Sony Computer Entertainment has been caught trying to trademark the term “Let’s Play”. The revelations comes from a filings with the US Patents and Trademarks Office, although it looks like the process is still under review. The real question is why the company would want to do something like this.
The trademark filing was done in relation to “electronic transmission and streaming of video games via global and local computer networks; streaming of audio, visual, and audiovisual material via global and local computer networks.” Essentially, this means streaming video games; which is the common use for “Let’s Play”.
There has been no further information about the filing, which has lead to speculation at NeoGAF (where the filing was first noticed). Some believe that the company is simply doing this for business reasons; to prevent other companies, like Microsoft or Nintendo, from using it in their own marking campaigns. The move would make sense, although attempting to prevent rivals from using such a common term wouldn’t achieve much.
Others suspect that the company is looking to rebrand the PlayStation 4’s Twitch streaming application. Which is something that happens? We’re not sure about it.
In any case, the application is still in “non-final action” status. It could be that the USPTO has found something wrong with it and Sony is in the process of reviewing their plan. It’ll probably be a while before we hear anymore from this situation.
[Source: NeoGAF]
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