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Tag: US Patent and Trademark Office

  • Washington Redskins Lose Trademark Rights

    Washington Redskins Lose Trademark Rights

    In a move that will have white grandfathers in middle America riled up for days, the US Patent and Trademark Office has denied the Redskins federal trademark protections.

    This decision came after a hearing by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, called for by a group of Native Americans tired of seeing beefy, overpaid athletes and their fans sport uniforms and assorted merchandise emblazoned with a racist caricature and term.

    This ruling was two decades in the making and the second one of its kind, following an identical decision made in 1999 that was overturned in 2003 on a technicality.

    In anticipation of the ruling, Redskins’ owner Daniel Synder created the Original American’s Foundation in March, pledging to offer financial support to Native American tribes.

    “In speaking face-to-face with Native American leaders and community members, it’s plain to see they need action, not words,” said Synder. What a clever turn of phrase, sir.

    In response, Oneida Indian Nation representative Ray Halbritter said ”We are also hopeful that in his new initiative to honor Native Americans’ struggle, Mr. Snyder makes sure people do not forget that he and his predecessor, George Preston Marshall, a famous segregationist, have made our people’s lives so much more difficult by using a racial slur as Washington’s team’s name.”

    It’s clear Synder’s attempt to to look less like a racist moneygrubber was simply a PR stunt to maintain his millions, as the Redskins are appealing the decision right away while simultaneously insisting the ruling is just so, so silly and meaningless:

    ”We’ve seen this story before,” said Redskins’ attorney Bob Raskopf. ”And just like last time, today’s ruling will have no effect at all on the team’s ownership of and right to use the Redskins name and logo. We are confident we will prevail once again.”

    Well, that’s what General Custer thought, too. Fingers crossed for history repeating itself.

    Image via YouTube

  • Sony Filed a Patent for In-Game Commercials

    There is a lot of current experimentation when it comes to video game revenue models. Publishers and developers are adding disc-locked content, day-one downloadable content (DLC), and overpriced collector’s editions everywhere you look. Mobile games and MMO‘s alike are free-to-play, using micro-transactions to monetize.

    It should surprise no one, then, that Sony has filed a patent for commercial advertisements in the middle of video games. The patent, titled “Advertisement Scheme for Use With Interactive Content,” describes how Sony intends to use the ads. While playing, a user would experience the game slowing down and a warning would appear announcing that the game is about to stop. Flashing lights in the corner of the screen and specific sounds would also herald the coming of the advertisement. The commercial would play, and then gameplay would resume, the game slightly rewound for convenience.

    Sony's game-ad patent

    I honestly can’t think of a coordinated series of events that could make me hate a product more. Rewinding slightly doesn’t fix the problem of broken immersion. The whole idea seems like something more suited to Zynga or more casual, free-to-play games.

    Sony filed for the patent almost a year ago and it hasn’t been granted just yet – but it most likely will be. Whether or not Sony uses it is another question. Gamers have already proven they will roll-over for other questionable revenue schemes. My guess is that if in-game commercials actually make money, they will become a part of gaming reality.

    (NeoGAF via TheSixthAxis)

  • Valve, Blizzard Bury The Hatchet Over DOTA

    The original Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) was a mod of Warcraft III, a Blizzard game, and other variants and DOTA projects have, for the most part, centered around Blizzard products. Blizzard didn’t cry foul when Valve hired DOTA’s lead designer, or when Valve announced a stand-alone sequel called DOTA 2. In fact, both companies are creating games with DOTA branding, with Blizzard DOTA in development. It’s not surprising, then, that Blizzard objected when Valve tried to lock up the entire DOTA world by trademarking DOTA. Blizzard filed a brief with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and two of the best game developers in existence came to blows.

    Now, the companies have released a statement announcing that the two have come to an agreement on the issue. Valve will still get to use DOTA commercially, but will not interfere with Blizzard using the branding for player-created maps for its games. This seems to be what was happening anyway, but it’s understandable that Blizzard wanted some assurance. However, in a sign that perhaps Valve got the better of this deal (or simply to avoid confusion) Blizzard DOTA has been renamed Blizzard All-Stars. No more details of the agreement have been released, and neither company has plans to discuss the agreement further.

    “Both Blizzard and Valve recognize that, at the end of the day, players just want to be able to play the games they’re looking forward to, so we’re happy to come to an agreement that helps both of us stay focused on that,” said Rob Pardo, executive vice president of game design at Blizzard Entertainment. “As part of this agreement, we’re going to be changing the name of Blizzard DOTA to Blizzard All-Stars, which ultimately better reflects the design of our game. We look forward to going into more detail on that at a later date.”

    Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve, also released a statement that seemed very focused on the games’ fans and players:

    “We’re pleased that we could come to an agreement with Blizzard without drawing things out in a way that would benefit no one. We both want to focus on the things our fans care about, creating and shipping great games for our communities.”

    If both Blizzard and Valve are truly as focused on their player bases as these statements make it seem, it is easy to see why they are so highly regarded within the gaming community. It’s also good to see a patent dispute resolved in a relatively peaceful manner for a change.