com
loooneytunescartoonuniverse.com
match-heart.com
playtheuniverse.com
scoobydoocartoonuniverse.com
scoobydoocu.com
thecartoonuniverse.com
toontokens.com
wbcash.com

None of the ‘Cartoon Universe’ domain names resolve to a web page at the time of this post going online.

[Updated on May 3, 2012:. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced Cartoon Universe, a free-to-play, online world that will provide a safe, social environment for young kids to go on adventures, solve puzzles and play games with their favorite Looney Tunes and Scooby-Doo! Characters.]

Talking about this story: Games.com

Categories
News Video Games

Slew of ‘Justice League Heroes’ domains registered by brand protection company

Justice League Heroes

In 2006, Warner Bros. Games released Justice League Heroes, a video game based on the DC Comics’ Justice League of America.

Fast forward five years later to November 30, 2011, and a slew of ‘Justice League Heroes’ domains have been newly registered like justiceleagueheroes.org and joinheroes.org

Though hidden behind WHOIS privacy, the names were registered through MarkMonitor, a company that helps more than half of Fortune 100 protect their brands online.  So, it’s safe to say Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. is behind the secret registrations.

The list of names include:

dc-wecanbeheroes.org
dc-wecanbeheros.org
dcwecanbeheroes.org
dcwecanbeheros.org
joinheroes.org
joinheros.org
joinjusticeleague.org
joinjusticeleagueheroes.org
joinjusticeleagueheros.org
jointheheroes.org
jointheheros.org
jointhejusticeleague.org
joinwecanbeheroes.org
joinwecanbeheros.org
justiceleagueheroes.org
justiceleagueheros.org

Is Warner Bros. planning a remake of the video game or some other service or product?  Or are the domain purchases part of the company’s overall intellectual property strategy to prevent other people from using the names?

At the time of this story going online, Warner Bros. has not announced anything official.